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Hi everyone.
I'm writing the first draft of my first novel. I can't control my inner editor. I keep looking back through my work, and changing things, and it's taking forever for me to get the thing written. I've recently started to highlight in red sections that I think will need a fair amount of further work, but this still isn't satisfying my inner editor. So I wanted to ask, how do you all approach your first draft? Do you just get it down, regardless of whether you think it isn't great, and go back through when you're finished? Or do you edit as you go? I'm just afraid that if I leave it as is, it will end up being rubbish, and will involve more rewriting than necessary in draft two.
How many drafts do you do, before you consider it finished? I am aware that this will be different for everyone.
Comments
If there's something I think I'll need to change I just make a note in brackets and move on.
You'll do a lot more changing in draft two.
By the time I got to the second half of the first draft I'd discovered a lot more about my characters, their reactions and motivations that I wasn't aware of at the start. So obviously that will result in changes in draft 2.
I will admit to the minor word change here and there from the previous writing session, so I can pick up where I left off, but beyond that just make a note in whatever way works for you. So when you get to it in draft 2 or 3 you'll know what you intended.
Whenever you start editing instead of writing, tell yourself, just write.
You will go through your work many times between now and writing The End, I promise you. You'll find that your characters want to go somewhere that you didn't expect, or that the baddy turns out not to be so bad - it's all natural! Don't get bogged down in the little things, or you may lose your way.
Nothing you write, even if you scrub it out, is ever wasted - it's all part of the process. If you become critical as you go, that is also a way to show that you're learning on the job. Don't despair - keep listening to your characters, and make notes, and see where you end up in a month of two.
Good luck!
Another approach is to think of your novel like a painting. Most paintings start out as rough sketches, then the artist blocks in background, establishes tonal value; before adding detail and revealing the characters in all their glory.
How far through your first draft are you Shon85?
In the story I'm writing now I reached 15000 words before I got stuck on the plot. Now I'm editing those chapters ONCE only before moving on.
Everyone - even very successful authors - says that the first draft is always dreadful, which is a comfort.
Yes, that is definitely what I'm going to do from now on. After all, nobody except me is going to see the awful first draft, so I don't know why it bothers me so much.
It's a bit like dropping biscuit crumbs. Some people will leave them until they have to hoover the whole room, others will get out the dustpan and brush there and then. If I made a glaring typo which I noticed as I was writing, I'd sort it out before going on to the next sentence.
It's a bit like dropping biscuit crumbs. Some people will leave them until they have to hoover the whole room, others will get out the dustpan and brush there and then. If I made a glaring typo which I noticed as I was writing, I'd sort it out before going on to the next sentence.
Since realising (and lucking out with having the opportunity to have professional mentoring for six months) we wrote the first draft of our second novel without stopping to edit or break down into chapters (scenes yes, chapters no). Then we go back over it, find probable chapter breaks and make anything that needs editing before we start the second draft.
Last year I also had the opportunity to talk to many published authors, who shared their own tip. One of my favourites was from Simon Toyne, who said that he doesn't research while writing a first draft. Instead, he makes educated guesses and writes those parts in ALL CAPS, so he can easily find them later when it comes to researching. He noted that if he was close, then he'd tweak a bit or leave it as it was. If he was way off, he'd change it. If he was wrong but the real thing was so dull it wouldn't be entertaining at all, then he would take a bit of creative licence with it.
But all in all, the best bit of advice comes from a friend of mine (who is also an author and runs creative writing workshops), who keeps telling me, first drafts are meant to be rubbish, the idea is just to get the story down first and write 'the end', then you can go back over it and tighten and refine it later.
Everyone works differently. Perhaps, for you, taking a long time over a tidyish first draft is the best way.
Obviously, if something is glaringly wrong (or massively changed) then there's little point leaving it til later.
I think the main thing is, if you find yourself not progressing any further (it doesn't matter if you slow down) then maybe something's not quite working.
Just remember you can always change anything that doesn't work or jars in later drafts.
It’s important for an author to know the details and to imagine them in the background, but you do need to take care that you don’t write the research and lose the plot.
I can't bear oodles of detail. I end up skimming over it. It should be sprinkled when needed, like salt and pepper.
However, I do see that in historical fiction you do need to know your stuff before tackling a story set in a period, and that any detail you include is accurate.
Sometimes you find that something comes along during the course of writing the first draft, and without further research you can proceed and perhaps get something wrong which you have to correct later- but equally you might get it almost right, so there's less work later.
There's no one perfect system.