The Importance of the First Draft

Here’s a little fact about me: I have two dogs, one of them being a teacup shih tzu. So tiny, so petulant, but a wonderful little dog. One of the best things about her is how she runs.

Her legs are very short, so the act of running appears more like hopping. I call it a bounce run as she bounds across the backyard finding the best spot to complete her daily potty business.

When I’m chest deep in a first draft of a poem or story, I imagine I look a lot like my dog. Not really running, not really jumping, but bounce running from one plot point to the next. The grass eclipsing my diminutive height does not intimidate me. I’m not worried about plot holes or flat characters. The thought of revisions are distant worries, too far away to even consider in the glorious act of enjoying the first draft.

After the first draft, I see the haphazard path I drew on my way to the story’s conclusion. Will the story remain the same? Absolutely not. Writing is rewriting. Writing is revision. Writing is realizing that the first draft had to exist in its messiest form. How else do we discover what the story is about?

Even if I look ridiculous bounce running into a completed draft, at least a draft exists. I can work with a draft that exists. But if I was too self-conscious or overanalyzing the first draft, then no words would make it to the page.

So, this is my plea to you: write the first draft. Don’t question the words. Just write them and see what happens. You’ll be surprised at how far you will get. Even if you do bounce run to the destination, you got there and that’s all that matters.