Once upon a time, there was a speechwriter named Winston Lord.
Cool name, huh? Sounds like he should have been royalty instead of a writer.
Like me.
But I guess we’re both just gluttons for punishment.
Anyhoo, before he became the ambassador to China, Winston Lord was Henry Kissinger’s speechwriter.
You remember Kissinger, right? He was the 56th Secretary of State.
I don’t remember much about him. I was just a kid when he was at the peak of his power. All I remember is that all the comedians of the day made fun of how he talked.
It was only a few years ago that I heard an interesting story about Kissinger. One that my research seems to show is true.
Or mostly true.
But since I’m on a self imposed deadline today, I’m not going to allow a minor detail such as the truth get in the way of telling a good story.
So here goes:
Winston Lord was preparing a speech for Kissinger.
(For some reason every time I say “Winston Lord”, I feel an overwhelming need to put my nose in the air and say it like a British Aristocrat.)
After days of working on it, Lord delivered a draft to Kissinger.
Like a typical writer, Lord waited anxiously for his client’s feedback.
Finally, Kissinger called him in the next day and simply said…
“Is that the best you can do?”
Lord said, “I thought so, but I’ll try again.”
He returned a second draft to Kissinger, only to be called back again and asked the same question, “Is that the best you can do?”
This game of back and forth continued several times until Lord, who was exasperated and exhausted, finally said, “Yes! I know it’s the best I can do. I can’t possibly improve one more word.”
Kissinger then replied…
“In that case, I will read it now.”
While I found a few variations of this story (even one told by Lord himself in an interview), the moral of the story remained constant:
Are you giving your best the first time?
I swear I just heard a collective moan from all my copywriter bruthas and sistas.
Because if you’re like me, your first draft is NOT your best.
And that’s totally OK.
You see, one of the keys to becoming a successful writer is giving yourself permission to suck.
And having the balls to create a really shitty first draft.
Cuz if you want your first draft to be perfect you’ll NEVER get it started.
You just need to squelch that internal editor in your crusty cranium and blurt out (on paper, of course) your first draft as fast as possible.
(Like I’m doing right now.)
The “Is this the best you can do?” stuff comes later.
I just turned in a piece of copy to a client.
He didn’t reply “Is that the best you can do?”
He said, “This is REALLY well written. I have nothing to add. No changes needed. It’s ready for legal review now. Well done.”
It WAS well written, if I do say so myself.
And it “only” took 3 LONG months of obsessing over it night and day… and practically sweating BLOOD every time I sat down to write.
A few people close to me actually thought I was having a nervous breakdown while in the middle of that piece. (Myself included.)
So yeah… it WAS the best I can do. (At this point in my journey at least.)
But you should’ve seen the first draft.
On second thought… I’m glad you won’t.
All the best,
Doberman Dan
P.S. Do ya love me?
Can’t get enough of me?
(You’re so sweet!)
Then here’s a little more from me today…
It’s an interview Matthew Passy of the PodUp podcast did with me.
He’s a good interviewer. Got me talking about stuff I don’t normally talk about.
We talked about positioning, podcasting, persistence and several other “P” words.
Enjoy!
Pax vobiscum.
