When I picked up a paintbrush for the first time a few years ago, I had no idea I would start seeing similarities between it and a much older hobby of mine; writing. I have written since I was in late Jr. High School, but even I tend to forget that writing is also an art and what that could mean for the process.

Once my canvas is prepped and I am ready to start a painting, the first step is to paint without worry. This is laying down a base colour and splotching on the beginnings of ideas as rough shapes. At this point, likely no one would be able to tell what I planned for the painting to become, but it had started.

This step is surprisingly similar to the first rough draft. As a writer, the rough draft is the creative output on document that is not intended to be crowd ready, it is the barest shape of ideas. During this part, you should not worry as much about quality, just focus on giving a base layer for the story to stand on.

From then on, in both painting and doing drafts, it is about adding on layer after layer. As time goes on, the layers gradually get more detailed, until finally at the end you have a polished product.

Writing and painting are both creative arts, so it really should not have surprised me so much to realize how similar the process is, but it did. Oddly enough, the realization helped too. I understood that the first draft of a novel is not supposed to be perfect, but it never really sunk in. I had heard people describe it as the foundation to build off of, or the skeleton of a body, and yet I could feel myself feeling down when my first drafts were less than perfect. I guess I had to find my own simile for it to really hit me properly.

The first draft, for me, is the base layer of a painting. It needs a lot of layering, but eventually it will get to finished.

Fantasy Writers Unite Group
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New Year, New Goals!

Every year, I like to give myself new goals to work towards.

• Read 40 Books
• Rewrite the first draft of Woad (temporary title)
• Finish the Rework of To Steal From a King.
• Meet more writers
• Start a “Mythological Creatures of Canada” acrylic painting series.
• Improve my health