Messy First Drafts are the Best First Drafts

I'm currently working on the second draft of The Arcane Codex Book 3. The title is still alluding me, but overall I now have a firm grasp of the story (mostly). As I was reading my first draft in order to take notes on it, I realized three things in quick succession: 1) the first draft was a mess, 2) it had a lot of potential, and 3) I couldn't be more excited to start Draft 2. Because, for me,…