Drafting Advice

@gracie-j

Hmm… honestly, this is a question that I often ask myself as well, because I’m certainly no Master of Drafting and am always trying to wrap my head around it too. However, I’d be happy to give you some advice on my personal strategy! *rubs hands together* Let’s hope this makes some form of sense:)

#1 How do you keep your focus on writing instead of over-thinking?

Honestly, this is a tough one for myself as well. Usually I just have to remind myself that a first draft is meant to just exist rather than be a masterpiece. I have to tell myself “Just write, and think later” sometimes, because I’m very guilty of over-thinking even the tiniest of things. And over time, over-thinking can distract you from the storyline and you end up with nothing. So my advice? Take a deep breath and remember that there’s many stages of drafting/writing. The first draft, just write. The second draft (or third draft, or fourth draft, or whichever one is next) is for over-thinking XD I also find quotes to be helpful, so here: “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”

#2 How rough do your drafts look?

*takes deep breath* Girl, this is a confession moment for me! My rough drafts are very rough (possibly due to the fact that I don’t outline the entire book prior to writing the first chapter), and sometimes it’s hard to even give my writing a second look. There’s those rare times when my writing turns out impressive-ish on the first try, of course, but it can be difficult to structure everything/get a feel for the storyline on your first time. But that’s what first (or, again, whichever you’re on) drafts are there for. Unless you’re on the FINAL draft, your writing will be lacking, and that’s exactly how it’s meant to be:) So anyways, in answer to your question, my first drafts are rough, though that’s why second-third-fourth drafts exist, right?:)

#3 How long does it take you to write a first draft?

For me? It takes me quite a while. I’ve been working on Fortitude for… *counts on fingers* two or three years, though I’ve been editing profusely so that isn’t entirely accurate. However, I’m planning to begin a second WIP, Runes of Aylesbon, in this fall, and hope to have the first draft done around April-May of next year. First drafts can take as long as one month (if you’re doing NaNoWriMo) or several years, depending on the person/factors involved. But honestly, I don’t think timing matters too much. As long as you get it done, that’s the main thing, right? 🙂

#4 How do you keep from editing while you write?

This is something I’ve recently learned, and let me tell you that doing NaNoWriMo with a close friend of mine this year taught me many things about how writing works. I used to edit profusely while I wrote (every couple of sentences), but now I’ve come to the conclusion that editing is meant for later. (I don’t mean to re-state what I said on point #1, but a lot of it can be applied here.) Besides, I don’t know what scenes are going to be scrapped or saved in the final draft, so I don’t want to spend all of my time editing them and then feel terrible if I cut them out. I have to remind myself that, once I write a complete first draft, I’ll have a fuller perspective of the story and can therefore figure out the structure. So, in response to your question, just tell yourself that editing belongs in a later stage and that the main objective now is to simply write. If you want to do NaNo, I’d highly recommend it, because it pushes you to stop editing and start writing. Whatever you feel is best!

I honestly hope that helped in some form or fashion (oddly enough, though I’m a writer, I’m not the greatest with words), and if you have any questions/need me to elaborate, I certainly will:) Anyways, as I mentioned previously, I’m certainly no expert and there’s no rigid rulebook of “How to Draft 101.” Everyone’s process looks different, but I hope my tips helped you in some way:) You’ve totally got this, girl!!

@gracie-j Eyy, thanks for the tag! I’ll just answer your questions one by one.

1. Since I handwrite, my handwriting is so messy that I just ignore whatever I wrote beforehand. Also, writing with pen means I can’t edit or delete.

2. When I’m on computer I try not to do second drafts. Although, I will admit, sometimes I do need second drafts to rewrite or add details. On paper, well, my handwriting is incredibly bad, and typos are everywhere… I haven’t actually gotten around to typing them up yep, but I’ll assume that a lot will need to be changed.

3. 40 days on paper. Indefinite time on pc.

4. Same as question one. I physically can’t. Also on pc I guess I try to immerse myself in the story as much as possible instead of thinking about things.

Now, if any of you have advice for second drafts, I’d appreciate that…

@gracie-j

*chokes* I am the QUEEN of awful first drafts. Okie, maybe I shouldn’t be bragging about that….

• How do you keep your focus on writing instead of over-thinking? I am also the QUEEN of over-thinking. But seriously, this may be a weird tip but I find that writing under pressure works really well. Like, starting to write one hour before bed, and you know you only have that one hour. As a result, you’ll pound out words like there’s no tomorrow because you really want to get your word count in, and you won’t have time to stop and think about editing. Of course, you’ll still want to write at another time of the day, but inserting some writing time before bed is when I find I really get the most words in.
• How rough do your drafts look? *chokes again* VERY rough. Characters are underdeveloped, I don’t get across half the themes I want to get across, the plot has so many weak points. Honestly, I’m not sure about any of the plot of TAS anymore besides the first four chapters. Obviously, the story is about St. Paul’s sister and what it would be like to have an apostle for a brother, but I don’t want the whole thing to be just a chronicle of Paul’s ministry and Temira’s ramblings on it, ya know what I mean? XD I want there to be a main antagonist, a main conflict (not a general one like Paul suffering all the time, but something more specific), and major character arcs! Especially for Paul. He was kind of flat my first time writing him because I made him perfect from beginning to end, therefore he had no arc and no development. Totally want that to change.
• How long does it take you to write a first draft? If I know exactly what’s going to happen in every scene, approximately two months. If I’m writing to discover, it could take as much as six, with me probably getting derailed and dumping pages multiple times.
• How do you keep from editing while you write? Same thing I said with the first question. Writing under pressure really helps you not to stop and think.

@gracie-j welp while I’m also a bit of a perfectionist (but also rather lazy) XD, I still think I can help some.

1.

Just do it.
Ya, I know this one is kinda like “DUH”, but honestly this is truly the only way to draft. You just have to get something down. Wether it’s a rough scene idea, terrible dialogue, melodramatic emotions, etc, just get it down! U can go back and edit later but u cannot edit a blank page! (Trust me.)

2. Whenever you finish a chapter/scene maybe print it out. That way you oh won’t feel so obligated to go reread it and edit. If it’s printed then you think about the waste of paper if you go back and edit it now lol. Also there’s just something about having what you’ve written printed out, I just love it honestly lol.

3. Think of this first draft almost as more of an outline. Write the draft knowing you’re getting the whole story down, but in the end you’re going to use it sorta like an outline that you can edit.

I hope these help some.

@gracie-j Glad I could help! Be warned, writing by hand has its disadvantages (namely, typing it all out again) but I do recommend it but as a distraction-free method!

@gracie-j

1. How do you keep your focus on writing instead of over-thinking?

This one’s already been well-covered. Sprints, and reminders that this is meant to be a mess that you can fix later.

2. How rough do your drafts look?

It depends on the book. Calligraphy Guild, came out extremely neat in comparison to most of my books, but it’s an oddity. I’ve had others that I didn’t even want to look at after I finished writing them because I felt like they were so bad.

3. How long does it take you to write a first draft?

This also depends. It can take under a month, or it can take years. It depends on how well I know the story and how firm a grasp I have of the arcs and themes I need to accomplish.

4. How do you keep from editing while you write?

I keep a running list of things to edit in the next draft. If I see an issue with something, I write it down and move on (or sometimes make a comment on the project itself, depending on the scale of the issue). If you have a plot-altering tweak you want to make (removing a character or changing how a certain event went down or something like that), I’ve heard that sometimes it can be effective to keep writing as if you already made the change, so that when you edit later you only have to edit what you’d written up to that point. I haven’t done much of that, so I can’t say from experience how well it does or doesn’t work.