Writing the First Draft
July 20, 2022
Today I’m going to cover one of the most basic stages of writing: the first draft. First-time writers are bound to hear the words “Your first draft won’t be perfect.” Likewise, they’re probably going to have, at the very least, a sliver of subconscious hope that theirs will be the exception. Spoiler alert! It won’t. But that doesn’t mean you can’t write an epic first draft. All you have to do is adjust your idea of what the first draft should look like.
What is a First Draft Really?
The most important thing to remember is that the first draft is a base. It’s the foundation to work off. Now, everyone’s process is a little bit different, so I’m going to take a quick moment and explain a bit about how I work.
I am a plantser, AKA someone who has a basic idea of the plot before they start writing. (The other options are plotter [someone who thoroughly plots and develops the story before writing the first draft] and pantser [someone who jumps right in with little to no plotting]) I like to have a basic outline written out, though it is guaranteed to change over the course of the first draft. I use the first draft to find out the story. If my brain wants to go on a random tangent or try out a new subplot, I let it. In the next draft, I’ll re-examine the plot to create a solid outline, identify plot holes, etc.
Now that you know a bit about my process, you’ll better understand where I’m coming from with the following advice. Even if your process is completely different than mine, I encourage you to keep reading. You may still find something helpful.
Word Count
The very first draft of my current project (acronym TTK) was about 40,000 words. Since the baseline for a book being a novel is 50,000, I was not a fan of my word count when I first read it. However, I kept going. My current draft, draft five, is nearly 120,000 words long. That means I have added 80,000 words- more than a novel’s worth- to this project. It’s not finished yet, so the word count is bound to change. I may add more words or remove some scenes. Either way, my book has improved in both quality and quantity.
It can be overwhelming trying to reach a certain word count, especially when you see other people with projects significantly longer than yours. I’ve found that worrying about word count is only going to detract from my writing process, especially at the beginning. There’s nothing wrong with setting a word count goal; I often do. But it’s important that you don’t stress about reaching a certain word count, especially in the first draft (believe me when I say you’ll be re-writing all of it anyway).
Word Count
The very first draft of my current project (acronym TTK) was about 40,000 words. Since the baseline for a book being a novel is 50,000, I was not a fan of my word count when I first read it. However, I kept going. My current draft, draft five, is nearly 120,000 words long. That means I have added 80,000 words- more than a novel’s worth- to this project. It’s not finished yet, so the word count is bound to change. I may add more words or remove some scenes. Either way, my book has improved in both quality and quantity.
It can be overwhelming trying to reach a certain word count, especially when you see other people with projects significantly longer than yours. I’ve found that worrying about word count is only going to detract from my writing process, especially at the beginning. There’s nothing wrong with setting a word count goal; I often do. But it’s important that you don’t stress about reaching a certain word count, especially in the first draft (believe me when I say you’ll be re-writing all of it anyway).
Description
I am a hard-core description lover. It’s, by far, my favorite thing to write and highly impacts my enjoyment of a book. However, the first draft is not a friend of descriptions. When I write the first draft, I barely include descriptions, and the ones that I do include are very, very bad. I won’t describe the way a room looks. At best, I’ll mention that it’s a room. Maybe I’ll highlight the couch, but only if someone’s sitting on it. I keep my first draft descriptions bare-boned and to the point. And that’s good.
I’m not going to waste my time describing a bunch of things when I know I’ll have to re-write all of them in the next draft. I intentionally describe things in a to-the-point way so that when I do rewrite the description, I’ll know exactly what’s there. All I’ll have to do is make it sound nice.
This tactic is especially important with characters. While you could use a separate document to make notes about appearance and clothing, I like to throw it into the character’s first draft description. That way, I won’t forget what I wanted them to be wearing or what color their hair is.
Sticking 'Til the End
One of the hardest things to do in writing is to stay with a project until the end. First drafts are incredibly flawed, making it hard for some writers to keep going. Along the way, you’ll find plot holes, random scenes you have no idea what to do with, and, if you’re like me, a climax that barely lasts a chapter.
I’m not here to give some “believe in yourself” speech. Instead, go with it. Write the short climax. Skip over the parts you don’t know what to do with by using brackets. For example: [figure out how they don’t die here]. And if you see a plot hole, make a note about it and keep going. None of this is your problem. It’s the problem of the you who is writing the second draft.
Okay, this system may seem weird, but believe me, it works. If you go back and edit every single thing that’s wrong with the first draft, you will never finish the first draft. In fact, don’t edit at all. That’s a problem for another draft.
What if it Sucks?
Congratulate yourself; you did it right. All a first draft has to do is exist. It’s a foundation for you to go back, re-examine, and rewrite into something better. If, by some miracle, you actually like your first draft, that’s amazing. Even if you don’t like it, you should be proud of it. Not everyone makes it this far. So be proud, take a break, and get ready to come back for the second draft.