Outtakes 304

Killing Trees

By Cait Collins

I started thinking about all the junk in closets and cabinets in my apartment. I’ve got a lot of storage in the place, but instead of tossing out stuff, I keep finding a place to store it. One of my big “I can’t toss this out” is the hard copies of my writing. In this day of computers, the Cloud, flash drives, and external electronic storage, why do I need hard copies? Of course I don’t want to trash four or five completed novels and other various and sundry ideas. But I can scan the information to my computer and save the file to my external hard drive or a flash drive.

And what about all those critiques? Once I’ve reviewed the notes and made the updates, do I really need to keep the notes? Of course not. So why am I having such a hard time just filling the dumpster? I think I know the answer. I’m saving my art for posterity. One of these days, some kid will come along and grab a file box and reap valuable wisdom from my work.

You want the truth? Killing trees and packing file boxes is easier than making a decision on what is necessary to keep and what can go to the dumpster or the shredder. I guess that makes me lazy. I wonder if the pharmacy has a pill for that.