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I will never get over the disappointment of starting a new book and seeing that it’s not the glorious, glittering, complex, heartbreaking, imaginative wonder I planned, but just some words on a page. It feels flat, flimsy and boring. Every. Single. Time.
And I feel like writers don’t talk about this enough! I see so many beginner writers be put off by it. They’ve planned something incredible - but first drafts aren’t incredible. They’re a lump of clay. They WILL be incredible - but not yet
There’s no way around that weak, flimsy, clunky first draft (or not that I know, anyway). You just have to deal with the disappointment, keep working, and hope that with each edit it will get stronger, cleaner, smarter, more imaginative, more emotionally satisfying
After 6+ books I should know this by now! But every time I start I think ‘THIS time. This time it will be perfect first time.’ And of course it’s not, and of course I’m disappointed. So if that’s you: it’s ok. Keep writing. It’ll never be what’s in your head - but it will be real
You can just keep your story in your head, never write it down, never feel that disappointment, never have to do the work. But then you’re not a writer; you’re a person who wants to write. So feel the disappointment with me! Let’s write our shitty first drafts! ONWARD!
