“The first draft of anything is shit.”

— Ernest Hemingway

I’m not in full agreement with that mindset. Or maybe I am and I simply don’t care! I finished my first manuscript (MS) a couple of months ago. [The same one I mentioned in my last blog post on research.] On a whim, I passed it on to a couple of people in my writing group. I hoped to get some general feedback and tips on what not to do in my future attempts at writing.

To my surprise, two of my friends responded quite favorably on my first attempt. They both like the story and the characters (so far anyway.) What’s even more surprising is that they believe this could be a published book some day. My questions: “Seriously? Published?”

“You work your little butt off on those first round edits, but don’t be in a big rush. we have time. and I’ll make time for the project,” said my editor friend.

Well, alrighty then! I guess I have my work cut out for me. The word ‘work’ doesn’t feel right, though. To me it’s more a journey – an adventure, even. Work is that thing I do Monday-Friday so that I can pay the bills. Writing is much more than work and I don’t mind spending hours … days … weeks … months doing it – for nothing. (Well, nothing for now. At some point down the road, if I’m lucky, a publisher will cut me a break and then – who knows!) The amount of time spent on the craft may be difficult for some folks to understand –

For those of us who have the itch, though, there is nothing like working on our craft. Or talking about our craft. Or encouraging and supporting each other in our craft. Or wishing and hoping for success in our craft. For me, writing is something I love to do. I enjoy getting into my story, whichever one I’m working on. My hope is that at some point in the future someone else will get as much enjoyment out of my story as I do! And when I heard from two fellow writers that they enjoyed my story – well, it made me downright giddy!

So, is the first draft of anything really shit? I’m sure each writer has their own answer to that question. Mine is — who cares! Just keep pumping out the words and who knows what may fall outta the pile!

And maybe there’s a happy dance at the end!