Bad First Drafts–And Why They are OK

" Saucy is a real character dealing with real stuff—hard stuff that doesn’t have easy answers, not in real life and not in fairy tales, either. This is a really compelling and ultimately hopeful story. Highly recommended."
– Debby Dahl Edwardson, National Book Award finalist and author of My Name is Not Easy
Read a sample chapter.

Never cry over first drafts! Instead, take heart in Katherine Paterson’s wise words: Make ice cream.

Once again, I am writing a really, really bad first draft.

That’s OK.

I know that I can clean it up.

But every time I do this, I am slightly embarrassed. Really? That’s the best I can do?

I have avoided the draft of the last two chapters of this story for over a month, but finally, deadlines loomed and I had to buckle down and do this.

I tried my best to write two good chapter. Instead, they are very bad.

I knew that was going to happen!

That’s why I put it off.

But putting it off doesn’t change the reality. Sometimes, no matter how you try, you must just write the draft, even if it’s bad. Then, you can revise and refine ad nauseam. But you can’t revise what isn’t written. It’s a cold reality.

I should have embraced the bad.

Just done it a long time ago.

But I want so badly to write well. (That’s really all I ever want–to write well.)

The writing process is crazy. But it works. Bad first draft is done today! Now, for the joy of revising.