Why an Ugly First Draft is the Secret to Better Writing
For many people assigned a writing task, there’s nothing more intimidating than the blank page.
It sometimes results in hours of procrastination, sweaty palms, and a last-minute scramble as a deadline approaches.
So what’s behind the first draft intimidation — and how can writers overcome the obstacle?
Writing Confidence: Missing Across the Board
Low confidence in writing abilities appears to be a common theme. If you feel you’re not a strong writer, you’re not alone.
Research from 2012 showed that only one in four twelfth graders were writing at a proficient level (that’s young adults about to enter the workforce in 2015, mind you.)
At the college level, fewer than 50% of college seniors felt their writing had improved over the course of their secondary education.
And at the professional level, the National Commission on Writing found that companies spend more than $3.1 billion each year on remedial writing courses.
But what these low confidence writers may not realize is the power of a hideous first draft.
Writing Ugly
Getting an ugly first draft written down creates a starting place for improvement. It doesn’t have to be pretty, make sense, or go into detail yet — it just needs to be on the page.
I’ve seen lots of great posts before that talk about the idea of “writing ugly” at a high level, but not many that really spell out how to go about doing it.
That’s why I wanted to share the strategy I use when writing 10,000+ words a week for different clients and publications.
First things first: Create a framework.
Framework
Before you try to get too in-depth, create an ugly framework. It should look something like this:
· Intro
· Background
· Specific Points/Ideas/Tips (one per paragraph)
· Conclusion
This step will help you get rid of the empty page and allows you to visualize what elements you need to build upon. It’s your road map.
Middle First
You’ll want to focus on the middle section of your outline first. Nail down the examples or points you want to walk through, and leave the rest (including the title) for later.
Then, start filling out each paragraph one at a time. Include internal and external resources for reference (when necessary) and use short paragraphs for easy reading. Bullet points are nice, too.
Remember: This doesn’t have to be pretty. Just get the basic information down and you can perfect it later.
Background
Once you have the middle section complete, look at it as a whole to determine what kind of background information you need to share so that the reader has relevant context before diving into the bulk of what you’ve written.
This could be a fictional scenario, a story, a quote — just something that explains why in the world you’re writing what you’re writing.
Intro & Conclusion
These two parts come last. They should be similar, but not identical.
Your introduction welcomes the reader with a conversational tone, while the conclusion goes over what you explained and reminds him or her of the one main takeaway.
Editing
When your ugly first draft is complete, you can then go back in to polish things up and perfect your work — but not before then. Self-editing while you write is the enemy of completion.
If you need an extra set of eyes to look it over and give suggestions, ask for help. They might catch things you missed or have a different perspective that spots the holes or confusing elements within your piece.
And finally, give yourself enough time to go back after a day or two to check and re-edit with fresh eyes. As the idea rolls around in your mind over the course of a few days, you might have new thoughts on additions for your piece or arguments that could be made against a point you’re making.
Don’t Fear the Blank Page
The Bottom Line: By embracing the ugly first draft, you can write more efficiently — and over time, you’ll notice that the process becomes simpler until you never fear the blank page again.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kaleigh Moore is a copywriter. Share your writing roadblocks with her on Twitter at @kaleighf.
