“The First Draft of Anything Is Shit” Print

**This product is no longer available**

Starting is the first step to having written. Starting is also the hardest step. There is fear, perfectionism, uncertainty--all of them standing in the way of putting pen to paper. Every writer knows that just about any excuse to avoid getting started will work.

I have too many ideas! I need coffee first! Let me check my email before I begin, just in case.

What separates the amateurs from the pros is that they get the first sentence down. And then the second, and then the third. Until they have what looks like a story or an article or a chapter or a play or a whole book. And then they get to work.

Ernest Hemingway recognized this trait in the important, successful authors he knew (himself, first and foremost, obviously) and with this timeless mantra he freed generations of aspiring writers:

“The First Draft of Anything Is Shit”

We’re excited to announce our variation of this classic quote, complete with the initial edits. Our hope is that you frame this print above your desk and look at it each time you feel the resistance, as the prolific author Steven Pressfield calls it, pulling you away from your words. When the urge to not write overwhelms you; when you start to beat yourself up over what you have written, may Hemingway’s words mounted to the wall over your workspace tap into the power of putting your butt in the chair and staying at it.

Our goal is to help you, or help that friend who has always talked about wanting to write, to create that work which has been trapped inside them for as long as they can remember. In some small way, we want to draw all those shitty first drafts out of you, because all great works start with a first draft. And all first drafts are shit. We should know: you should have read the first draft of the message you’re reading right now!

Writers write (and then they edit). So start writing. Today.

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Each print is handmade in Texas using the centuries old letterpress technique, stamping each word into the paper to give incredible detail and texture. The red edits are pressed deeper with different ink to give amazing contrast and depth.

Details

Printing: Black Ink Letterpress with Light Impression + Red Ink Letterpress with Deep Impression

Paper: Mohawk Keaykolour - Cobblestone

Dimension: 11 x 17 Inches

Does not come framed.

Shipping Information

We ship worldwide.