Tracks

Purpose

Find where the writing shows its tracks. Annie Dillard: "Process is nothing; erase your tracks." This skill hunts for the scaffolding still visible in a draft—the exploratory thinking, the arrival sequences, the "how I got here" that helped the writer but slows the reader.

Use this when:

• A draft reads like a journey log instead of a destination
• You can see the writer thinking on the page
• Sections narrate the process of figuring something out rather than presenting what was found
• The piece feels like it's warming up for too long before it arrives
• You've revised heavily and want to check for leftover scaffolding

Invocation

• /cw-tracks [text] — Find the tracks in the provided text
• /cw-tracks — System asks "What needs its tracks erased?"
• Works on selection if provided, asks if not

Track Types

The Dillard Test

For every passage, ask:

1. Is this here for the reader or for the writer?
2. Does this describe the process of thinking, or the thought itself?
3. If I cut this, would the argument still stand?
4. Is this the destination, or the road I took to get there?

If the passage is road, not destination—erase the track.

Output Format

## Track Report

**Tracks found:** [count]
**Severity:** [Light — a few fingerprints / Moderate — scaffolding visible / Heavy — the draft reads like a process log]

---

### The Tracks

1. **[Track type]** — [Location/quote]
   Why it's showing: [Brief explanation]
   Erase it by: [Specific suggestion]

2. **[Track type]** — [Location/quote]
   Why it's showing: [Brief explanation]
   Erase it by: [Specific suggestion]

[Continue for each track found]

---

### The Warm-Up Check

**Does the real piece start where the draft starts?**
[Yes / No — the piece actually begins at: "[quote from where the real opening lives]"]

---

### The Clean Version

[Rewrite of the most track-heavy section with tracks erased]

---

**What changed:**
- [How erasing tracks improved the passage]

Is the path clear now, or are there tracks I missed?

Principles

• Process is nothing; erase your tracks — The reader should experience the destination, not the journey you took to find it.
• The writer's discovery is not the reader's discovery — You found the insight by wandering. The reader should find it by being led.
• Scaffolding is for building, not for living in — Once the structure stands, take down the scaffolding.
• Trust arrival — If you've arrived at a strong point, you don't need to narrate the arrival.
• Revision leaves residue — Every round of revision can leave traces of earlier versions. The last pass should clean the glass.

The Box Canyon

Dillard describes writing as following a path into a box canyon—you dispatch reports from new territory. The reports are the writing. The path you took to get there is not. If your draft reads like a trail map, you're publishing the wrong thing.

Lessons

[Skill-specific lessons will be added here as they're captured]