A first draft is a battlefield of ideas tearing themselves apart. As you charge for the objective, injured ideas beg for your attention, plotting errors lead to landmines going off seemingly at random, research fox-holes beckon you to take a break and dive into something safe and intriguing, and critics (internal and external) direct bullets of self-doubt and flamethrowers of fear.
You want the shiny ribbon they hand out with a finished piece of writing (there is no ribbon, but sometimes there’s money)? You want to repose in the comfortable fields called ‘draft revision?’ Here is the best advice I know how to give to get you across that tormented murder-land called a first draft.
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