John McFee on Draft No. 4

It's behind the paywall, but worth noting. New Yorker writer John McFee is offering up thoughts on writing, and his piece on first drafts in the 4/29 issue entertains and informs. If you're one of my former COM201 students, you learned the value of rough drafts -- they can be rough. McFee says you can't really start shaping your story until you have one.  Below is a little harsh tidbit, but look for the entire piece is in your NYer pile, on a library shelf  or in someone's bathroom:

You are working on a first draft and small wonder you’re unhappy. If you lack confidence in setting one word after another and sense that you are stuck in a place from which you will never be set free, if you feel sure that you will never make it and were not cut out to do this, if your prose seems stillborn and you completely lack confidence, you must be a writer. If you say you see things differently and describe your efforts positively, if you tell people that you “just love to write,” you may be delusional. 



http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/04/29/130429fa_fact_mcphee