Reflections on First Drafts
There is a notion
floating in writerdom that first drafts are garbage, bad, something to be overhauled,
repaired and refurbished beyond recognition.
In other words, “a
sh---y first draft,” as Anne Lamott put it in her book about writing, Bird by Bird. (She has a whole chapter called Shi—ty First Drafts.😳) It’s a brilliant
chapter, as is the whole book. It’s part of her battle cry against paralyzing
perfectionism, and in that sense, I concur.
But here is where we part. I have a much-published writing friend who said it differently, and I’m in his camp. “The first draft is where all the important stuff happens: Characters created, their actions emerge from an unformed blob of earth, and a rough shape of a story materializes. The rest is akin to a fine sculpturist working on refining the shape to make a beautiful polished marble figure.”
Junk? Na-ah. First
drafts are jewels in need of TLC and a fine polishing cloth to shine.