Quote wall: Austin Kleon

On the bulletin board above my desk, I keep a handful of quotes that have taught me something, or that I hope to learn from.

Here's one:

What did you really want to say?

—Austin Kleon

I never, never, never have an answer to this when writing a first draft. Somewhere down the line—the third, the seventh, the twentieth draft—I'll realize, Oh, that's what I've been writing about all along.

I wish I knew how to bring that moment forward, into the first draft or the second.