Apple Core

When I quarter an apple, I like to make my first cut right through the center of the core. Sometimes I don't succeed, but it doesn't have much overall effect other than it's irritating, and I have to work harder to get it quartered. (Ha ha, working hard on quartering an apple. Go figure.) It doesn't ultimately change the taste of the apple, my horrible quartering of it; the apple seems to taste the same no matter how badly I mangle it. And if I quarter with near perfection, the apple still tastes the same. All that is different is my attitude, but that is something within my control, also.

In writing, it is the same thing. You want to get your first draft down as nicely and effectively as you can. But sometimes it goes awry, and you have to spend more time to fix it. In the end, though, the piece you have written reads just as well either way. I don't think I'll quit trying to quarter my apples to perfection or to write my first draft that way either. I'll just remember that either way, both will satisfy me in the end .