I've gotta say that there's some good advice there for everyone. I've done this so many different ways, mapping out stories with flowcharts, lists, post-it notes on a wall, or gone the complete opposite end of the scale and blasted a story out just to see where it goes. They did all achieve something though - they were a draft. It doesn't matter if you get a page with bullets listed on it that tells your story, or if you write it with poor sentences and grammar that looks like its been hit with a nuke. A draft is basically an unfinished version of your story - you're gonna go through a few, so don't get bent out of shape about it. Just get the gist of it down in whatever format you can work with. Best of luck, JJ
So we have to meditate while we write?? sorry..I believe I know what you are saying don't worry about it sucking just write. You have to let it flow and it will without you interrupting it with your own self criticism.
First drafts are supposed to be horrible. Just let the ideas flow. You could try writing an outline and character sketches. I suggest reading books on writing, and specifically, I suggest any of the "How to write a damn good..." series by Frey. It helped me get moving on my novel. (I read, "How to write a damn good mystery.") My first draft is finished, I'm in the redrafting/polishing phase.
Any idea where to get this online, as in a torrent? I want the actual book but it's not in any local stores and I'm too impatient to order it online. lol
I have no idea what a "torrent" means in this context. I immediately thought of a heavy outpouring, as in "torrential rain showers." Dictionary.com wasn't much help beyond the definition I knew. I'm sure you mean something else, but I don't know what. I ordered it online. I suggest finding the patience to do so. You might even be able to order it from your local library (if they don't have it they can get it from another library) which requires even more patience, but is wonderfully free. You can get especially good deals getting it used on auction sites like ebay. Half.com has a "damn good mystery" for 75 cents plus postage. Charlie
Ah, I see. Thanks. I'm old (40s) and painfully behind the times. I can't even figure out how to use an MP3 player. Charlie
haha, don't worry about it. I'm young, and should be on top of these things, and I about blew a gasket trying to figure out what the hell a torrent was when I first heard the word.
I write a lot of scripts and I couldn't do it without the first draft being rubbish and very badly formatted. There is a specific format that scripts need to be but that is not conducive to an outpouring of creativity. You have 400 words, right? Great. Go and do another 400 and see where you are at the end of it. I feel I should quote that 'Journey of a thousand miles' thing at this point.
Do you have a dictaphone? They're relatively cheap nowadays and an excellent way of putting your thoughts into context through verbalization. Having so much in your head, whilst trying to get it down on paper, can prove frustrating, so why don't you get it down on dictaphone and listen to your thoughts as you prepare to write? Other than that just write, because you ain't going nowhere unless you get your first draft completed. Good luck with it.
Another thing I thought of is that if you don't like the way your rough draft is coming out, try a different p.o.v. If you aren't liking the 3rd person style of writing, try it in first and see if it flows better. Just another thought. ~Lynn
I've completed my first draft...finally. It's 103,500 words and I'm very pleased with it. It's raw, no doubt, and loads of work still awaits me. Or as Hemingway said, "The first draft of anything is sh*t." Taking another's advice, I decided to take a week off from it, and "rest" my brain before I dig back in on Monday. I'm kinda torn on how I feel about this first draft. On the one hand, I'm entirely pleased for having finished a story, start to finish, and as lengthy as this one is. It's my first ever, and I feel like a small mini-break is due. A part of me wants to luxuriate in the feeling of accomplishment. On the other hand, I feel like I left out some important pieces, I'm anxious to get to editing, and I'm fighting every hour of not going back. It's just pure torture to let it sit when I want to work on it...I just don't want to rush it, either. No real point here, just needed to whine to people who understand. My very patient and understanding husband wanted to take my draft with him to work to keep me away from it, citing that I needed to rest. I threw a holy fit and he didn't take it...but now I see why he wanted to. I'm dying to get back to work. How do you deal with your first drafts?
Last novel I used an approach that seems to be working for me nicely. I gave the unedited draft to the English teacher in my school. For a bottle of whisky, he picks out all technical errors (typos, grammar and such). After correcting those mistakes I give it to a few chosen friends for a more artistic read. The ideas generated from those conversations are brought with me into my edit.
If you feel like you've left out important bits but still got to the end of the story without confusing yourself, it's not that much of an issue. Go back just to be sure, but if you can't find anything, don't worry. Congratulations on getting your first draft done. I remember when I completed my first draft...I'm now onto my third. Don't be in a rush to start again, it doesn't get any easier unless you're doing something wrong
if you want to go back and edit it now, just go for it girl, but don't over do it as you will quickly get tired and just leave it
i'm very concerned on your behalf about what you said... it's that there seems to be only one draft of all that work and it's only on paper... did you not write this on the computer and save the file there, and/or on a flash drive, or cd, or diskette?...
Oh no! No, no, no, no....sorry to give that impression - no, I have a saved file in a reliable place, not to mention, a printed version, and a version saved on my mac. I was speaking in general terms - my "first" draft, meaning, the completed version of my story - the first one, anyway. Hubbie wanted to take my printed version with him to work, thinking I wouldn't work on my mac, I guess.
I remember completing my first draft like it was yesterday. Actually it was last week. 199 000 words... My plan was to take a few months off and do a whole lot of reading, so I can have several of those moments when I come across a scene and go, "Ah, this is a much better way to describe that part of my book." Now that I've got the plot set, it makes it far easier to draw the relevant techniques from other books. However that plan didn't work. I started editing two days after I finished the draft, and it astounds me as to how inept my writing is in my first few chapters. It's like reading somebody elses work. If you're really all enthusiastic about editing your work now, just do it, because you never know when that zeal may just wane. In a few months, you might not have the passion that you have now... I'll ride on mine all the way to 200 000.
Congrats! That's so exciting to have finished a whole draft First drafts of individual chapters are stressful enough for me - at least with those you can move on and start writing the next chapter until you feel like going back to edit. Waiting must be so so so annoying/frustrating, I could never do it! But on the other hand, if you wait a bit and give it some fresh perspective that would be better. Ahh... writing. Congrats again though! What's the plot?
i hope you'll be doing lots of paring down on the next go-'round, 'cause that's double the size publishers will look at, as a first novel from a new, unknown writer... but congrats on finishing...
I completed my first draft last fall. I'm now on my.. 4th or 5th? lol I'm not even sure anymore. It is quite the feeling of accomplishment eh? I know the feeling, I was way proud of myself. If it were me I wouldn't take a week off. I mean, if you want to take time off do it, but don't do it because you're supposed to or anything. The good thing(IMO) about writing a long book is usually you were spending most of your time working on the end of the book before finishing the first draft. So when you go back and look at the beginning and start to do re-writes, it's still fresh in your mind if you haven't worked on that part in awhile.
