Shitty First Drafts

Stolen from Anne Lammott, the title basically says it all. The look of the first draft makes absolutely no diufference. It is an emotional outpouring. Get your feeligs about the product and how it should be sold on paper. If you can do that, you have mastered someething fundamentally important.

sometimes the shit just flows out of you. mostly not. mostly it’s a labor. contraction after contraction, sweating, cursing your partner for giving you the one thing you wanted most in this world.

here;s the truth. your first draft is going to suck. maybe the first few. accept it. write a shitty first draft. you’ll work faster. you’ll finish the assignment faster.

is thetimer still going? keep writing. take you shitteist workavble idea, put it down, and keep working down the page. you aren’t the next steinbeck or faulkner or stephen king. get over it. accept your fate as a shitty writer and just keep going.

accept that it will suck. you suck. everything you write sucks. accept it and just write some stupid shit. here'

I suggest practicing writing about the shot your parents put you through, or your bitch ex wife, or…

(My ex wife is actually really cool.)

Here’s the thing.

1. Become an expert on what you want to sell (myslef)
2. Know your prospect. What is their desire? What will motivate them to become a customer?
3. Write your headline and vacuum suction. (name this and link it)
4. Write the copy. An emotional outpouring. Everything in your head, write it down.
5. Edit copy. As few words as possible to get the feeling across.
6. Incubate. Walk away. Take a break.
7. Edit. (repea steps 5 and 6 as necessary… but don’t make yourself insane. art is never finished—it can only be left in an interesting place.)