three things to remember when writing a first draft

hint: it's ok if it sucks

There’s a reason Hemmingway famously said “write drunk, edit sober.” Writing your very first draft is dizzyingly intoxicating. And when it’s finished, it often leaves you wondering what the hell happened.

Editing, on the other hand, is nothing if not sobering.

It’s like untangling a giant necklace. As soon as you start to pull on one side, another side gets more tangled.

But you have to keep going to get to the good stuff. (Line edits!)

If you’re in the middle of getting it all down for the first time, or stuck in a rut, here are three things to remember. They sound ridiculously simple, but they’ve helped me a lot.

1. Have a plan.

This can be a hard pill to swallow, depending on your preferred process. I was always the writer who just wrote furiously to see where it would take me. It wasn’t until I was guided through an actual course on how to complete a novel that I learned planning and organization could be my best friends. There is still plenty of room to see where the story takes you (and it will still change many times, don’t worry!), but if you start with a synopsis and chaptered outline, you’re far better off.

2. Accept that the first go will suck.

Many people say that writing a first draft is just telling yourself the story. That’s all it is. It’s getting the major plot points down, the who, what, when, where, why. The fluffy stuff can get added in later. So if you’re currently reading through a first draft and wanting to scream “what the hell happened here?” don’t worry. This can all be fixed—in fact, lucky you, that’s part of the plan.

3. Don’t try to impress.

You know those sentences you wrote that made you puff up your chest a bit? That sounded really smart? It’s ok to let those go if they don’t serve a purpose. Your reader doesn’t need to be impressed. They need to be told a story. How well you tell that story is what will impress them; not necessarily the wild metaphor you think no one else has thought of before.

The same goes for characters that aren’t pulling their weight in a story. If someone isn’t moving things along or influencing the main character in some way, you should question what they’re doing in this story and if they may belong in a different one. By that same token, sometimes you write a first draft and find out that a side character should actually be taking center stage…that’s where it gets really exciting.

What are your favorite tips for writing a first draft? I’d love to know for my next go.

x

Claire