Drafts
Others’ Thoughts on Drafts
Literary Drafts
Pop art–style portrait of a man with glasses, wearing a suit and tie, with a calm, confident expression, set against a bright orange halftone background.
“Most times, I’ll just sit there, suffer, write shitty sentences, and hope I can make the next draft less putrid.”

Daniel Pink
Colorful illustration of an older woman with short blonde hair and glasses, wearing a patterned blouse and a pendant necklace, standing with arms crossed against a yellow and teal halftone background.
“Every first draft is perfect because all the first draft has to do is exist. It’s perfect in its existence. The only way it could be imperfect would be to NOT exist.”

Jane Smiley
Highly detailed illustration of an older man with curly hair and a thick mustache, wearing a suit and tie, with a weary expression and a split blue and yellow background.
“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.”

Kurt Vonnegut
NFL Draft
Dramatic vintage-style illustration of a young man running with a football, lit from behind with energetic rays, dressed in a dark uniform with a determined expression.
The NFL draft began in 1936 in Philadelphia at the Ritz-Carleton Hotel. The eligible pool was 90 men. The first player drafted was Jay Berwanger, who was also the first winner of the Heisman trophy. He never even played a down in a professional game! Instead, he opted for a career as a foam rubber salesman!
Zephyrs
Vintage sketch-style portrait of a thoughtful man with curly dark hair and sideburns, resting his chin on his fingers while gazing upward, with a distressed beige background.
“A bookcase is as good as a view, as much of a panorama as the sight of a city or a river. There are dawns and sunsets in books – storms and zephyrs.”

Anatole Broyard
Illustrated portrait of a stern older man with a white mustache, dressed in a suit with a red tie, set against a bold red and teal textured background.
“I would rather the man who presents something for my consideration subject me to a zephyr of truth and a gentle breeze of responsibility rather than blow me down with a curtain of hot wind.”

Grover Cleveland
Stylized digital portrait of a bearded man wearing sunglasses, a scarf, and a flat cap, with a cityscape reflected in his lenses and a turquoise sky in the background.
“When you feel lonely, pass on the somber days and the melancholy nights, with a pint of whiskey and a zephyr of poetry!”

Avijeet Das
Back to Issue