On Drafts

It’s just a draft, I remind myself. Again and again. It’s just a draft.

It’s not supposed to be good, or perfect. I know that. Everyone knows the first draft isn’t built to be what you present the world. Maybe it’s good, maybe it needs to be entirely redone.

I’ve been dueling a new side to this – I have a polished advanced copy of Blue Note that I’ve been using as a mouse pad for the past week, and I have the roughest of drafts for The Last Salamander on my screen.

I want perfect words to flow from my fingers, but TLS is still being molded into whatever it’s going to become.

It’s hard to remember when Blue Note was burning to pieces and we had no idea what to do with it. It’s hard to remember when we felt so lost and uncertain about what Blue Note was going to be and how it fit in with our existing (published online) writing.

But, I remember it: It was a long process full of exciting moments – highs and lows. I loved writing Niels, and I love writing Shea.

It’s just a draft. It’s a work in progress. It’s going places.

Someday it might even be promoted to the glorious position of mouse pad.

Until then? Just keep writing.