Tbh I Don't Understand This Constant Slamming Of First Drafts Anymore. Like, Yeah, Theyre The First Coat

Tbh I don't understand this constant slamming of first drafts anymore. Like, yeah, theyre the first coat of paint, but they aren't "shitty." First drafts are the fun part? I love my first drafts. They're like little kids who don't know anything yet, or your dumbest pet who makes you smile. They're so special when they haven't really matured because they're all the fun and emotional bits you cobbled together in bursts of inspiration. They're good kids, just kinda messy and incoherent with occasional awkward statements that you nervously laugh about. That's why we call it a work in progress

© 2018 Omar Rashan

walking the woods #294 *june-dec 2017

90% of writing advice can be thrown out the window for your first draft.

Show don’t tell? Ignore.

Basic grammar and punctuation? Unnecessary. 

Physical descriptions of characters? Don’t need to bother. 

Solid plot? That’s for later. 

The words don’t come as fast when you’re thinking of the best way to put them together. It doesn’t have to be pretty, or much more than inconsistent nonsense.  The point is to have it exist.

Effective storytelling is for subsequent drafts! Go write some nonsense! 

Wanderer Excerpt

“If you weren’t a soldier,” Fitzgerald said, scanning Viktor, “then what, might I ask, did you do in your world? Supply runs for your side? The real soldiers’ laundry?”

“Oh, I was neutral in the war, so I didn’t have a side to support.”

Fitzgerald actually took off his glasses. “How are you neutral when humans are fighting against a demon infestation? And I mean that literally—how is it possible to be neutral in that conflict?”

“Well, they’re a bit like bees, you see. If you don’t bother them, they don’t bother you.”

“That is not at all how demons work, Mr.—Mr., uh,” he paused, rifling through his papers again, “Mr. Rehak. They want to eat you.”

Viktor gestured toward himself. “And yet, here I am.”

found family dynamics i adore:

the entire gang shares 1 (one) braincell which they takes turns passing around

unwilling teammates gradually grow on each other

Area Man Forcibly Adopted by Several Children

bonded over shared trauma

none of us have actual families or homes to go back to anymore, but at least we have each other

“every single one of these guys has tried to kill me at least once, but we’re cool now and i’d trust them with my life”

redemption arc comes with bonus new family and friends (bonus feature is non-negotiable and eventual acceptance inevitable)

i WAS going to leave the group and go my own way as soon as this job was over - and i would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for my meddling heart!

villains with Feelings™

Officer I Swear I’ve Never Met Any Of These People In My Life (But If Anything Were To Happen To Them I Would Kill Everyone Here And Then Myself)