Completing the first draft of a book is crucial, and you want your manuscript to be the best it can be. It’s hard not to stop and edit what you just wrote. You start backtracking by making little improvements here and there, and perfectionism starts to creep in. Your writing stalls and burnout becomes a real thing. Publishing seems so far away! How do you keep moving forward?
Join me in this episode as I discuss essential approaches to maintaining writing momentum—like establishing a solid outline and saving revisions for after the draft is complete. Even gathering community support plays a vital role, especially when struggling with self-doubt and lagging commitment to accomplish what you started out to do. With the right approach, you can successfully reach your goal—and complete that first draft without perfection getting in the way.
If you’re struggling with momentum, this episode will help you narrow your focus and get you back on track in your writing journey.
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Why your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect | Episode 246 Transcript
These transcripts were generated by robots, not writers.
Stacy: Welcome. Welcome. This week we’re going to talk about why you need to stop putting so much pressure on yourself when you’re writing your first draft. I’ve been thinking about this a lot because I am in the process of writing my 19th book. So I have authored, co authored or ghostwritten 18 other books. Plus I have contributed meaningfully to more than 100 and influenced hundreds of books in my 16 years in publishing. And I always kind of go through the same experience actually with every new book. I have to remind myself that I need to just get it down. The thing about the first draft is it is the minimum requirement that you need in order to get your book in reader’s hands. It is very important that you get that draft done.
Stacy: But what happens a lot of times is that authors put so many so much pressure on this draft being good. The thing is, the draft does not need to be good, it just needs to be done.
Stacy: There are some things that you should be thinking about that will help ensure that you’re setting yourself up for success later on in your writing process.
Stacy: So a few things that you should be thinking about with your draft. One is that you have a good architecture, that you have good book architecture. So that means that you have created an outline that takes your reader on a journey, has strong narrative arc. There’s also an information arc that you need to think about, an emotional arc, even in how to, even if in very prescriptive nonfiction. So having a well structured book will set you up for success later on. Another thing that is pretty important to figure out at the outset is your message. So what are you trying to say with this book and who are you trying to say it to? So getting clear on your reader is also very important.
Stacy: And I coach authors to find their one reader so it’s the one reader that is representative of their larger reader group. So those things are pretty important as you are drafting your book. Then you get into the writing process. Of course there’s other things that I support authors on as they’re preparing to write, as they’re building their outlines. But then you get into the writing process and of course you want to do a good job as you’re writing. You don’t want to just, like, I don’t know, just sit down and pound words, blah, blah, blah. But you do want to let go of the need for it to sound perfect. You need to let go of that.
Stacy: I would say, like, I don’t know what exactly the word is I’m trying to find here, but it’s almost like a pull to go back and rework, rework. Because what happens is you write a little bit, you go back and edit, you write a little bit, you go back and edit, you write a little bit, you go back and edit. And so you kind of end up on this two steps forward, three steps back sort of situation, and you’re never really making progress. Instead, what I encourage authors to do is follow the advice of Dory the fish. Just keep swimming. Just keep writing. Throw some notes and comments in there for yourself of things that you know you want to revise later. But keep writing, keep moving. Get the draft done. I had to remind myself of this today.
Stacy: I’m working on chapter four of my book, and I had let the book drop for a couple of weeks because I had travel. I was also meeting with people that I hoped would help me bring my book into the world. So I just had a lot of things going, and chapter four just had one section left. And I got into it today. I was writing, and I knew I had a few paragraphs to go. And I almost did what I encourage others not to do, which was go back and rework instead of continuing forward. And I was like, no, no. I got to take my own advice. I finished chapter four, and so now I get to move on. I get to move into chapter five, and that felt really good.
Stacy: Did I feel like I wrote the best chapter four I could have possibly written? No, because I’ll go back in the editing stage, and I will work on it then. And this is another piece that you really need to understand when you’re writing your first draft is that you have editing. That is such great news, because this draft just needs to be as complete as you can get it at the stage that you’re in. And then you have the editing stage later on. And you can only get to the editing stage if your draft is complete.
Stacy: So as much as you can, as much as you possibly can, avoid editing, avoid going back and reworking and tweaking and adjusting, avoid that hamster wheel, because what happens is, at some point, you’re going to get too tired on that hamster wheel and you’re just going to hop off and stop. And this is where so many great books die. They never make it out into the world. They never make it into reader’s hands. So if you’re working on a book, or maybe you’ve set one aside and it’s time to pick it back up, just keep this in mind. Just keep writing. Just keep moving. Just keep going. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to be done. It needs to be completely needed so that you can take those next steps.
Stacy: You can move into editing, you can move into publishing, marketing, all the great things that you have to look forward to as an author. And don’t let perfection be the enemy of done, because you do need to get it done. You need to get that draft done. And I’m saying this to myself too, because I am in this with you. And even though I’ve been through it many times, each book is its own journey. So I have to keep reminding myself, just like I am encouraging you, this was a short and sweet episode today. I hope it’s really helpful for you on your author journey. And if you’re still listening to this or watching on YouTube, you must have really enjoyed this episode. So do be sure to subscribe because you want to make sure that you don’t miss future episodes.
Stacy: Both these solo episodes that I do and also episodes that I do with amazing guests. Oh my gosh. I’ve had so many incredible guests lately and I want to thank, as always, Rita Domingues for her production of this podcast and YouTube and all the things. She is absolutely incredible. Such a gift. She makes sure that everything gets out into the world and I am grateful. And if this was helpful for you, think about somebody in your life that’s working on a book and share this episode with them. You might be the reason that somebody gets their book done. Done. You could be that person that says, I see you, I believe in you, and here’s something to encourage you along your way. And that’s it for this week. I will be back with you before you know it.
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