It’s not a “sh*tty” first draft

It’s just a first draft

Which is to say, it’s a work in progress. It’s the clay just down on the potter’s wheel. It’s the paints you’re messing about with. It’s first thoughts, early tinkering, possibly already some cycling back and revision (if so, bonus points!). But it’s nowhere near where it needs to go to be publishable.

Because that’s how writing works. Writing is rewriting. It’s an iterative process, and it’s only in the iterations that the writing begins to shine. The more complex the narrative (or the ideas), the more this is so. But the principle always applies.

As readers, we see only the final result. Not the hard labor that preceded it.

As writers, we would do well to bear this in mind.