Sloppy Copy to Pretty Book

I’m fairly certain people think I’m kidding when I tell them how horrible my first drafts are.

Let me assure you, I’m not kidding. I’m not even exaggerating.

I put the sloppy into sloppy copy, if you know what I mean.

In fact, I’ve told my husband that should I die, he is to delete all the rough drafts from my computer, lest anyone read them and realize I’m a total hack.

My first attempt at writing a story–any story–is never pretty.

I think this is true for the majority of authors.

When I sit down...