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| Photo credit: readerwalker on Flickr |
If you've been a writer for any amount of
time, you probably know that the first draft is not exactly perfection—in fact,
it's usually on the way other end of the spectrum somewhere between embarrassing and I’m-going-to-hide-this-away-forever.
If you're a writer, you know that writing the
first draft can feel painful. The words that appear on the page don't match up
with the images in your head. The epic story you dreamt up, when written, falls
flat. Your witty, flawed, fantastic characters border on stereotype and you're
slightly terrified no amount of writing will fix it.
You start to question whether you're cut out
for this writing thing, after all.
Good news, is no one expects perfection from
the first draft—far from it. You see, I read something not too long ago that
really stuck with me (sadly, I can't find the link despite my futile efforts to
dig it up) and it's something I think is important for every writer to
remember.
The first draft isn't meant to be perfect,
friends, because the first draft is much more for the writer than it is for the
reader.
Allow me to explain.
Regardless of whether you're a pantser or a
plotter or somewhere in between, the first draft is the place where the writer
learns the story. It's where you get to know your characters, where you
discover the world you're creating, where the plot starts to really form in
front of you. While writing the first draft, you really get to know the story
and everything it encompasses and chances are by the end of the draft, you know
a lot more about your story than you did when you first began writing it.
So naturally, the first draft is going to be a
little scatter-brained. There will be plot holes and the characters will be far
from perfect and the writing, well...it's usually not your best.
But that's ok.
The point isn't to write a perfect first draft—the
point is to learn about your story. The point is to get to know your characters
and to work out the plot so that you can go back and really flesh it out. The
first draft is the skeleton—the basic idea of what the final draft is going to
be.
The meat of your story will be developed
through revisions.
And that's not to say that you should expect
your second draft to be perfect, or even your fourth or final draft, for that
matter, but with every revision you make, with every passage you re-write,
you'll get closer to that completed story—the one you originally envisioned
when you set out upon the enormous task of writing a novel.
And that terrible first draft experience will
be entirely worth it, after all.
Have you ever been discouraged by a first
draft? What helped you get through it?
17 comments:
First drafts almost always discourage me. Then again, so do second, third, fourth and fifth drafts. No, I'm kidding. I think writers waffle between "this is the best thing I've ever written" and "oh, this is utter crap" so often it is hard to have an objective point of view. Remembering that it is OKAY to feel these extremes and it is all a part of the process helps to put it into perspective.
The first draft when I'm finished is the most amazing thing I've ever written. I let it sits, a day, two, a week or more. When I come back to my masterpiece it has crumbled into an embarrassment of biblical proportion.
Thanks so much for this post. It's exactly what I needed. I wrote my first novel ever during '11 Nano. I feel like it is THE worst story ever! I put it away and still haven't gotten it out because of that. However, part of me is also kind of wanting to. Because I know it does have some potential. Now I feel more excited about getting it out soon and learning more about the plot and characters. I'm also excited about the revision process. Just reading this post gave me some insight about what the story is really about and why I wrote it. Thanks!
This is a great post. I always have to write and re-write my posts. It's so true what you said about the first draft being where we, the writers, learn what we're going to write about. I have often started writing an article based on one angle and changed it as I wrote and it turned into something much better.
I think many of us writers and bloggers have the idea that we should sit down and write the perfect post immediately but that just isn't reality and that's ok. Thanks for this!
That's very true about waffling between the extremes. It can be a difficult battle to overcome, but as you said, remembering that it's all part of the process and it's normal certainly helps.
You're welcome! I've personally learned to love revision--it's incredibly exciting to take the basic story you've written so far and enhance it until it's the best it can possibly be. Watching a manuscript develop is one of the best parts of the process, in my opinion. :)
You're welcome, Erika! There's certainly no shame in writing and re-writing (in fact, it's definitely something to encourage). You're absolutely right--we can't expect perfection from ourselves, especially in a first draft.
Is it wrong that I love my first drafts? I know it's rough as hell, but I still think it's good. It may also be because I work a bit differently, and I go back to revise past chapters while I'm still finishing the draft. It helps me think more about what has happened before and how it drives the plot.
It's definitely not wrong to love your first drafts. :)
It tends to vary per writer (or day, even). I've found that on some days the first draft seems fantastic and writers are very excited about what they're writing, then the next day could be the complete opposite. If you're enjoying your first draft, I think that's wonderful and absolutely not a bad thing at all. ^_^
I used to over-think every line in my writing. I wrote mostly plays and screenplays for a long time. Then, I attended a writers seminar with John Sayles ("Secaucus Seven", "Eight Men Out", "Lone Star"). Someone asked him about a script he wrote on commission, and what would you do if you got writer's block. "When you're writing on commission, you don't get writer's block. You just write a sh**ty scene and make a note to yourself to write a good scene later." Changed the way I looked at my writing process, commission or no. Your point about the first draft being for the writer is a great one as well.
That's really interesting advice, especially since it makes a great point--that you can always write through writer's block. Granted, it probably won't be your best writing, but you can always fix it later and that's the point.
I've read at kidlit.com and other places that you have to write a million (or some large number) words before you can get to the good stuff. Your post reinforces this idea as well as reminds us that the time spent on the first (crappy) million isn't wasted - we are learning as we write!
Hi Ava. :) This was a great post. It made me feel better about my first draft. Have you already or would you consider doing a post on symbolism. I know a lot of authors don't delve that deep into their writings but I find it fun and it adds things for the reader to unlock. What are your thoughts about symbolism. There is also very deep symbolism and more obvious kinds. How much and which kind do you usually incorporate into your stories? Once again, thanks for this post and this blog.
~Author Steven
I read somewhere that you have to spend a million hours on anything before you really become skilled at it--so very similar idea. I firmly believe that nothing we write is ever wasted because, as you said, we are constantly learning.
Hello Steven. :)
I haven't yet written a post on symbolism, probably because it's a pretty complicated topic. I'll have to really sit down and think about my thoughts on symbolism before writing a post about it, but I'll definitely add it to my list of possible blog posts. Thanks for the suggestion!
Thank you for commenting! I'm very glad to hear the post resonated with you. Have a lovely week!
I've only been discouraged by a first draft until I've figured out how to revise! :)
Very true! Revision is one of my favorite parts of writing. ^_^
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