Shitty First Drafts

Here’s something that no matter how long you have been writing, you have to constantly remind yourself- First Drafts Are Shitty. It’s just a fact.

It’s like writing amnesia. You go along, work on a project forever. Then it’s time to start a new one and OMG WHAT IS THIS GARBAGE?

It’s a shitty first draft, of course.

I read somewhere (and I don’t know who said it because I read things, remember sort of what they are and then totally forget where I saw them but most of the time it is probably Twitter) that first drafts are about telling yourself the story. It’s about getting in down on paper (or you know, out through your keyboard). It’s an adventure and a learning process. Even the most meticulous plotters can be surprised by what can happen when your characters run amuck. This is a real thing, I promise you. Character do what they want, when they want and even though you are writing them, sometimes you can’t control them.

That’s one reason it is really important to be flexible as a writer. You need to be able to let go of that story in your head (or on your outline). Sometimes, you have to go where the story wants to go. Does it sometimes turn into a rambly mess? Sure. Does it sometimes turn out to be brilliant? Maybe.

But you’ve got to remember that first drafts are shitty.

It’s hard going from polishing up a manuscript to a blank page, realizing you are vomiting words out that do not sound like they should be published. But that’s what revising is for! (I’m going to talk revising later). Using the same word 700 times on one page, that sort of thing.

But that’s ok! First Drafts are Shitty! It’s one of those things you forget every time you start a new draft. Now, I personally love to draft. I’m primarily an outliner, but not a heavy outliner. My process for drafting is generally I come up with an idea, think about it obsessively and within a few days, I’ve got the major plot points figured out and a ton of notes. I send myself an insane amount of emails, then gather everything into my outline & notes document. I’m a fast drafter and normally love it, just letting my brain go.

But towards end of 2021, I set out to draft something new and I STRUGGLED. I had been revising two different projects for almost a solid year. I hadn’t drafted anything new in almost two years. So coming back into the drafting, which normally is so exciting, was tough. I couldn’t seem to get the story out right. It was terribly written, a total disaster. But I LOVE the story. I was so frustrated. I wanted to cry.

So what did I do?

I finally just went with it. It’s a zero draft, basically tons of dialogue and scene setting. And I’m ok with it. Why? Because I got the story out. I have a blueprint for what I want to do, so when I’m ready to come back to it, it’s all there.

It’s a shitty first draft (shitty zero draft). But as they say, you can’t revise a blank page. So get your thoughts down, don’t worry if it sounds like garbage. You are going to revise the hell out of it for months, so just get something onto the page. Then worry about making it better later.

It’s hard not to compare that shitty first draft that you are writing to the published books sitting on your shelf (or on your Kindle or audio or however else you consume books), but just remember – every published book was once a shitty first draft too.