The Importance if First Drafts

The first draft is the bare bones of a story. Whether you’ve done some planning or none, this first draft is probably the most important daft you’ll write – not because it lacks polished touches or finesse, confidence or the almost perfected editing. It’s because it represents the raw story and the building blocks of what is to come.
Why are first drafts important? Well, no matter your experience or skill level, every writer starts at the beginning. And no one can write a perfect novel on the first attempt. This is why the first draft encapsulates all the ideas, the inspiration, the ramblings and wild tangents of writing a story, but it is essentially all about the story – sitting down and writing, just getting it out, in whatever order or semblance it comes, developing the ideas, getting to know the characters and experimenting with the plot. The first draft will always be awful. And that’s the point of the first draft.
The rest of the writing process – the polishing and perfecting – comes afterward, in the second, third, fourth drafts and so on. Writers spend too much time worrying about cramming everything into the first draft (not realising just how much hard work follows), but it’s just not possible – there are just too many things that come after the first draft has been written for this to happen.
The first draft is the framework on which to build the whole story; the flesh on those bones, so to speak, that make the story truly complete. The first draft is all about the following
  • Getting the story down
  • Developing ideas
  • Getting to know the characters
  • Finding out how good the plot is
  • Finding the right POV
  • Finding your voice
Getting the story written is what every author goes for. Even if you follow an outline or plan, or you write by the seat of your pants, the result will be a bit of a tangled mess. This is absolutely normal, so writers should not be discouraged by this. Things don’t have to make sense at this stage, and they don’t. So just write.
Development of ideas comes as you write. Even if you have planned your novel in detail, sometimes an idea can occur spontaneously or they can grow organically from what you write, and so first drafts are great for cultivating and experimenting with different ideas. Just go with them.
First drafts are also the foundation for characterisation. We don’t truly know our characters until we start to write them, and as the story progresses, they grow and develop. Some characters emerge with stronger voices, others fall by the wayside. Sometimes it feels right for a character to go in a different direction than you planned, so go with it. First drafts are all about where the story takes you.
When you write the first draft, you’re also finding out just how strong your plot is.  Sometimes the plot works well, sometimes if won’t. Sometimes it feels okay, but need lots of work to plug the gaping holes. Again, this is normal. It’s all part of the writing process.  The story may change as you write; it might deviate wildly from what you planned – again this is not uncommon. Don’t be afraid to go with the flow.
Working with the right POV is always a sticking point with writers. First drafts are a good way to find out, because the POV will either feel comfortable, or it won’t. If it doesn’t feel comfortable, then you’re using the wrong POV. If you choose first person – the most difficult to work with – then make sure the final work is edited thoroughly by a competent editor, because you will have a novel full of tangled tenses.
Voice is something that comes through during the writing process. Is your writing voice constant?  No, it’s actually quite fluid. It may be recognisable to others, but it can vary with the different genres you write. But first drafts act as voice development tools – what you write and how you express yourself – your voice and style – begins with the first draft.
Every first draft is the beginning of the entire writing process, and that’s why they’re so important.
Next week: Starting Points

Comments

  1. Carolb25 March 2018 at 18:41

    Agree completely. I discovered a great deal not only about the story, but how I write a first draft for longer work.

    I'm currently on my second draft working through the changes and additions the second draft needs, especially in the earlier first draft chapters where there are missing elements (that had developed by the end of the first draft).

    Getting down what was in my head allowed my subconscious to work on the good bits and recognise the weak parts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AllWriteFictionAdvice25 March 2018 at 23:36

      Thanks, Carol. It's great to see other writers putting this into practice - like you said, letting the subconscious get to work!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter & Novel Lengths

Just how long should a chapter be? What’s the best length? And does a novel have to fit into a set amount of words? These are just two of the most common questions asked by writers.   They assume they have to work to a strict template of X amount of words and X amount of chapters, usually because most novels have around 30 or 40 chapters and around 80,000 words.   Novel Lengths Firstly, let’s dispel a few myths - novel lengths are dictated by the story itself, not the writer or the editor or a specific written formula.   Secondly, writers don’t have to fit their word count into generic set amounts.   Again, the story will dictate how long the novel will be. It’s also worth knowing the different types of novels that work well with different word counts.   Uncomplicated stories containing minimal characters tend to be short – usually around 20,000 to 60,000 words.   These are called novellas. Longer, more complex stories, which contain a handful of main characters and periphe
Read more

What Makes a Story Dark?

If you’re a horror writer or you love to write dark, psychological stories and thrillers, or moralistic tales, this is the one question that needs an answer. Wanting a dark story and writing one are two different things, so how do you actually make a story dark? To answer that you first have to understand what is meant by ‘dark’. We usually define ‘dark’ as quantifiable elements that we know and are familiar with, but it’s more than that. Dark doesn’t necessarily mean scary or gory with a crazy psychopath going around chopping people into bits. Instead we have to think of ‘dark ‘as anything outside our accepted rose-tinted reality. Dark is the underbelly of our society; it’s the handling of ideas, themes, social issues and behaviours that would be seen as morally unacceptable. It’s less about fictional monsters but more about the real monsters that lurk in the shadows, something that is underscored by our fears and anxieties. It’s the unknown, because the things we don’t know
Read more

Cadence in Writing

Following on from last week’s article about purple prose, cadence – something many writers haven’t heard of – is something that writers aspire to but don’t always manage it, yet it’s the fundamental difference between poetic language and over-indulgent, flowery prose. Cadence in writing is a sense of rhythm and pace, it lifts the narrative from the page and makes it dynamic; brings a certain tempo to the words and sentences; it’s what makes prose poetic, layered and fluid without it being extravagant. Cadence makes the writing visual and evocative, and to an extent, beautiful . It’s an important element in fiction writing, because without it, narrative certainly won’t be as effective. Writers don’t actively think about cadence – they simply want to write and get the words down. It’s not until later, while editing, that they realise that a sense of rhythm might be missing from their narrative. When poetic description works, it’s called cadence. When it doesn’t work, people ref
Read more