First drafts should never be read…ever…by anyone but yourself. You are all very blessed today because I have rescued you from reading horrible prose today. You are very welcome.
True Story Ahead
Today has been a horrible writing day.
I’ve now created seven first drafts. In honor of my work, I’ve created a folder called, “Shitty First Drafts.” Anne Lamott would be proud of me.
And now, I’m taking a break because writing seven shitty first drafts is exhausting.
I’m going to eat a pastry and drink a big cup of hot coffee to fuel my afternoon of writing incredible prose.
It’s now late afternoon.
I can honestly say, I have nothing. I have nothing profound to write about today.
Okay, I do have something I’ve been thinking about as I’ve struggled to write. It’s not profound, but it is interesting.
How many times do we allow our first drafts to come out of our mouths?
I’m talking about ideas, thoughts, and feelings we have that really no one should ever be exposed to except yourself.
I have an answer to that question, but it’s in first draft form, so I can’t say it out loud yet. Get my drift?
- First draft comments can be very hurtful.
- First draft ideas can be very meaningless.
- First draft feelings can be deceiving.
During my 40 Days of Intentional Living I reflected on the practice of quarantine. I think first draft communication in any form needs to be quarantined for a while so that we can make sure we won’t hurt anyone or make anyone else sick or embarrassed.
Let’s face it, sometimes our first draft thoughts are not very healthy or helpful.
I’m learning that first drafts are necessary. They are part of the writing process. They’re just not the end product.
So it should be with our first draft communication with our spouse, children, boss, employees, basically, anyone.
We need to quarantine first drafts. Practice self-control. We need to be patient. Let our ideas, thoughts, and feelings be edited inside first. Then maybe the second or third draft you can begin to share with others.
I don’t know, but something tells me we have too many first-draft conversations happening and too many relationships are being sickened and hurt because we think our first draft is the polished and published book.
It’s not, my friends.
My seven crappy first drafts are all nicely quarantined in the same folder until I have time to edit them, polish them a lot, or delete them forever. No one is going to read them.
Just like my seven drafts today, our first draft thoughts, ideas, and feelings should be set aside. Ponder them more before you speak or write them to a loved one or to someone to whom you want to share them with.
Who knows, you, too, may decide your first draft idea was truly crap, and it just needs to be flushed away.
[callout]The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools blurts out foolishness. (Proverbs 15:2)[/callout]
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