Hello, my beautiful readers. If you are here, that means you are probably like myself and struggle when sitting down to write the first draft of a paper or story. Growing up, I always hated the idea of writing something I knew would be the imperfect version of my desired result. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t just write the perfect paper or story on the first try. But don’t worry, I started to understand why when my teachers began pointing out all my spelling and grammar errors! Needless to say, I would sit at my desk and stare at the blank page in front of me for hours, compiling my thoughts and writing my essay in my head. It was almost like I was afraid of the blank page before me, and I couldn’t write anything on it unless it was perfect. That was something I never understood for the longest time. It wasn’t until one of my teachers in high school sat me down and told me it was because I had a “fear of failure.”
The reason why I couldn’t sit down and write out my first draft was because, in the back of my mind, the first draft was a failed attempt. It was a draft of the story I was never going to publish or a draft of the essay I was never going to turn in.
I finally did realize that my problem stemmed from the fear of failure when another teacher talked to me about the writing process. This time though, I was a freshman in college, and I had a nine-page paper due in less than 24 hours. I decided to go meet with my professor and tell him I was struggling. We ended up talking for an hour. We bounced ideas back and forth and when we landed on one I was interested in, we did a deep dive into why. When all was said and done, my professor told me, “This conversation was your first draft. Just because you didn’t write it down doesn’t make it a draft. Sometimes you need to think out loud instead of by typing your thoughts into a computer.” In our conversation, I had come up with a thesis statement as well as the topics of all of my body paragraphs, and I didn’t have to write any of it down before I decided that was what I was going to write.
The bottom line is that whether you are writing an essay for class or a story you want to publish one day, your writing process is going to look different than the person next to you. Someone else may have seven written drafts before their final, the next person could have scattered their thoughts onto individual sticky notes or napkins, and you could have three different conversations and then two written drafts before you reach your desired result. Writing looks different for everyone no matter how many drafts, sticky notes, outlines, or conversations you end up with. Everything you do on your journey to writing a magnificent piece is essential. Your three conversations were not your first three failed attempts at writing your paper. Your seventeen sticky notes all over your desk are not your seventeen failed drafts. What I didn’t believe until now was that your writing process cannot produce failures. No matter what you do in your writing process, none of it is “garbage” or a “failure.” You cannot achieve your final result without everything it took to make it.
As I started to accept this, I began to lean on my professors and peers more for feedback and simple conversations. I used the community of writers around me, and my writing grew tremendously in the process. I also learned exercises I can do to jog some ideas or thoughts when I am suffering from a good old-fashioned case of writer’s block. Not only did those exercises help the ideas start flowing, but they helped me with my fear of the first draft too.
The exercise I use the most is free writing. I will set the timer on my phone to five or ten minutes and just start writing. Every thought that is in my mind, whether it is related to my essay or story or not, is written down. Normally there are a few sentences or even paragraphs of me complaining about how much I don’t like it, but then eventually, somewhere near the middle, I start to see some ideas just naturally getting thrown into the mix. By the end of the time limit, I will have transitioned from complaining about having to do the exercise to writing a draft of one of my body paragraphs.
This exercise is not going to get you your final draft by any means, but it will be a building block you can use along the way. It can be your first draft, and from there, you expand on it until you find yourself submitting your paper and being proud of yourself for not giving up or succumbing to the fear of the first draft or writer’s block.
Here are some other exercises and prompts you might find helpful to overcome your fear of the first draft:
Some of the exercises might be repeats, and some of them you will find won’t work for you, and that is okay. Trust your own process, even when it looks different from the person next to you, which it will. Trust your talent and instincts for understanding and mastering your craft. You have a gift and nothing you could write could ever be considered a failure! Happy writing!
Jo Mahlum
Student Representative, Midwestern Region, 2024-2025
Alpha Tau Chapter
St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI
Sigma Tau Delta
Sigma Tau Delta, International English Honor Society, was founded in 1924 at Dakota Wesleyan University. The Society strives to
- Confer distinction for high achievement in English language and literature in undergraduate, graduate, and professional studies;
- Provide, through its local chapters, cultural stimulation on college campuses and promote interest in literature and the English language in surrounding communities;
- Foster all aspects of the discipline of English, including literature, language, and writing;
- Promote exemplary character and good fellowship among its members;
- Exhibit high standards of academic excellence; and
- Serve society by fostering literacy.
With over 900 active chapters located in the United States and abroad, there are more than 1,000 Faculty Advisors, and approximately 9,000 members inducted annually.
Sigma Tau Delta also recognizes the accomplishments of professional writers who have contributed to the fields of language and literature.
