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²~Photo Credit~² |
I often wish I could read a slew of first drafts from published and unpublished authors. Intellectually, I understand first drafts are raw, messy, unrefined. I've heard other writers describe theirs. I've read countless articles and how-to books on the subject. But to see a couple first drafts would be to truly believe, that every great novel began as a raw, unrefined mess.
Guess I'll just have to keep the faith and plug away at mine, to capture my own Seeing-Is-Believing experience.
Some tips I'm using to cheer myself on during this challenging plow-through-the-fear-and-self-doubt writing stage are:
² The first draft is the time to Free Write. It's all about creating, letting loose a high energy flow of wild imagination.
² Concentrate on the characters, tell their stories. Only look forward --> What comes next? Don't look back and worry about what you've written. If something important comes to mind, add a comment in the margin for later, but move forward!
² You are a Writer now, not an Editor. Writers tell stories, so lose yourself in that task. Leave the spelling, grammar and punctuation to the Editor you're allowed to be later, when you are in the revision phase.
² Don't be afraid and have fun!
What other tips do you have for plowing through and getting that first draft finished?
38 comments:
great post - but that picture really grabbed my attention, too! i LOVE it!
i'm one of the ones that can't ever turn off her internal editor. i think that's a good thing. you wouldn't want to see my first draft otherwise....
First drafts have never been my problem. It's what comes after that bogs me down and gives me pause.
It just started snowing here again. SQUEE! (oops...that's my inner-child slipping out).
I think you nailed it.
These are great tips! I know so many writers who get really caught up in editing their first drafts and it takes them years to finish! I try to get throught it without too much pausing. Then in the second draft, the real work begins!
These are good ones:) I tell myself I can't sell a book until I've written it!
Wonderful advise! I like fun and telling stories is FUN to me :)
Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow
I'm right there with you. Being in school, teachers are constantly giving examples. I wish there was a database of 'example' first drafts. However, I like you attitude.
Although revisions are daunting, we're all ultimately striving to write the best novel possible. So revisions are really that blessing in disguise.
Best of luck! You can do it!
I'm afraid this is my biggest weakness. I'm like those 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioners that never do the trick because you can't really mix those products and come out with good results. I wish I had the discipline to not edit myself!
I find alcohol and sleep deprivation very helpful, especially when combined. Seriously. There is something to that saying 'write drunk, edit sober.'
Even if you don't drink I think the mindset has to be the same, you have to relax, let the inspiration flow, and worry about perfection, or at least the pursuit of it, later.
I think your second point is HUGE for me. I can get very fearful about drafting, but when I forget about myself and think only about the characters and their stories, everything flows again.
I never appreciated the first draft more than after I had edited, edited, edited, my third novel (currently querying). Just think that your first draft is probably the only draft you'll have that's just between you and the words. That's a special relationship, something totally new.
I try not to get hung up on word count. I find I write more when I focus on a story goal.
I think no matter where you are in your career. Fist drafts are always messy. Good luck with your revisions! :)
Best tip I can give:
Pretend that delete and backspace don't exist.
No wait... I have a better one.
Write in Pen.
That way delete and backspace don't exist.
:-P
I love the freedom of the first draft. I'm all loosey-goosey and allow myself to suck during the first draft.
Every draft that follows becomes increasingly less fun. I fester over every detail. Fester fester fester. Change change change. Tweak tweak tweak.
By the 5th draft I'm ready to torch the damn thing and do a primal ritual dance upon its ashes.
Have fun and enjoy the ride. You can't revise a blank page, so let it rip. :)
Love,
Lola
I just want to see the story end! That usually motivates me to plow ahead. Then I can see the whole picture and make adjustments from that point.
Awesome photo! I've just finished a first draft, so off with the writer's hat and on with the editor's. All the best to you with your FD!
I believe there's an edition of The Great Gatsby out there that's actually the next-to-final draft. It shows how the manuscript was before the final editing touches were made, so you get to see how Fitzgerald and his editor worked to make it the classic it became.
Haven't read it, no idea where to find it, but I hear it's out there. I'm agnostic about it, actually.... ;)
hi miss nicole! i like all that you said. for me im a peanutbutter cup first drafter cause i just write like my most favorite candy and thats enjoy it over and over til there nothing left. after that its not tasting so sweet any more. ack!
...hugs form lenny
That is great advice! I so need to take it.
Those are good tips. When I start to edit mid first draft, I always remind myself that no matter what I do then, I'll still have to fix later.
I like what you said about freewriting. That's so true! This post reminds me of what Anne Lamott says about the first draft being the "down draft" because you just get the story down. And the 2nd draft is the "up draft" bc you fix the story up! So cheers to down drafts and unleashing our wild imaginations!
All great tips!
I also tell myself not to fear brackets. My first drafts are peppered with stuff like [what kind of tree?] and [look up better location]. That way I can keep the flow of the story going without getting bogged down in the details I may not know yet. Then, when I'm having a day where the story just won't unfold, I can spend it looking up the details I skipped over. Keeps me productive.
Great post - I really like the picture as well.
I also wanted to let you know about a giveaway I'm hosting. Stop by if you get a chance. http://writinginwonderland.blogspot.com/
"I often wish I could read a slew of first drafts from published and unpublished authors."
Very true. It's so hard to know where you stand without a frame of reference, and so easy to get bogged down striving for perfection when all you read apart from your own work is polished and professionally edited and published!
They say that all first drafts suck, no matter who you are; yet sometimes this raw material contains something undefinable that a polished edition lacks, a spontaneity that can't be reined in. I agree, a first draft is an opportunity to let your creativity run wild!
I love that pic too!
You had some great points. I'm in the editing phase right now and I feel like it's dragging. Hopefully, it'll start moving along at a better pace soon though.
EWWW, Nicole, I read the third one down about being a writer first NOT an editor...that is very difficult for me as I feel I have to edit as I write. I'm working on it, but certainly get bogged down with this even in my blogs.
We truly can be our own worst critics, yes?
thanks for your get well wishes, so glad Miss Angel-Kitty has things under control while I'm recovering from this crud :)
For me, the freedom of NaNoWriMo was amazing. I simply wrote my story, start to finish. I have to go back and fix a timeline issue, but other than that, it's just editing and making it pretty. I didn't add any color at all, just the story. Like a giant outline. I wish there was something like nano for editing....
Glad you're enjoying the process!
Plowing through the first draft is hard for me too. It's so hard to turn off the evil internal editor.
Good luck! :)
I love this picture! You are exactly right, dream on paper first, edit later.
I try to remind myself to tap into the right brain and tell the left brain s/he can play later. ;)
I actually suck at turning off my internal editor. To help with that, though, I let myself go back and read the last 5-10 pages I wrote each time I sit down to write. Not only does it let me vent some of the editing nerves, it puts me back into the story to flow a bit better as I keep writing.
I try and write my first drafts entirely for me... that's all I think about... me me me... but then comes reality and you have to turn all that rubbish into something cohesive and marketable.
Good advice. I'll do that.
Seeing drafts is great for me. At Uni we do that every week, looking at each others drafts. It's great.
I've been revising so long ... Next 1st draft I intend to write much faster. We'll see how it goes.
Hi fellow crusader, I have a hard time allowing myself to let go. I love your picture, and I should try to keep that image in the back of my mind. Just let go.
Hello from a fellow crusader. I use an online counter set for 60 minutes. It forces me to write as much as I can before the timer goes off.
I think the first draft is the hardest part. I'll paraphrase Nora Roberts here: I can fix a bad page, but I can't fix a blank one.
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