Shitty First Drafts

I read a great essay in one of my writing text books on not being afraid to write shitty first drafts. I would give you a title and author, but I'm lazy... so, here's the name of the text it was in:

Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft

Now, I really think this is a great text. I highly recommend it.

And, I'd completely forgotten about it today as I was about to give up on one of my writing projects.

See, I get so little time to write these days that I want to invest my time wisely -- not spend it on shitty first drafts.

But, how many great writing projects do we all give up on because we're scared to write a shitty first draft? How quickly do you give up?

I thought of that essay before I gave up today, and I think I'm going to soldier on. It's retarded to think that everything of value that you write will be magnificent right off the hop. But yet, we all give up on our shitty stuff pretty fast.

Who knows... maybe the second draft will be a hell of a lot less shittier. The third might even be good. You might even find something you would have hated to have given up on amongst the pile of crap.

I understand that we're all picky and busy and egotistical, but sometimes, good things come out of investing time in a pile of manure.

Go forth and be proud of your shitty first drafts! :P