REALITY BLOG: GUMROAD
Days 15–21: Holy Grail of book-writing … the SFD!
I claim success, thanks to Anne Lamott
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This is a post in the series that started here.
If you have been following my journey, you’d know that last week I gave myself a seemingly low bar to surmount by today:
- Create my Gumroad storefront, and
- Complete the first draft of my book that will be listed on my Gumroad store.
I am happy to claim success with both of those.
Setting up a Gumroad account was easy; it took just a few minutes. I didn’t just do the initial keystrokes to create a skeleton account. I even have the conduit set up for cash flow from your wallet to my bank account!
I just need the piece that will entice you to start that flow.
That brings us to the second part, the first product to list on Gumroad; my book.
I do have the first draft done. So to speak. At this stage, it’s more like a collection of thoughts, loosely woven through.
Why am I calling this a success? That’s where Anne Lamott comes in.
If you are familiar with her classic, Bird by Bird, you are probably familiar with her tolerance — almost a prescription — for first drafts like mine. She calls them Shitty First Drafts (SFDs).
The only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts.
Lamott’s thesis is that we need to let go and write the first draft however unstructured it is; out of that clutter will emerge clarity and even brilliance in subsequent drafts.
I am glad to say that I got my SFD covered.
And that is a success in my book!
This is a post in the reality blog series on my quest to earn $1,000 on the Gumroad platform. The first post of this series provides a table of contents that gives a bird’s eye view of its progression.
Looking to next week, I’ll commit to a GSD — Good Second Draft. Next report on Day 28.
Thanks for reading!
