There is a lot of writing advice out there, but one of the main lessons about writing seems to be the hardest to teach students: your first draft is shit. It just is. Don’t write something once and be done with it. Best case scenario, your shit first draft is better than someone else’s second, but it won’t be your best.
This lesson (and phrasing) was popularized by Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird; it is a lesson that has only become harder to teach in the age of grade inflation we live in, but I’ll keep my thoughts on the education system to a minimum.
A lot of writing books will teach the main lesson, that it’s important to remember that your first draft is shit, but then go and teach about writing as if you might get it right on the first time. And don’t get me wrong: I’m sure some of the great writers can knock out a solid first draft– but that’s not likely what they send to their publishers and certainly not what ends up in front of readers.
There isn’t a lot of guidance on what drafting ought to look like. Is there a way to think about drafting my systematically? I’d like to think so. I would like to think of myself as creative, but I would also like to be able to see the parts of what makes something successful; my analytical brain wants to see structure. (Somewhere along the way, the myths around creativity have made a false enemy of analysis and structure.)
So, what I hope to bring you over these posts on drafting is a better understanding of what drafts are for and what you might want to focus on during them. Like most advice, you can take the parts that are helpful and ignore the parts that are not.
What is a First Draft?
A first draft is the word vomit that landed on the page when you first sat down to hammer out your thoughts. Characters do things, or they don’t. Plot points (probably) happen. But then, if you hand it to your closest friend(s), you likely get a lot of feedback– because nothing is perfect on the first go.
Likely, you do something particularly well. You are a writer and you likely choose to write because you’re good at some part of it. For instance, my dialogue usually gets compliments even on my first draft. But then there are all the things you do which aren’t particularly good, or which you could do better. Plot points that don’t seem to connect. Character arcs that don’t, well, arc. Descriptions that are long and boring. The list of possible mistakes goes on forever. But the helpful thing is this: the first draft doesn’t matter.
Really, it doesn’t. The only drafts that matter are those you show people. For some reason, and I imagine it’s because we as writers would like some kind of affirmation, we have an addiction to showing people our work, even our shitty first drafts. So, if you must, show it to only your most trusted circle. A spouse or partner. A particularly close friend or two. Maybe your parent (though I’ve always found the feedback from my folks to be just “It’s great, I’m proud of you,” which is wonderfully affirmative, but doesn’t help the work).
Like most vomiting, only those who really love you are comforting when they’re around for this stage of the process. When I send out my first drafts to friends or give the first draft to my wife, I only ask one question, “Is this worth writing?” Hearing a “no” likely means the idea is too out there, or it doesn’t work. Hearing a “yes” is like a green light to start revisions into a real piece.
(As an additional note, make sure that you tell your readers at whatever stage of the process the kind of feedback you want from them. More often than not, if you give your draft to someone and just ask for feedback, you’ll get a lot of grammar notes. Leave that for later. If you don’t know that you are even going to turn the idea into a full story yet, it’s not worth them spilling so much red ink and it’s not worth your time to read that they think you’ve put in comma splices– which you probably have.)
Thank you for reading!
This is the first post of this new series on drafting. Stay tuned for advice on turning draft 1 into draft 2! If you found this post entertaining, informative, or helpful, consider making a donation to keep this blog alive and well.
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