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Crappy First Drafts

Many writers, even seasoned ones, write really crappy first drafts, full of cliches, flat language, errors, and filler. I know I do!


Quality writing has far more to do with editing—the tweaking, the hammering, the cattle prodding—than writing.


Anyone can write "I tried to make sense of my life," "I was filled with love," "I felt encouraged." But for a reader, who cares? That is, until a focused editorial eye shines its Sauron-style laser on the quivering yawnfest of a sentence and forges it in fire.


This is true for all of us, not merely those who write in narrative styles. Just ask my business clients what specific, precise, image-centric language did for their projects and audience engagement.


I present, without further comment, absolutely gorgeous sentences from a book I've recently loved: Safiya Sinclair's How to Say Babylon.


"I could keep pulling the thread, spend years unraveling all that unraveled me, or I could pull it all through the needle’s eye, and stitch.…I finally met her...a tiny little wide-eyed thing, grabbing on to her crib. I did not expect it. Like a vase suddenly poured full with water, there was love. My bloodline stretched ahead of me, tangible and woven to hers, and everything seemed so possible."






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