My Rules for First Drafts
+ a workbook to get that new year groove back
HAPPY ALMOST SPRING
Hello my honeybees! 🍯 Busy busy over here as I get ready to head to Los Angeles for the AWP Conference with Rose Books & Morning Writing Club.
If you’re unfamiliar: AWP is a tremendous writing conference that meets every year in a different city. How tremendous? Around 12,000 writers attend. Some call it overwhelming. I call it pretty stinkin’ fun. But then again, I’m an extrovert who loves being around writers more than almost anything.
If you’re attending the conference: come say hi to me at booth 1110, which is also my birthday. Synchronicity abounds these days.
TODAY'S NEWSLETTER
I’ve been working on the first draft of a new novel. The process has been joyful, but tough. Recently, I had to write a set of rules in order to keep pressing forward. There are five of them. I’m pleased to say that they’re doing the trick. They’re keeping me on track, but they’ve also opened up space for play in the process.
RULES FOR FIRST DRAFTS ↴
1. Your job: show up to the document and pay attention.
And trust that the rest will fall into place.
2. Tell, don't show.
Yeah, I know: isn’t it usually “show, don’t tell?” But it dawned on me recently that you have to tell the story before you can show the story.
Right now, don't waste your energy on showing. That is a premature effort.
3. Treat every part of the draft as temporary: especially the opening.
What have we learned from writing one novel and helping others with theirs? The opening chapter will change approximately 8.025 billion times: once for every person there is on this earth.
The story has to begin somewhere, so begin it and keep going.
Keep in mind: the opening 20 pages will eventually receive the most love and attention. Trust in the love that is on its way, and for now, simply let the opening be. Continuing on in the story past the opening will help you figure out where the story actually needs to open.
4. When the going gets tough, the tough start kissing.
Or, rather, the tough (me) make their protagonist start kissing. Or think about kissing.
Whenever you feel overwhelmed or bored by this novel, write a kissing scene. Because who doesn’t love a kissing scene?
5. Remember: you're allowed to write a bad novel.
A bad novel is a novel nonetheless.
Show up. Exist in the story. Don't worry about making it good. Making it good is Future Hurley's job. The Hurley of Now is responsible for getting the story on the page.
You have to put in the drywall before you can start painting.
PROLONG THE NEW YEAR ENERGY
It’s suddenly almost springtime, and I’m really missing that fresh-start feeling that felt so palpable at the start of the year. Perhaps you can relate!
Today, I offer a workbook I created called Intentions to Victories: Prompts to Re-Invigorate Your 2025 Intentions.
The workbook is filled with prompts that’ll get you thinking about how you might actually ~want~ to spend the rest of 2025.
GET THE WORKBOOK
Download the workbook for $10. Paid newsletter subscribers: you can get the workbook for just $5 using the promo code below today’s paywall.
🤑 BELOW TODAY’S PAYWALL 🤑
Paid subscribers, you can get my new workbook for just $5 using the promo code below.
I’ll be back in your inbox once I’m home from California. Happy writing! 📓