First drafts are trash. They’re always trash. I’ve written seventeen novels and am still waiting on the perfect first draft to magically dance out of my fingertips, but alas…
My first attempt at writing just about anything inevitably leaves me disappointed, frustrated, and half-convinced I’m in the wrong career and should try my hand at syrup farming.
I’ve written millions of words, and as exhausting as that sounds, it’s also given me a bit of perspective about the writing process. In the biz, you’ll often hear the cheerful adage, “Writing is rewriting!” which may sound pretty lame as you type up the finishing touches on your 400,000-word magnum opus.
But rewriting isn’t just part of the writing process. It’s a beautiful part of the writing process. Having taking dozens of less-than-optimal writing swings in my lifetime, allow me to bare my defense of the sh*tty first draft.
PERFECTION WILL PARALYZE YOU
Seriously. Take it from a recovering perfectionist.
If you wait to write the perfect first draft, you are going to be waiting FOREVER.
I’ve worked with dozens of authors over my career in editing, coaching, and publishing roles, and believe me when I tell you that the writing process is a violent, sickness-inducing roller-coaster. One moment, you’re having the time of your life, staring at it with pride and joy, utterly convinced you are a literary genius. The next, you’ll be hurling your computer across the room in utter despair, wondering how you could have ever thought this upchuck of verbal refuse was anything close to readable, never mind enjoyable.
This is completely normal. In fact, I’ve come to expect it from every author I work with. Writing is a journey of elation and despair. You’ll oscillate between pride and criticism because you care, and if you’re writing authentically, nothing can protect you from that vulnerability.
But if you’re waiting to “feel good” about your writing, prepare to wait until the end of time. Sh*tty first drafts are a direct confrontation to that perfectionism. They smash through your limiting beliefs and FORCE you to take that first initial step.
YOUR STORY NEEDS ROOM TO GROW
Expecting your story to be what it’s meant to be after the first draft is kind of like expecting your kindergartener to come home from their first day at school with a clear idea of their college major. Don’t get me wrong, you have those kids who know they’re going to be doctors, ballerinas, or firefighters. But I’ve also listened to a youngster calmly sit down and explain to me exactly how he’s going to grow up and become a duck.
The point is, just as a child grows and matures into their own, so does your book. Of course, you can (and most definitely should) be working with a goal and outline in mind, but don’t be surprised when your story goes into a full-on teenage rebellion.
YOU NEED SOMETHING TO EDIT
This goes back to my first point. No draft is perfect, but you can’t improve on it until you have something to improve on.
It’s like the people who insist on telling a pregnant woman exactly how to raise their child. It’s not just annoying and tone-deaf; it’s logically ridiculous. How can you know what a baby needs before that baby even has postpartum needs? How can you know what to correct, toggle with, and change before you have something written?
Sh*tty first drafts aren’t just noble, they’re necessary. You have to have something on the page in order to take your next step.
Believe me, I could go on in praise of that trashy, embarrassing, infuriating, and utterly-dispensable first draft.
Part of me wants to finish writing this blog and click the publish button just to celebrate the suck. (You and I both know I won’t. My editing impulses are just too strong.) But instead of denouncing our horrible first drafts as failures, let’s start celebrating them for what they really are—achievements. Essential steppingstones to growth, development, and the creation of something truly remarkable.
Art is craft, and craft is diligent study. Writing, in its own joyous, agonizing way, has always been rewriting. (Don’t believe me? Go ahead and look up “palimpsest.”)
As a writer, editor, and bibliophile, I shall forever honor and praise the hallowed drafting process. And if my defense of the sh*tty first draft isn’t enough, I defer to one of my childhood heroes, Ms. Frizzle of The Magic School Bus, when it comes to the joys of the process: “take chances, make mistakes, and get messy.”
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Photo credit: Steve Johnson.