HOW TO WRITE A FIRST DRAFT



I've just finished the first draft of my latest novel so I thought now would be a great time to write a blog about it.

The title to this blog shouldn't actually say, 'How to write a first draft' and maybe should be titled 'How I write a first draft'. The thing is, there is no right way to write a first draft. There's also no wrong way. It's just your way. I bet no one in the world writes a first draft like me. Maybe they do, but if so they should definitely stop. It's chaotic and every time I finish one I'm always amazed it makes any sense whatsoever. Because here's the thing about a first draft. The only thing that matters is that you finish it and when you do, you think, I can work with this. These are my only requirements. 

Step one: Start. I've lost count of the number of people I've met in my life who say, "one day I'm going to write a novel". And whenever I ask them why not now they always have an excuse. They don't have time etc. The thing about writing a novel is that you have to commit to actually writing a novel. It's a marathon. You have to stop thinking about it and just start. You have to put the hours in.

Step two: Start. This is the bit where you have to do something. Some people will spend months planning, some will spend ten minutes. There is no right way. Some people will try and tell you that you have to have pages of notes, chapter summaries, character bios and maybe you will and maybe you won't. For each of my books I've had varying degrees of notes before I started. For some it's a lot and for others barely a few pages. The important thing to remember is that this is your book and you will write the way you write. 

(A quick note about this. I've read a couple of 'how to write novel' books and they're fine, but honestly I don't believe in learning how to write. You can't learn how to write. The best way to learn is to read books and study them. I read a lot of books in the same genre as mine and studied how they worked. For me this was far more valuable than reading books about writing. You can pick up tips, but for me writing is something natural and organic. You either can or you can't. You can definitely get better though, but that comes from lots of writing!)

Step three: write a lot. OK so once you have the general story idea, a rough list of characters, a starting point and a vague idea of an ending, you need to crack on. You can spend days, weeks, months, maybe even years putting off starting but at the end of the day, you need to start getting words down on the page.

Step four: Don't stop writing. I think this might be the most important thing about writing a first draft. I said above that there isn't a way to write a first draft. There are no rules. BUT. I think the one thing that most writers I know have in common is that when writing a first draft you need to keep going. I only go back and read the previous chapter before every new day to get a feel of where I am, but I don't go back and re-write. I just keep going until I have 90-100,000 words and then I stop. The end. If you try to make every chapter "perfect" before you move on you'll never get the momentum to keep going.

Step five: When it's done, read it back. This is the bit that always terrifies me. Reading it back is hard because there's going to be terrible mistakes, bits that don't make a lot of sense, character flaws and huge holes in the plot. The only thing that really matters though is that when you're done you think, I can make this good. 

Step six: Think. This is an important part of the process. It took me a long time to be OK with spending time thinking. You think you always need to be writing, but you don't. Once you have a completed first draft you need to give yourself time to read it and think about it. Really think about it because the hard work is just beginning. 

Writing is a very personal thing and the more you do it, the more you will find your style. For me the first draft is a way of understanding the story and the characters. As I write new story ideas develop, characters start to come alive, and so even though at the start I don't have everything mapped out, by the end of the first draft I have a good idea where I'm going. 

The important thing to remember, and this is something first time writers might have a hard time with, is that you will edit this book so many times and the final draft will be nothing like the first. The saying, writing is re-writing is so true. So when you're writing your first draft just get it all out. Be creative, let it flow, write paragraphs of utter nonsense, feel the story, the characters, let them breathe, let the words go and when it's all done, you can sit back in the knowledge that you've done it. You're on the first step to writing a novel.

Of course it is only the first step. People say that looking at a blank page is the hardest thing about writing, but I disagree. Looking at 97,000 words and then trying to turn that jumble of words into a perfect, finished novel is a lot harder. There's so much to do once you have a first draft, but that's a different blog. Right now, I'm excited because I have a first draft and you know what? It's one I can definitely work with. 

Until next time.

Hugs,
Jon X
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Published on March 04, 2016 10:22
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