The best way to create polished writing, paradoxically, is to write a terrible first draft.
Anne LaMott begins with what she calls “a shitty first draft.” Her goal is to get something—anything—down. By drafting, she creates momentum. She then goes with the flow, trusting she can shape the piece later.
Carolyn Kaufman agrees that writers should “Always Write Terrible First Drafts.” However, she thinks of the first draft as building a skeleton. Each successive draft adds a layer to flesh out the framework. This brief summary doesn’t do justice to her metaphor. If you’re not comfortable with just letting a draft sprawl wherever it may, you may prefer Kaufman’s more structured approach: http://querytracker.blogspot.com/2012/10/always-write-terrible-first-drafts.html
Notes
LaMott describes the drafting process in Bird by Bird. An excerpt is available at http://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/1-Shitty%2520First%2520Drafts.pdf
Carolyn Kaufman’s “Always Write Terrible First Drafts” was posted October 22, 2012, at http://querytracker.blogspot.com/2012/10/always-write-terrible-first-drafts.html
Picture: By Own work File:Circulatory_System_no_tags.svg by LadyofHats File:Heart_diagram-en.svg by ZooFari File:KidneyStructures PioM.svg by Piom File:Lungs diagram detailed.svg by Patrick.lynch File:Digestive_system_whitout_labels.svg by LadyofHats File:Human_skeleton_front.svg_-_no_labels.svg by Mikael Häggström [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
