Something I’ve noticed around the aspiring author blog scene is the posting of writing from a work in progress, usually accompanied by a disclaimer along the lines of “this is totally first draft, but I’m posting it anyways.” While I can understand that blogging is a form of catharsis for many people, and that posting work will often bring positive feedback from your friends, family, and other people too polite to post negative comments, I have to wonder why anyone would post what is in all likelihood the worst example of their talent as a writer.

For illustration’s sake, here’s something from my own work in progress:

Luke knew that he was getting stuck in the image that Hollywood put out there, and that he was attempting to live in the grey area between super hero, and every day hero. He couldn’t fly, couldn’t see through walls, didn’t have superhuman strength, and didn’t have adamantium claws embedded into his hands. He also didn’t possess the Jason Bourne-like qualities of intuitive language and fighting skills that would take fifty years of training to master. He was just a man. Thinking about the fact that he was skipping school at the moment, he revised that in his head to just a boy. He was sixteen years old, and he couldn’t hold himself up to the standards of anything in his comics or movies, nor should he compare himself to the real world spies who work with millions of dollars worth of training and technology behind them. He needed to start somewhere, and no one was perfect when they first started. The real asset, as he saw it, was that he didn’t want to just be some one off hero who found themselves in an extraordinary situation and took the right course of action. No, Luke wanted to consistently seek those wrongs in society that he knew he could act on, and one day his training and experience would allow him to tackle larger and larger issues. One day, he really would be a force to be reckoned with.

This is not a fair representation of who I am as a writer. It suffers from gramatical errors, is somewhat incoherent, slightly confusing out of context, and the writing is just plain messy. After several revisions, this paragraph will hopefully take on the tight and engaging style that will make a reader want to stay on the couch until they finish the book, but right now it’s just part of the foundation on which I’ll build a readable novel. If you were to read the rest of that chapter, you might seriously doubt my ability to ever produce anything worth reading.

Consider the following before sharing your first draft writing:

1. Your first draft writing is not very good. I’m not trying to be mean here, but it’s true. First drafts are for your eyes only. Show them to a close friend if you really nead structural help, but try to resist. You should always clean up your work before sending it to anyone so that your Beta Readers are receiving the best product that you can produce on your own. They shouldn’t be doing your dirty work for you, but rather helping you take your work to a higher level of excellence.

2. Readers will judge you. Little turns me off more than writing excerpts riddled with errors and clichéd or awkward phrases. Posting your lowest quality of writing on a blog or forum might lead people to pass unfair judgment on your ability to produce a quality finished product. Do you really want to put this facet of your writing out there for everyone to see?

3. Even if your draft writing is good, it might not be interesting out of context. It takes looking at the big picture to see if the little pieces all fit together. Extraneous plot elements need to be weeded out, character traits may be inconsistent, and your rough chapter excerpts are probably lacking the momentum they need to carry the reader through. It’s challenging enough to pull an excerpt from a polished work that will stand on its own, and even more difficult to do so from a rough draft.

4. If I’m reading entire chapters on your blog, what makes me want to read them again when they’re published? We all want to get published, right? If I visit your blog and am getting blasted with an excerpt once a week, might it not feel like I’ll be reading the book twice if it actually gets published?

So when is it okay to share my writing?

This depends on what you’re hoping to get out of it. If it’s something you want feedback on, do your critique group a favour and clean it up as much as possible. Before you ask someone to work hard to help you with your writing, remember that this is a relationship based on mutual respect and that you should try hard to fix it to the best of your abilities before sending it out.

You might also find yourself in the position of wanting to promote your forthcoming novel. That’s great, congratulations! Now you can post experpts from your published work. Hook people with that same fabulous writing that you used to land an agent and publisher, and by all means put a few chapters up on your blog.

What do you think? Is there anything to gain from posting first draft writing on your blog or favourite forum?