Writing Rule Number One: First Drafts Suck

Many people who agonize over their writing don't understand a fundamental truism: First drafts suck. Your first pass at any written piece is likely to be disorganized, either too dry or too florid, and might miss the boat altogether.

For instance, we all know the Gettysburg Address, one of the most famous and succinct speeches ever given. What you don't know is that Lincoln's first draft began with this sentence:

Back in 1776, when Washington, Adams, Hamilton, Franklin, etc. constructed what has come to be known as the United States of America, at a time when the nation had not existed for very long-when it was, in fact, a new country-it was, for all intents and purposes, at that time dedicated by those men to a number of important and noble ideals, i.e., that individuals should be free from coercion or constraint in choice or action, and that human beings should be understood by the state and their fellow citizens to be, in an abstract yet very real sense, each of the same measure in relation one to another.

Pretty bad, huh? If Abraham Lincoln's first drafts were lousy, why should yours be any better? The solution to a bad first draft is really very simple: get over yourself and write a second draft. Even something as short as a tagline needs this treatment; it's possible you may get it on your first go, but you can't know for sure until you've thought about it, run it by some other people, taken it for a test run.

Everyone writes mediocre, flawed first drafts-even those we acknowledge as brilliant writers. Occasionally you'll come in contact with someone who claims to always get it right the first time. We're willing to bet that that person doesn't write brilliant stuff off the cuff, but rather crafts and edits along the way.

Once you've completed a first draft, you'll need to take a break (go for a walk, play some online poker, have a baby, whatever you do to relax), and then reread with a sharp eye out for all manifestations of weakness: redundancies, inconsistencies, and redundancies. Next comes your second draft, and third draft, and however many it takes.

Writing is a craft; it is work. Getting your thoughts and information down is the first step. Researching, rewriting, editing, reading aloud, getting criticism, and rewriting some more are all part of what turns your piece into good or even great writing. This is a compelling reason to avoid procrastinating to the point that you are starting your first draft two hours before deadline.

Read your work out loud, even if it's just to the dog or the goldfish (or both, if that doesn't make you too nervous). Once you've got something decent, find a trusted friend or two (aside from the dog) to read your writing. You'll want the opinion of intelligent people who aren't afraid to give constructive criticism-maybe one of those annoying ones who claim to write perfect first drafts.

Oh -- you'll be happy to know that Lincoln was able to take his first draft and whittle it down to something more direct and poetic:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now that's good writing. But it ain't no first draft.