first draft

Discussion in 'General Writing' started by Lemex, Jul 5, 2008.

  1. SocksFox

    SocksFox Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Hang onto it, you never know when you might want it again. Things like that are great to go back and read to see how you have evolved as a writer.
     
  2. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    Hang onto it - for all the reasons above and also because, no matter how good or bad it is, it's part of you, part of your heart and soul.

    I still have some of mine - exceedingly cringe-worthy, but mine non-the-less.

    It gives me a good giggle when I'm feeling down and helps me to re-focus when i'm feeling the pinchers of writer's block coming on.
     
  3. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    Incidentally - I'm giggling right now at some of the names I used for characters in the late 80's early 90's, Oh my days!, Dean Conners, Abbey Tyler and Jack Grady, Christian Grady, Janine Coulton, Catherine and Clive ...

    Apologies to anyone using these names now but for me, they are but reminders of my youth, when I had a passion for writing and storytelling but not quite the knowledge or skill to do it properly.
     
  4. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

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    Never shred or ditch anything - it's always good to look back and see your progress whether or not you do anything with the story. When I was about thirteen or fourteen I literally sat down with a garbage bag and shredded a pile of stuff. Just because I was in a mood.
    I think if more how to write books would show samples of first drafts, and first attempts at writing, the writing process would be easier. Nobody should begrudge their beginnings.
     
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  5. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    It's how we learn and grow.
     
  6. GalwayGirl

    GalwayGirl Member

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    Thanks for the advice guys, it's definitely helped me look at my old work in a different light.
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2015
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  7. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    What are your characters called now?
     
  8. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    Gabriel William Harland
    Alexandra Natalia Dinapoli
    William and Elizabeth Harland
    Santo and Carmelina Dinapoli
    Cara and Simon Shepherd
    Salvatore Giuseppe Dinapoli
    Dante Antonio Dinapoli
    Connie (no surname)
    Gina DiMarco
    Gregory Evans
    Nathaniel Shepherd (aka Peanut)
     
  9. Arya Stark

    Arya Stark Member

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    Hi guys!

    I just finished my draft of my first 4 or so chapters, and while they're long, they're absolute trash at the same time.

    It's annoying, since I like the descriptions of the area they're in, yet the story seems muddled and the plot has moved far too quickly. I just wanted to know if anyone else starts off so poorly?

    Thanks!
     
  10. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I edit as I go, so my "first" drafts are also my third and fourth drafts, if that makes sense. So they're pretty good.

    But there's a solid tradition of some writers writing very rough first drafts. So, no, you're not alone.
     
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  11. uncephalized

    uncephalized Active Member

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    Quite good. Usually just a polish away from finished, if any writing can ever be said to meet that description. Like BayView, I edit as I go, usually giving what I wrote yesterday a thorough reading before moving on to the next bit.
     
  12. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    I can't first draft.

    I have to edit as I go. I usually start with whatever needs to get out of my head, it could be anything between a couple of lines and multiple pages but before I move on, I have to go back through it a few times. Emotion gets added, settings change, points are researched, descriptions and movements are added and if anything in that section has a direct effect on another section, then I have to look up and make those alterations right there. I can't move on until what I'm working on is the best it can be at that moment in time.

    I do go on to do another few full read throughs but I can't first draft. I just can't.
     
  13. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    About as good as Justin Bieber's songs.
     
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  14. Edward M. Grant

    Edward M. Grant Contributor Contributor

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    Ditto. For years, I tried the 'don't edit until you have a complete draft' approach, but I found that just wasted time. Now I edit as I go along, so I don't need to do much more editing after the first draft. In this novel, for example, I completely rewrote one character after I got a third of the way into the story and realized they were wrong for the story.
     
  15. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    Compared to what?
    And by what do you mean?

    If you mean grammar? Yeah my first draft smells rancid. Plot? I am generally okay but then again bad plot can be present on a tenth draft or never present at all. Expression? I think decent.

    Still point is what are we comparing it to? A real book? Then all my work even my most recent drafts are crap. To my real life friends? Then my first drafts are gold. The way I expressed it in previous paragraph is sort of compared to myself and what I can get. Because yeah after two or three edits the expression and grammar get much better but I don't see the point in saying that. Who doesn't have improved work after revising or editing. I mean if draft two is worse in terms of grammar you are doing something wrong.
     
