Why Print Out a First Draft?
It's about momentum. A printed first draft of an entrepreneurial memoir makes the dream tangible and that changes everything!
A Milestone for Holly
This week, I sent a copy of her memoir to Holly Safford, founder of The Catered Affair. This was a big milestone! I’ve been working as Holly’s developmental editor side-by-side with her for months, shaping her story into something powerful and lasting.
It’s not done yet. This is the first draft. But it will help her to do the final edits by seeing her book off the computer screen and in a format her readers will see it.
PRO TIP: I have it three-hole punched so she can move chapters around how she wants, something she found difficult in digital format. Flexibility is part of the process!
Steve’s First Draft
Just before that, I mailed another of my author-clients, Steve Norton, his first-draft book and workbook. Like Holly, he’s at that exciting stage where the story is fully out of his head and onto the page, ready to be shaped into its final form.
PRO TIP: His work won’t be n a book format until next year but he has some speaking and podcast engagements lined up. So I built out a workbook from material in the chapters that he can give away in the meantime. It also acts as a lead generators to collect emails.
Why a First Draft in Print Matters
With these first drafts now in hand, we’ve entered everyone’s favorite phase: final editing.
You might ask, why send a hard copy when the book isn’t finished?
There’s something powerful about seeing your work on paper. It feels real. Tangible. Like the story has taken shape, and the end is in sight.
Writers often tell me how much easier it is to revise from a printed page. You’re not just reading anymore; you’re experiencing your book as your future reader might. That shift changes everything.
And truthfully? I love it too. After months of digital work, it’s a thrill for me to see a project in a hard copy format for the very first time.
The Takeaway
These printed drafts are more than just stacks of paper. They’re a promise of what’s to come—a signal that all the dreaming, writing, and rewriting is moving toward something complete.
It’s one of my favorite moments in the writing journey: the place where possibility becomes reality.
So if you’re writing, here’s my encouragement: don’t wait for “perfect.” Print out what you have. Hold it. Flip the pages. Let yourself feel the excitement of seeing your words become a book.
That thrill is fuel. And sometimes, it’s exactly what you need to keep going.