The Process

I've been working on this e-mail all day and I'm aching to send it. I've looked it over and made minor edits at least 30 times now, and I feel like it is as good as it is going to get.
This is where I need to muster some self-control. I have a process, and I should stick with it.

So far the process has been used for work correspondence and technical documentation, but I think it will serve me well here, too.

It varies a little, but roughly it works like this:

Step one is the discard draft. I write a very rough outline of what I want, read it through and then discard it.

Step two is the real draft. I write it the way most people do, I guess. All in one sitting, if possible, and then I leave it.

Step three is to look it over and make sure all the facts are correct. I do research I need to be reasonably sure no factual errors are included.

Step four is a language revision. I check for silly things, like comma errors and double negatives. I look it over for clarity and make sure it's concise and to the point. Babble removal, if you will.

Step five is the timeline. If the document in any way follows a temporal flow, like a process to be followed or an account of events I make sure they are in the right order.

Step six is sarcasm/irony/humor detection. Text documents are horrible for sarcasm and irony as there is no inflection. It has to go. Humor, if any, must be subject appropriate and subtle, so as to not detract from the perceived value of the document.

Step seven is polish. This is repeated until the document is as good as it will ever get. It includes most of the other steps, but without any particular focus.

The most important part of the process, however, is between the steps. I walk away and do something else. I watch a funny video, go browse the web for a while or walk the dog. Whatever it takes to make the document fade in my memory. That way I am looking at it with reasonably fresh eyes when I continue.

Yes, writing stuff with this method takes a lot of time, but in the end the result is worth it. The fateful e-mail is now being polished again and again, and while I am confident that I have said what I want to say in a clear and concise manner I still have doubts. I don't know this guy, and I'm not very good at describing this sort of thing, and that mix makes me anxious. I've walked away again, watching random stuff on TV to clear my head, and I hope that helps me spot the last few flaws.

I've never had so much riding on an e-mail before, and it feels like I need it to be perfect to see a kinder tomorrow.