The Editing Flow (Might Not Be That Bad)

There has been a certain video I’ve been wanting to share for a good number of weeks now. Two of my favorite YouTubers (and the only ones I’ve ever followed long-term) are Rhett and Link, hosts of the weekly show Good Mythical Morning (+Good Mythical More) and creators of a host of skits and comedic songs as well as a YouTube Red show. I first discovered them when I was searching for a popular video of a man singing at a drive-thru, but discovered their drive-thru song instead. (At Taco Bell, I believe.) I eventually memorized a number of their songs and listened to them regularly. Their songs were funny, seemingly simple, and easy to sing. Titles included “Perfect Bathroom Trip,” “Rub Some Bacon on It,” and “Nilla Wafer Top Hat Time.” If you think I’m weird, you’re right.

In any case, I listened to their last podcast a few weeks ago before they went on break, called “Where Do Our Songs Come From?” It was a re-posting of one of their first podcasts from Season 1. Their songs went through (surprisingly to me) many phases before becoming their final form. Perhaps, however, the forming and re-forming of these songs was not the most surprising part of their process, but rather that Rhett and Link expected their songs to go through that re-forming.

I like to imagine that my first draft is the most magical thing hidden inside a notebook cover, which I suppose is fine, but when one expects and knows that that draft or idea is going to and needs to change, I’d say that would really dampen the amount of disappointment and frustration one might feel when starting to revise, or even the very fear of starting to write. “I’m not good enough” is no excuse for not writing, because your first draft is not the goal. The final draft is.