Why You Want a Messy First Draft

The blank page can be a scary thing. Starting a new writing project takes courage, for sure. It’s intimidating to start with nothing and create what will eventually become an essay, blog, article, story, presentation, or book, especially when money and your reputation are on the line. It’s a long road ahead, and you’re not yet sure where you’ll end up.

One thing that keeps a lot of writers unable to start is the desire to nail it right out of the gate. They want it to come out pre-packaged, ready for mass consumption. Novice writers often think the revision process involves no more than making edits to spelling, punctuation, and grammar. I thought that way in high school, and many of my students think the same today.

As lovely as it would be to produce a pristine text the first time around, writing just doesn’t work that way. Writing is messy, at least at first. First drafts aren’t going to be awesome. In fact, they are usually pretty bad. I don’t care if you’re Shakespeare or Jesus Christ, your first draft is gonna have some stink on it.

But that’s OK. Acceptance is the first step. When you learn that writing is a circular process, you are free of the burden that paralyzes many new writers. Stephen King wrote, concerning writing, “The scariest moment is right before you start. After that, things can only get better.” Wise words from a guy who has written almost 100 books.

Why first drafts come out so bad

First drafts are a mess because our thoughts are a mess. Most of our thoughts happen below the conscious level. Thoughts pop in and out and get interrupted by other thoughts. Often we don’t have time to hold on to an idea before it’s gone. It’s akin to a hurricane. There are all kinds of wind and sound and debris whipping around.

If you’ve ever tried to meditate you’ll know what I mean. It is next to impossible to completely control our thoughts. They are involuntary and random. You know this if you’ve ever had an inappropriate thought show up during church or a job interview.

Additionally, the part of our brain responsible for ideas does not seem to be connected to the part of our brain that composes sentences. You have no doubt experienced the frustration of having a profound thought and then struggling to get it down in a coherent sentence. Two different brain processes are going on here.

So when we sit down to write, we’re trying to bring order to that hurricane in our minds. You can see why what comes out is going to be a little messy.

Embrace the messy first draft to become a better writer.

So with this knowledge that our first efforts are not going to be our best, what should we do?

Embrace the messy first draft.

Embracing the messy first draft brings us in alignment with the circular process of writing. We can let go because we know an imperfect start is normal. You perfectionists out there may have a hard time with this at first. But if you can get past your inner “get it right the first time” impulse, you’ll open yourself up to better writing in the long run.

I find there are several advantages to embracing the messy first draft:

• You will write faster. When you take the pressure off to get it right the first time, you are free to let your thoughts loose. You won’t be constantly critiquing yourself or nitpicking over how a sentence flows. It’s thrilling to cut the brake lines and go full throttle.
• You will end up with more to work with. Some of the ideas that make it on the page will ultimately be removed later. You might be thinking, Isn’t writing a bunch of lines I will eventually cut be a waste of time? Not at all. You are in a better position to evaluate which ideas best work with the piece. Your writing will be better in the end.
• You will enjoy the process more. There’s freedom in writing when you accept the imperfections. The first draft is a discovery process. Knowing this, it becomes less of a chore and more of a treasure hunt. The catch is, you have to be comfortable with the fact that a significant part of the writing process is in revision. If you can live with that, you are in for some fun.

How to approach the first draft

So now you are ready to write. I hope you’re not wearing your Sunday clothes, ’cause it’s about to get messy. Here is my advice for writing the first draft:

1. Research before you start

Depending on the type of writing, you may need to gather some ideas with light research first. I suggest you do this before you write any words for a simple reason: You don’t want to ruin your flow by getting caught in a rabbit hole after only writing a few sentences.

You don’t have to spend a lot of time doing this. Simply take a cursory glance at some information and save links for later. You can even add the links to the top of your draft so they are easily accessible. Later in the process, you may do more research, but save that for after the first chunk of writing is done.

2. Brainstorm: write before you write

Some writers try to jump right into full sentences. I prefer to get some of those half-thoughts out first and then build complete sentences later. This is called brainstorming. There are many ways to brainstorm, but I like the good old fashion listing method. This is the time to just open the tap and see what comes out, not worrying about any sort of order or coherence. I listen to the thoughts and write them down in quick succession, one line at a time. When I’m done, I have a good list of items I want to include and many that I don’t. Some of the blurbs are seeds to supporting points, while others are details, funny observations, or completely irrelevant garbage.

3. Set a timer (optional)

Close internet tabs, silence notifications, and start a timer. 30 to 45 minutes is a good start. That’s plenty of time to get the process started. When the timer goes off, take a short break. You can start the timer again if you like. Alternatively, you can write until you get to a specified word count.

4. Write without judgment

This is the big one. It’s not the time to critique yourself. Just write. Your thoughts will still be jumbled to a large extent. That’s OK. Focus on the main points, the nuts-and-bolts, and not how they are presented. Once you can view your draft from a higher altitude, you’ll be able to make better connections and articulate them better.

5. Do not edit as you go

Resist the temptation to clean up your sentences while you write. I still struggle with this (guilty of it in this very paragraph). There’s no need to do this as long as you have the basic idea down. If you get hung up on word choice or sentence structure, you’ll end up tinkering the day away. If you can’t complete a sentence to your liking, move on to the next one. If a thought falls apart, leave it behind. Not sure where to start a new paragraph? Save that shit for later.

6. Use placeholders for further research

Your draft may require you to provide details you can’t access in the moment. You may have forgotten the distance of the Earth from the sun or the difference between telepathy and telekinesis, for example. Rather than interrupting your flow by opening an internet tab, make yourself a note in brackets or insert a comment in Google Docs to go back and look it up later.

7. Walk away

Once the day’s writing is done, it’s time to talk away. Let it simmer. Don’t start revising immediately. If you’re writing a long piece, this will be a daily process. But this is fine. Your brain will continue to work on the writing subconsciously. I often have great ideas come a day or two later on their own without any prompting (shower thoughts). When you come back to the writing after some time away, you may be surprised that you see the writing in a new light.

Behold your messy first draft

When you’re done–viola!–you have the first draft. It’s probably going to be pretty bad though. It’s probably not going to be cohesive and well crafted. You’ll have some stinky sentences. But the hard part’s over–for now. You’re headed to the revision process, which presents its own set of challenges. But that’s a post for another day.