The Write Way | ✔︎

06 | FIRST DRAFTS (AND SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH...)

     Are you ready to hear another hurtful truth? No? I'm going to have to tell you anyway. 

     Your first draft is going to suck. Your second might, too, and your third and your fourth. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Unless you're some genius prodigy whose prowess in storytelling rivals that of Shakespeare, you're going to have to get through that first draft knowing it's a load of horse poop but you're going to have to get through it because there's no other way to it. Which, just like I said about writing your outline, is fine. Because knowing it sucks can be demotivating, but we learned that we don't need to be motivated to write, so let it be liberating instead. It is, after all, the act of creating that writing is, not the finished product.

     John Green, who I've loved then hated during my 'I'm going to become a serious writer' phase then appreciated once I got out of it, has said before that when he's writing something, about half-way through he realizes it sucks and that it doesn't make much sense, but if he can get through that phase, he knows he can still finish the piece.

     In his NaNoWriMo vlog, he said, "...if you want to think about it like sculpture, writing a first draft is like digging the clay out of the ground and revision is when you actually use the clay to like, build something that you like." 

     Couldn't have said it better myself, John. (No, seriously, I couldn't, and believe me: I've tried.)

     So when you're writing that first draft, don't worry about it being perfect. Always remember the saying, "You don't have to get it right; you just need to get it written." That's helped me get through a lot of tough times with my writing, especially on days when the words aren't flowing and writing feels more like trying to fit a square into a triangular hole. (If any math geniuses try to tell me that's possible using a theorem or an equation, I will combust, so please don't. Math is my kryptonite.)

     There isn't much else to say in the way of first drafts, other than you just need to be patient and disciplined enough to get through it, so you can come out on the other side with something to work on. Because yes it'll suck when you first start writing it, but at least that just means you'll have a foundation to build upon. You have something to work with and show for! No matter how bad it turns out to be, that's never anything to be ashamed of, and I don't want you to forget that. 

     In the next chapter, we'll talk more about improving your first draft, but for now, focus on just getting the story out there, so you can see what it is, what it isn't, and what else it could be. Sometimes, when you hit a stride, this is even the best part.