Joan Didion often used xx as a placeholder while drafting. Instead of stopping to check a fact, decide on a name, or perfect a sentence, she could mark the spot and keep going. That habit protected momentum, which is often more valuable in an early draft than precision in every line.
The placeholder could stand in for several kinds of missing material:
- A fact: “The town was xx miles away.”
- A name or title: “Governor xx arrived after noon.”
- A line to revise: “Insert stronger ending xx.”
This does not mean the missing parts were unimportant. It means drafting and editing were treated as different tasks. In the drafting stage, the goal was to keep the sentence, paragraph, or idea alive. In the editing stage, the writer returned to replace every xx with the exact word, fact, or phrasing needed.
Many writers use a similar trick today, sometimes with brackets, highlights, or notes to self. Didion’s xx is a useful reminder that a rough draft can be deliberately incomplete. What matters first is getting the thought onto the page.