Writing the perfect first draft
Are you a perfectionist? Especially when it comes to your first draft? You won’t move on to the next scene because you know the last scene isn’t “perfect”?
Yet for us to judge “perfection” we need to know the criteria, right?
If you say the criteria of a completed novel is strong characters and an engaging plot and inspired writing you could therefore judge the work as “perfect” or “not perfect”.
But why do we assume the criteria of a first draft is the same as the criteria of a finished novel? They’re completely different entities. Beasts, creatures, as varied as a tiger and a house cat. Do we expect a tiger to sit passively on our couch without scratching the furniture? Then why do we expect to tame our first draft into something it isn’t?
I challenge you, therefore, to re-think the criteria of a first draft.
Does your first draft get words on the page? Slap down some of your ideas? Read like a masterpiece in some places and a hot mess in others? Then you know what? Your first draft is perfect. It’s living up perfectly to the criteria you’re judging it against. A whole lot of bad—and good—and everything in between in a story that’s not yet complete.
So, Perfectionist, slap yourself on your back. Because you’re succeeding in writing a first draft the way it’s supposed to be. Perfect. For a first draft.