Continuing the other day's thoughts on drafts, today I'm going to talk about the importance of first drafts. Not because I think they're magic, or perfect, or brilliant. They usually aren't. Often as not, they're awful as hell.
But, that's okay. It really is. A lot of pretty things aren't pretty before they're formed. Paints aren't always pretty before they go up on the canvas. Thread isn't the most alluring thing in the word, but it can form brilliant and beautiful tapestries. And unsculpted clay isn't really my idea of visually appealing.
Again, it's okay. Nothing needs to be beautiful at the start. It can grow into being lovely in its own time. (Insert reference to The Ugly Duckling.) (And, I hope everyone got that reference, because if I'm now living in a world where people haven't heard of The Ugly Duckling, I might just have to cry.) It can become pretty.
The first draft doesn't have to be pretty. It can suck. It can be god-awful. That's okay. Really. It is. Let yourself do it. Let yourself write it. Let yourself blow it. All it takes is getting it done. Getting the first draft out there. Get it written.
Let it go. Let it be awful. Let it be.
How are your drafts coming? How do you feel about your first drafts? When was your last first draft?
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First drafts are terrible (mine are, anyway) and I love them! I just like to get everything down, then I can play around with it later. First drafts, for me, are fun. It's what comes after that's tough!
ReplyDeleteI hate writing the first draft. Okay, hate's a pretty strong word. But I much prefer editing. Now that's where the real fun begins. :D
ReplyDeleteI'm writing my first draft now, after outlining and doing NaNoWriMo. So I guess I'm writing Draft 1.5, since the NaNoWriMo thing is, of course, a big sloppy joe of a document. It's very enjoyable to be at this stage. I mostly know where the story is going, but there are lots of gaps to be filled in with new ideas and connections and details. I can focus less on plotting now and more on dialogue, descriptions, and sentence and paragraph crafting. It's still rough, but it's exciting to feel my story taking the shape of a real novel.
ReplyDeleteI'm on my second WIP first draft. I like my first drafts but I want them to be finished so I can work on revisions. I know what I want to say, I just hate taking the time to write it down.
ReplyDeleteI'm finding it really, really tough to do a first draft as I'm a journo and usually what I write goes. So it's a whole different mind-set for me ie I expect my first draft to be good. So, when it's not, I sit there and berate myself. A creative writing tutor once told me "journalists make terrible authors' - I'm trying desperately hard to prove her wrong but I kinda see where she's coming from...or at least Muttie does...
ReplyDeleteMilt x
I forgot who said it, but an author once said her biggest piece of writing advice was to give yourself permission to suck :P
ReplyDelete(and don't worry, I know what you mean by the ugly duckling reference :D)
My first draft is pretty sad. But that's when the fun begins. I love going through the novel cutting and pasting, adding scenes, and plumping up characters. I'm glad to know I'm not alone.
ReplyDeleteI have a few happening right now. ;) I've had a hard time remembering to let them be ugly because there's a switch when coming off of an editing binge. It's hard to stop being a critic. ;)
ReplyDeleteYou're so right, Dominique! And it's so hard to shush the perfectionist in my head and let the first draft out, with all it's imperfections. I'm currently writing the second first draft of my WiP. Yeah, I know! But this time around, I've got a better sense of the voice I'm trying to capture, and I'm letting the words out with more freedom, to be less than fantastic. It's still hard at times, but I'm getting there!
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly. My first drafts are always too long, wordy, and full of plot holes. But with a lot of revising they get prettier over time. :)
ReplyDelete