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Writing A Novel From Nothing: The First Draft

Updated: Mar 14, 2023

Welcome back! It's lovely to see you again. Well... it would be, if I could see you, I'm sure. You get the gist. Welcome back.


In this post, much like the last one, we'll be discussing a part of the writing process. Specifically, my writing process. After last post's discussion on ideas, idea generation, and idea development, I figured the next step to talk about should be the first draft. Not only was it where we left off last time, it just feels right.


Step Two

What is the first draft?


Sounds like a very simple, almost idiotic, question to ask, right? Well, it's trickier to define, practically anyway, than you might think. Is the first draft that first attempt you have, where you get halfway through before totally rewriting? Or, is the first draft that first fully-written manuscript, which could still benefit from tweaks and changes? Are they both the first draft? First draft 1.0 and 1.1? See, it can be a bit tricky to really understand what a first draft is and when you have one.


But there's a very easy way around this. Ready?


Don't think about it.


Shockingly simple, right? I know. But it's true. Before The Secrets of the Lake I tried to write several novels. However, I could never finish them because I was too focused on finishing the first draft, and not the story. I saw problems slowly arise as I continued writing, but I told myself to soldier through. Finish the draft, then rewrite. That's what everyone else does, so that's what I should do too.


Only, I shouldn't. And I learnt that during the writing of The Secrets of the Lake. Learning this was quite possibly the biggest eye-opener I've had as a writer. It was the waking up that I needed. All those books I'd read on how to write a screenplay or a novel or whatever—they were great, but I couldn't follow them beat for beat. Writing isn't like baking. You can't follow the same recipe as someone else and get the same results. Be you. Do it your way. Whatever that may look like. At the end of the day, just make sure you're writing and finishing things.


And, yes, you do need to finish things.


I know I just made it sound as if I don't. I start writing then edit midway through, then edit the edit, and so on. Which... I hate to admit... has happened. But that's not the norm. If anything is the norm, it's getting two-thirds of the way through and then editing that, so the ending I'm about to write works well. Then, I'll go back and write that planned ending. And, that is my first draft.


No, seriously, that's it. I'm done then.


Not for good, obviously. However, for a week to a month, I'll put it aside and forget about it. I might start coming up with new ideas. I might focus on some other work. I might just forget all of that and do nothing (well, as much nothing as I can do—thanks QI for teaching me that you technically can't 'do nothing'). After some time has passed, and I'm ready with fresh eyes, I'll then go back to my first draft and read it.


And I'll hate good portions of it. Maybe not hate. I'll strongly dislike portions of it. But, I'll now have a really solid foundation to start on. The story will be pretty much ironed out here—with, perhaps, a few more scenes missing and ready to be added—and so writing the second draft will be exactly what I wish all writing was: easy and smooth.


From there, the process is to just rinse and repeat until I'm happy and confident that I have the best version of my story.


Now, before I wrap this all up, I just want to echo my point from earlier: be yourself. We all have our own little quirks and odd ways of doing things. Don't try and change that to fit someone else's writing process or method. Be yourself when writing and it'll be a lot more fun (and a bit easier, in my opinion).


With that said though, we're all done here. Step Three will be out next week, so keep your eyes peeled for that one. I'll keep it a secret as to what I'll be discussing there, but it'd be nice to see you come back regardless. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you have a great day.

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