How to Start Your First Draft According to David Sedaris

Ask David and he’ll tell you: To write is a way of life and a privilege. Celebrate your ability to make something out of your experiences, especially the difficult ones. Set yourself up for success by following some of David’s most tried-and-true tenets:

• Write every day: David wrote every day for 15 years before his first book was published. You don’t need to have a particular story to tell. You don’t have to be special or important. Your experience doesn’t have to be unique. You just have to be compelled to write, and you have to write every day. If David wasn’t published and selling books, he would still be putting pen to paper every day because he is obsessed with the act of writing itself. You have to write because you can’t not write.
• Let go of perfection: Don’t compare yourself to other writers—comparison is the thief of joy. Instead, find a way to be you. You may not write like David or any other writer whose work you admire, but you can find your way to your own best work. Perfection is not the goal. Wanting to be perfect won’t make you perfect, but it could stop you from trying.
• Be a beginner: Even the most seasoned and successful writers doubt themselves at times. Learning to trust yourself and your writerly instincts comes with time. You will feel lost, and that’s normal. You have to write through it. There is no reason to expect to be published right away or to expect to see improvement right away—let yourself be new at it, and commit to growth over time. If you started playing the piano, you wouldn’t expect to perform at a concert in two weeks or two months. It takes time to write well.

Keeping a diary where you write down things that happen to you, things you find funny or interesting, dialogue you overhear and love, and character traits, will help you see the world differently. Tuning in to your surroundings will open you to moments that could become stories and the parts of your world that belong in your writing.

To turn diary entries into a new story or first-person essay, David recommends completely re-writing the scene (probably a few times!). When writing these rough drafts, keep David’s tips in mind:

• Quote funny people: When the people around you are funny, you can bring them into your work. They know they are being witty, and you are taking them with you into the essay as part of the humor.
• Exaggerate: Stretching a scenario into the most ridiculous version you can imagine can be another way to get a laugh.
• Put yourself down: Be harder on yourself than you are on anyone else in a story. If, as David says, you’re “tuned in” to your surroundings, your life can sometimes feel like a story. If you participate and look beyond the surface, the details in the world unfolding around you can shape your subject. This is the best part of living as a writer—the moment when the story lands in your lap, David says. If you don’t engage with your surroundings, if you live online and use your phone as a shield when you are out and about, the story won’t find your lap.

Before you start writing your own memoir populated by characters from real life, a great way to become a better writer is to read the work of good writers. Here are a few works from David Sedaris that can help bring your own stories to the next level:

1. 1. Stump the Host (1993): a play that David wrote with his sister Amy under the name The Talent Family, performed at La MaMa playhouse in New York City.
2. 2. Barrel Fever (1994): David’s first time publishing a collection of stories and essays, which includes “Santaland Diaries.”
3. 3. Naked (1997): David’s first immediate bestseller, Naked is an essay collection addressing David’s upbringing, his mother’s death, his college years, and the time he spent hitchhiking as a young adult.
4. 4. Holidays on Ice (1997): a collection of Christmas-themed essays.
5. 5. Incident at Cobbler’s Knob (1997): another play that David wrote with his sister Amy as The Talent Family
6. 6. “Santaland Diaries” (1998): a short story about David’s experiences working as a department-store elf that was first read on This American Life with Ira Glass.
7. 7. Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000): This bestselling collection won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. The collection is divided into two parts: the first including essays about his childhood in Raleigh, North Carolina, and his time living in the United States, and the second composed of essays about his move to Normandy, France, with his boyfriend, Hugh.
8. 8. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (2004): This collection of essays centers around David’s family story, including his mom and dad. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.
9. 9. When You Are Engulfed in Flames (2008): a collection of essays about a wide variety of topics.
10. 10. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary (2010): a book of modern-day fables with animals for characters, illustrated by Ian Falconer.
11. 11. Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls (2013): a book of narrative essays that debuted in the number one spot on the bestseller list.
12. 12. Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977–2002) (2017): an edited compilation of David’s diary entries.
13. 13. Calypso (2018): David’s new book, a bestseller.

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