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Q&A In What Way are Most First Drafts Bad?

"That's not writing, that's typing." Indeed. I would not say that a first draft is necessarily bad. It likely requires some editing, but that might still make it hard to distinguish from the origi...

posted 7y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T06:20:14Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27543
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T06:20:14Z (over 4 years ago)
"That's not writing, that's typing." Indeed.

I would not say that a first draft is necessarily bad. It likely requires some editing, but that might still make it hard to distinguish from the original.

Alas, especially in our era, it is too easy to sit down and type. Unlike Mr. Kerouac, we do not even have to carry a typewriter around; we can do it with our thumbs on a handheld device, or even record our spoken stream of consciousness for later transcription. Software will correct our spelling, but not our skills.

Thus, our "first draft" may really be what software folks call an "alpha" pre-release. Then, it may be poorly planned, uncertain in its POV, or overly moralistic.

Famous line from _Heart of Darkness_: "He had something to say. He said it."

It it easy to type, without having anything to say.

For comparison: Search for images of the original scores of famous classical music works, as handwritten by their composers (Beethoven, etc.) Compare to the same scores, after publication.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-04-14T15:49:01Z (about 7 years ago)
Original score: 2