The First Draft

The first draft of anything is rough.Ernest Hemingway’s terminology was certainly more colorful, but I prefer to look at the first draft as an unpolished stone in search of a rock tumbler. And in the same way writing improves with a pair of rolled-up sleeves and a good editing pencil, our thoughts revise our responses to situations with the broad stroke of time. And sometimes—maybe most times—that revision is what we wish we’d said.To the gentleman from the restaurant the other night . . .Let...