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The First Draft—Where the Magic (and Mess) Happens
Mark had an outline. It was solid. Logical. Well-researched. A thing of beauty, really. But when he sat down to write his first chapter, something terrifying happened—he suddenly felt like an imposter. The cursor blinked at him, judgmental and unforgiving, like a small but extremely sarcastic warning light.
Welcome to the first draft stage. It’s where every writer, no matter how experienced, faces the existential horror of their own ideas. But here’s the secret: the first draft isn’t about getting it right; it’s about getting it written. Think of it like sculpting a statue out of clay for the first time. It’ll be lumpy, it will take a lot of smooshing about, but at least you’ll have something to start with.
What Happens in the First Draft Stage?
At this point, you start writing. Simple, right? Wrong. Because this is also the stage where:
- Your characters or topics develop minds of their own and march off in completely unexpected directions.
- Your plot, which seemed so clear in your outline, starts behaving like an untrained puppy.
- You suddenly need to research the migration patterns of 14th-century European swallows because one minor character made an offhand comment about birds.
In short, chaos. But that’s good. Chaos is the birthplace of great stories (and also of great regrets, but we’ll deal with those later).
How to Handle First Draft Nerves
1. Resist the Urge to Edit
Your job is to get the story out, not perfect every word. Editing comes later, once the bones of the thing exist. Right now, stopping to tweak every sentence is like trying to decorate a cake while it’s still in the oven. Let it bake first.
2. Trust the Process
Some days the writing will flow like an enchanted river. Other days it will feel like trying to extract words from a particularly stubborn rock using only a spoon. That’s normal. The important thing is to keep going. Momentum is your best friend—fear, self-doubt, and your browser history full of unnecessary research are not.
3. Accept That It Will (Likely) Be Bad
No one writes a perfect first draft. No one. Not even the literary greats. There’s a reason first drafts are sometimes called ‘vomit drafts’—because they’re messy, unrefined, and may induce nausea. The trick is to embrace the mess.
4. Engage in Feedback (But Not Too Soon)
Talking about your work-in-progress can be helpful, but beware: showing your half-baked ideas too early can invite unhelpful criticism. Find the right kind of support—a writing buddy who encourages rather than critiques at this fragile stage.
5. Track Your Sources
If you are writing non-fiction don’t forget to keep a list of the URLs or source documents you are citing. You can clean this up easily at the end using a tool like mybib.
Next Steps
Once the first draft is complete, it moves on to editing—but for now, just focus on getting it done. Even if it’s terrible. Especially if it’s terrible. That’s what editing is for. Think of your first draft like a raw lump of dough. Right now, it’s sticky and formless. Later, with the right work, it will rise into something magnificent.
And if you need guidance, encouragement, or someone to talk you out of rewriting your opening sentence for the hundredth time, we’re here to help. Let’s get that book written!
We have coached many great writers to success, and also offer ghostwriting support for those with great ideas but no time or energy to get the book written.
Email info@harvardink.com or check out our homepage to learn more about what we do, or take a look at our blogs and resources page to see more content like this!
Now, go forth and write.
Photo by Dan Maxwell Jr., 2015, Pixabay.