  16. shadowwalker

    shadowwalker Contributor Contributor

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    Like most others above, I edit as I go, so the first draft is pretty much my only draft. I may make changes based on beta comments, but that's also done as it's written (chapter by chapter) so at the end, I only have polishing left.
     
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  17. animenagai

    animenagai Member

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    They're often bad, but they're allowed to be bad. That's liberating.
     
  18. Ben414

    Ben414 Contributor Contributor

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    On the plus side, at least millions of teenage girls will still be willing to buy your first draft.
     
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  19. Ryan Elder

    Ryan Elder Banned

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    In my practice so far, it seems that usually my middle drafts are the ones that are the best. After that, I find that some of the newer things I add or change, overdo it, and less is more in the end.
     
  20. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Garbage.
     
  21. plothog

    plothog Contributor Contributor

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    If you've not written much previously, I'd say a first draft is almost guaranteed to be bad, just because you have a lot to learn about writing well.

    I edited the first draft of my novel a bit as I went along, and it helped, especially with getting my plot into some sort of coherent order, but still my first draft needs a lot of work. The second half of it is a bit better because I stopped to take an online novel writing course and learnt a fair bit. Maybe I won't think that when I get there, because I feel like I've learned a fair bit more, while doing the first quarter of draft two.
     
  22. Arya Stark

    Arya Stark Member

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    Compared to the level of writing I think I can achieve, if that makes sense. I don't want to sound cocky or over confident, but the draft I had last night was quite bad to be honest.

    I've scrapped the whole first draft idea now, and I'm editing every chapter as I go along. It's made the plot slow down a lot, and I like my first chapter a little more now.

    The only bad thing is, I took down the word count by nearly a quarter in my first chapter by editing it.
     
  23. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Taking the word count down is not really a bad thing. Your goal shouldn't be to write long, it should be to write well.

    I'd say I've seen more new writers worrying about their books being too long to publish than new writers worrying about their books being too short.

    Beware of fluff and filler, and don't equate a high word count with quality!
     
  24. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    Yes that makes sense but it doesn't mean anything.

    You are comparing your first draft to the quality you can overal achieve. Obviously the first draft is going to be worse. I personally think this is always the case. I don't think any real auther ever submitted his first draft of any chapter as the final draft.

    I would be weery of editing to much at the beginning the trap of editing chapter 01 fifteen times and never reaching chapter 2 as such is a real thing. I felt it.

    Personally everyone has there own writing process. It is less about being perfect first try and haing a process that works for you. Like my process. For my first complete book draft actually.

    1. Wrote chapter. Did so on phone.
    2. Emailed it to me so I could transfer it to computer. Spell checked it.
    3. Read it aloud looking for bad phrasing and any other erros.
    4. Fed it though a narriator or read loud computer feature.
    5. Repeat 1-4 next chapter.

    That was my process. Once I finished a chapter by this method I wouldn't touch it again until I got to the end or near it. After all even after all that I still consider it a first draft. Moving to second draft involved me getting people to read it, getting critic and then trying to apply that critic as I read each line and fixed them.

    Though sad part is none of my process helps me spot mistakes like your and you're lol.

    So what is your process?
     
  25. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    Usually pretty bad. Light editing happens on the go, so the spelling and grammar won't be atrocious the second time around. The biggest changes come from realizing something doesn't make sense, or getting some new, irresistible idea that must - be - implemented.

    Just last night I was polishing my and @T.Trian's manuscript, and we realized the MC wouldn't use her helmet to block a door. In the old version, she may have, but after we realized future helmets would have a lot of useful functions, the helmet is no longer just a helmet, but a mini computer, you don't wanna take that off and risk leaving it behind. Also, we added radiation to the area she's exploring, which came from a realization of 'duh, there'd totally be radiation present!', so using her helmet to keep a door open seems even double-dumb.

    So, lots of re-writing ensued....

    My question is: people who write sci-fi, how do you make things make sense the first time around? Do you plan your world for 5 years before starting writing? Or do you stop yourself from implementing new technologies no matter how cool because implementing them would affect the world as a whole and there'd be too much re-writing to be done? :superconfused:
     
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