by Jocelyn Green Have you ever been so excited to start writing a particular piece, only to be deflated and discouraged by the drivel that appears on the screen as you begin typing? If you said no, you can stop reading, and go away right now because I can't relate to you. But if you said yes, lean in close. I have a secret I just can't keep any longer: This happens to EVERYONE. Yes, me, but even more impressive, it happens to the best-selling authors you know and love, too. You know what? It's OK. It's called the first draft. And it gets better, but first you have to slog it out and get that first attempt down on paper. Just in case you don't believe me:
"Each book only gets harder, not easier. The first draft is killer for me. I love rewrites and edits, but that blinking cursor on the screen is not my friend. I have a very harsh internal editor that I struggle to squelch as I write." ~Award-winning, bestseller Tamela Alexander, Fall 2012 issue of ACFW Journal
"Please pray for me that I'll finish my first draft today. Then I'll love my job again as I rewrite 2nd thru 10th drafts." ~New York Times bestseller Terri Blackstock on her Facebook fan page, Oct. 23, 2012
"I have points in every book, usually during really BIG scenes, the black moment, comic/action scenes, and I'm typing along and knowing that in this scene I've really got to hit all the right notes. This has got to be BIG. And I'm writing drivel. IKNOW I have to write it badly (write it DOWN) before I can fix it. And yet, I'm typing this explosive scene, emotionally, physically explosive and I envision it as two or three chapters and I've written two pages of dead boring prose and I'm done. I KNOW that's how it's got to be at first. But still, while I'm in the midst of it it's just so BAD and I start avoiding it. That's when the laundry calls. That's when I think of something I should be preparing for dinner. That's when I remember I haven't talked to my mother for a couple of days. But it's all avoidance. It's all disgust with the FAILURE of my writing, even though CONSCIOUSLY I know I'm doing this, still, I can hardly force myself forward." ~Award-winning, bestseller Mary Connealy, in a comment on my blog post at Seekerville in July 2012
Do you feel better yet? Yes? Good. NO? OK, then read this from Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird. This was one of the best things I gleaned from the entire book.
"All good writers write [really crummy* first drafts]. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts. . . I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts . . . We all often feel like we are pulling teeth, even those writers whose prose ends up being the most natural and fluid. The right words and sentences just do not come pouring out like ticker tape most of the time . . . For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really [crummy*] first drafts."
*Anne Lamott used a more colorful word than crummy. But you get the idea. Whether you are writing a blog post, a novel, an article, or a nonfiction book, please, please don't give up based on the quality of your first draft. You can improve it. But if you stop, or if you just don't try to write anymore because you don't like what comes out at first, it is impossible to improve that. You just stay. . . unwritten. If you have a message, get it out. Write it, edit it, rewrite it, workshop it, do whatever you have to do to make it better. Remember, even though it may look awful on the screen, here's what the first draft really does for us:
- It moves us from just thinking about writing to actually writing, setting us on the journey toward the final draft. If you don't start, you can't finish.
- It helps us clarify the direction of the project. Even if you're an outliner, like I am, sometimes you don't know what will work and what won't until you begin writing.
- It allows us to form our voice, the tone of the piece. Even if you end up deleting it all, at least you have a much better sense for not just your direction, but for the feel of it, too.
- It gives us momentum. The first couple of pages can be incredibly tedious to write, but you have to rev up before you get in a groove.
- If nothing else, it provides you with a really good outline that you can change and polish on your next time going through it. Author Sir Terry Pratchett once said, "The first draft is just you telling yourself the story." It doesn't need to be perfect.
Here's to the crummy first draft, the first step toward something beautiful. You have to wade through a lot of murky waters, but you'll get to the crystal clear prose in time. Jump in. How do you get through your first draft? What keeps you going?
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