Shoutout to the person who said to write the bad version first

I was stuck on my opening scene for like a week. I wanted it to be perfect right away, so I kept deleting everything after two sentences. Then I saw a comment here that said 'just write the worst, dumbest version you can think of to get it down.' So I did. I wrote a version where my main character literally tripped over a rock and said 'oof.' It was terrible. But having that awful thing on the page let me see what I actually wanted. I spent the next two days fixing just that one scene, and now it's the strongest part of my draft. That one piece of advice saved me from quitting. Has anyone else tried the 'write it badly on purpose' trick for a tough section?

3 comments

3 Comments

paulschmidt18d ago

You said you wrote the worst version to see what you actually wanted. I find it works better to think of it as a rough sketch, not a bad version. That mindset keeps me from judging the raw material too harshly. It's all just clay to be shaped later.

kim37318d ago

Yeah, that rough sketch idea is smart. I read something once about how the first draft is just you telling yourself the story. Calling it a "bad version" can make you freeze up because you're already judging it as finished. But if it's just a sketch, you're free to make a mess knowing you'll clean it up. It's all about giving yourself permission to be messy at the start. That shift in words makes a huge difference in how you feel while doing the work.

andrew_palmer9910d ago

Totally agree about calling it a sketch.