Ernest Hemingway said “The first draft of everything is shyte.” He should know. He did not spell “shyte” with a “y” but I do not want to offend my email provider.
I want to explore this issue.
I procrastinate. Actually, that’s not quite true. The fact is that I can never get started.
The only way I can meet this challenge is to produce shyte first. I prefer to call it a first draft.
This morning I wrote a first draft for each of next weeks five emails. Voice recognition means I do not even have to look at the screen as I dump the words with unseemly haste.
Why do I share this with you? Because everyone I know tells me they cannot write. Nor can I.
They mean fine prose does not flow from their keyboard like it flowed from Somerset Maughams pen. Strange that Ernest Hemingway had the same problem.
But, given a first draft, a whiff of an idea, I can edit it into something usable. Like this email. So can you.
First drafts are not only about writing. You can use the approach for anything. What you’re looking to reach is…The Next Step.
If you don’t have a first draft then you’re stymied.
If you do have a first draft the next step is obvious. Edit the darn thing!
And that’s how most of us get anything done at all. A dreadful first draft, of anything, is much more alluring than a blank page.