The time for low standards

Isaac Asimov

Sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov famously said, "If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster."

Asimov was known for being a prolific writer, with hundreds of books to his credit. These included not just science fiction, but also books on science and such subjects as Shakespeare and the Bible. He was also noted for writing quickly off the top of his head. He didn't worry about drafts or revisions, and he left the editing to his editors.

Asimov would not have agreed with writing teacher Roy Peter Clark, who not only urged starting with a rough draft but also said, "Lower your standards at the beginning."

While I admired Isaac Asimov and have read many of his books, I write more in the way Clark suggests. Start with a draft and with low standards. And I mean low standards about everything — spelling, punctuation, grammar, factual accuracy, style, everything.

The important thing is to get your basic idea or argument or story down on paper — or on your computer — and then improve on it later. Spend too much time getting your first paragraph perfect and you can lose track of where you intended to go with your second paragraph.

Asimov, in effect, wrote nothing but first drafts, and perhaps he was not as far from Roy Peter Clark's thinking as it might first appear. He put down his ideas, and that was enough for his readers because they were wonderful ideas. He was never known for his style or for the grace of his language. He just wrote first drafts, and for him that was enough.