Attributed-no-source Quote by Ernest Hemingway

“The first draft is always shit.”

— Ernest Hemingway

“It is better to write a bad first draft than no first draft at all.”

— Will Shetterly

“The purpose of the first draft is not to get it right, but to get it written.”

— John Dufresne

“All great stories began as shitty first drafts. There are no exceptions to this.”

— M. Kirin

“First drafts don’t have to be perfect. They just have to be written.”

— Anonymous

“Getting the first draft finished is like pushing a very dirty peanut across the floor with your nose.”

— Joyce Carol Oates

The first draft of anything is sh*t.

— Ernest Hemingway

A careful first draft is a failed first draft

— Patricia Hampl

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story. -Terry Pratchett”

— Anna Blondell

“Write the draft from your heart!”

— Kathleen Ballantine Watson

“The first draft is your “vomit onto the keyboard” draft, wherein your task is to simply keep moving and outrun your doubts.”

— Sean Platt

“You write your first draft with your heart, and you rewrite with your head.”

— James Ellison