The first draft isn’t the final product

I know it sounds obvious but it’s worth noting that the first draft isn’t the final product.

When writing a first draft, I have to remind myself constantly that I’m only shoveling sand into a box so later I can build castles.

Shannon Hale (2015). Twitter.

Which means that there’s a lot of work you can safely ignore while you’re busy with the first draft.

  • It doesn’t need to be good.
  • It doesn’t need to make sense.
  • It doesn’t need to be logical (or have any kind of structure at all).

This is just a gentle reminder that the first draft isn’t the sandcastle. It’s the raw material you’re gathering, a lot of which you may even end up throwing away.


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