Your first draft is not terrible.
It is not any sort of insulting name you call it.
It is a baby. A young, inexperienced baby that might throw up on your shirt and cause you to lose sleep at night but you love it all the same and will patiently feed it and tuck it into bed at night with a kiss no matter what happens.
You do not call a baby stupid or awful because they are new to the world and do not have the ability or knowledge to function on their own. Instead, you nurture and teach them so they grow up smart and strong and capable.
Such it is with a first draft. A first draft is not bad because it needs care and attention. Don’t insult it because it is newly written down with ideas that are not yet fully formed. In fact, that is the reason why it is AMAZING. It’s a DRAFT! The FIRST one for the story! LOOK at it! It exists! It is ALIVE! And it is YOURS, this story you made.
So be proud of your first draft baby and, most importantly, be proud of yourself.
I use Arthur’s Note: “It’s a story! BRILLIANT! I love stories!”* to remind myself that my draft is just a draft, and it needs time to grow into itself.
It doesn’t always work, but it helps sometimes.
*Arthur’s Note is a Cabin Pressure reference, as it refers to a character who thinks damn near everything is brilliant, and who enjoys being told stories. And of course, it is also a pun on Author’s Note.
