Write Beginner Drafts to Make Writing Happen

Some of the best advice I ever received about becoming a more productive writer was to allow myself to write beginner drafts.

Virtually every book on writing emphasizes the importance of being willing to write a beginner draft—a rough, messy, all-over-the-place draft that no one will see but you. Beginner drafts help you:

  • Get your writing juices flowing

  • Let ideas percolate

  • Put actual words on the page

Experienced writers know firsthand how challenging—and often painful—writing a first draft can be. They also know that one major reason writers resist beginner drafts is the belief that other writers don’t need them.

The Myth of the Effortless Writer

Anne Lamott (1994), in Bird by Bird, beautifully captures the myths many people believe about successful authors and contrasts them with the reality of writing:

People tend to look at successful writers
and think that they sit down every morning feeling like a million dollars
typing fully formed passages as fast as a court reporter. But this is just the fantasy of the uninitiated.


Very few writers really know what they are doing until they’ve done it
For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts. (pp. 21–22)

Even writers whose prose appears natural and fluid often experience writing as difficult, slow, and uncomfortable.

Why Graduate Students Struggle With First Drafts

Graduate students often make a similar and equally misleading comparison when they read published academic work. They forget that what they are reading is:

  • The final, revised, and edited version

  • Reviewed by peers or editors

  • The product of many earlier, messier drafts

Those earlier drafts almost certainly included:

  • Errors

  • Gaps in logic

  • Omissions

  • Unclear arguments

If you compare your early drafts to polished, published work, you are almost guaranteed to feel inadequate.

Experience Makes Writing Look Easy

There are academics who can:

  • Write a literature review in a weekend

  • Produce pages of elegant prose quickly

The key difference between them and you is experience. They have spent years engaging in academic writing and developing fluency over time.

You may not yet have that level of experience, and that’s okay. Improvement comes with practice, repetition, and patience.

Bolker (1999) encourages students to view beginner drafts as an opportunity to make a mess so there is something to clean up, refine, and eventually turn into writing you feel good about.

What Beginner Drafts Are (and Are Not)

Beginner drafts are about writing with abandon and letting go of concerns about:

  • Spelling

  • Grammar

  • Word choice

  • Sentence structure

  • Organization

  • Meaning

  • Style

  • Argument strength

The primary goal at this stage is simple: keep writing and get something down on paper (Bolker, 1989).

Stephen King (2002) describes the first draft as the draft you write with the office door closed. It is written without concern for an audience. Only after you have something drafted should you “crack the door open” and begin revising with your readers in mind.

Graduate students often write as if their advisor or committee is sitting beside them. Early drafts are not the time for that. Close the door and write freely.

Two Ways to Support Beginner Draft Writing

There are two concrete strategies that can help you shift into writing beginner drafts more consistently.

1. Set a Narrow, Specific Writing Goal

Choose a goal that you can realistically accomplish in a day. For example:

  • Draft one paragraph

  • Write a subsection of a chapter

  • Sketch ideas for one concept

Working on a small piece makes it easier to release high standards for a first draft.

2. Plan Beginner Drafts Into Your Timeline

Many of my clients explicitly schedule time to write:

  • Crappy drafts

  • Shitty drafts

  • Baby drafts

  • Rough, rough drafts

They also schedule time—often the next day—to revise those drafts. Knowing that revision time is already planned helps them let go and focus on writing in the present.

Give Yourself Permission to Be Messy

Writing beginner drafts may feel uncomfortable and awkward, but it is essential if you want to become a more productive writer.

Keep practicing:

  • Letting go of excessive standards

  • Writing freely

  • Trusting that revision will come later

Over time, you may find that writing beginner drafts becomes second nature—and that you get significantly more writing done as a result.

References

  • Bolker, J. (1998). Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day. NY: Henry Holt.
  • King, S. (2002). On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. NY: Pocket Books.
  • Lamott, A. (1994). Bird by Bird. NY: Anchor Books.

This article was written by Alison Miller, PhD, owner of The Dissertation Coach, a business dedicated to helping doctoral and master’s students successfully earn their graduate degrees.

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