Books and Other Obsessions

All good writers write [shitty first drafts]. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts. 

People tend to look at successful writers who are getting their books published and maybe even doing well financially and think that they sit down at their desks every morning feeling like a million dollars, feeling great about who they are and how much talent they have and what a great story they have to tell; that they take in a few deep breaths, push back their sleeves, roll their necks a few times to get all the cricks out, and dive in, typing fully formed passages as fast as a court reporter. But this is just the fantasy of the uninitiated. I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts.

Very few writers really know what they are doing until they've done it. Nor do they go about their business feeling dewy and thrilled...We all often feel like we are pulling teeth, even those writers whose prose ends up being the most natural and fluid.

For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts.

1. Write shorter. Why it matters - Readers are impatient and will give up on your blog post, email, document, or story before you’ve made your point. Every extra word makes readers antsy. Long sentences make readers work too hard to figure out your meaning. Why you write long - It’s far easier to type than to edit. New ideas keep occurring to you as you write each sentence. You think long sentences make you sound sophisticated.  The fix - Edit. Delete your “warming up” text and start with your main point. Cut extraneous detail and repetition. Break sentences down into bite-sized ideas. Think Hemingway, not Dickens.