No One Likes Writing First Drafts

While I will always love writing in the Loving Husband and Hembry Castle worlds, my creativity has been pulling me in other directions lately. I’ve started the academic research that has been on my mind for some time now, and I’m branching out in my fiction.

I’ve been writing and publishing for more than two decades, and I’ve been feeling the need to make some creative changes.

I currently have a new project that lights me on fire, but that means I am now languishing in first draft hell. You would think that because I’m working on my 15th book that my first draft would be easier this time, but it isn’t. Not even close. 

It’s not like this idea hasn’t had time to percolate. I spent a year daydreaming through this book, but it’s still a chore, putting one word after to the other until I have a complete draft, something to work with, a self-created slab of clay I can mold into the story I see so clearly in my mind.

I Definitely Don’t Like Writing First Drafts

The truth is, I hate writing first drafts of anything—essays, short stories, scholarly articles, novels, e-mails. This post. I have, I’m not embarrassed to admit, rewritten grocery lists because I didn’t like the way I organized them.

When I’m teaching writing I always know what to say to my students to help them deal with first-draft phobias or writer’s block, but do I listen to my own advice? Rarely. At least not until I’m so annoyed I have to remind myself what I already know about writing. Doctor, heal thyself.

Writers Love Excuses Not To Write

I’m still falling victim to old writers’ stand-bys, otherwise known as Excuses. Trust me, it’s not hard to find plenty of Excuses to keep from working. 

These are the days when I dust and vacuum instead of writing, you know, not just regular maintenance house cleaning but the vacuuming-behind-the-sofa-where-people-will-never-see kind of cleaning. The days when I brush my cats instead of writing that first draft, or worse, talk to my cats instead of writing that first draft. There are grocery stores to shop in, movies to see, lunches to do, friends to visit, books to read, research to complete, and classes to teach. 

I’m even going to the gym instead of writing, and I hate going to the gym. At this precise moment, I’m writing this post instead of working on that first draft. The list of Excuses can be endless.

In an attempt to remind myself what I already know about first drafts, I decided to write a few posts about the advice I’ve given to my writing students over nearly two decades to help them rise above such obstacles. The advice has been helpful for my students, and quite frankly, I need the reminding.

Are you like me, languishing before the computer screen, pulling your own hair, looking for ways to get that first draft done?

I’m beginning a new series called “How To Write a First Draft.” Whether you are a new writer or someone like me who has been writing for decades, I hope you will find some useful information. The first draft posts are coming soon.