Un-Muddling Your First Draft

How to bring order to your messy first draft

So, let’s assume you have spent several weeks or months hammering out your first draft. You haven’t reread any of it, made any corrections, and have just kept going. Now is the time to face the mess and see what you’ve got.

If you’ve been writing by hand, you can just start reading, but if you worked on the computer, you might want to print out your pages. There are a couple of reasons for this. In the first place, you can take pages with you anywhere. You can sit on the train, or on the beach and work through it. Also, there’s a psychological boost to having a thick batch of papers that is your story. Regardless of the work you still have to do, you should be proud of yourself. You have finished your first draft. Well done!

The Reading

Now, start reading. No, don’t make notes, not yet. Just read. If possible, try to read the entire manuscript at one shot. Of course, that may not be possible, but even if you have to spread it over a few days, try not to take any days off. You want to keep the continuity of the story fresh in your memory.

You will itch to start making corrections as you go along. Resist that temptation. Your job right now is to simply read and absorb the story you have created. You also need to resist the urge to make notes about your reading at the end of each session. Save it. The time for notes comes after you’ve read the entire manuscript. Only then can you get a feel for how the whole story fits together.

The Notes

Once you have finished reading your story, get comfortable with a pen and notebook and write down your observations. The things you want to note are:

What worksWhat doesn’tPlot lines that go nowhereItems that need to be researchedRepetitions that need to be tidied up

Most of these items are self-explanatory, but let me just clarify that last point. Sometimes, you may forget a passage you wrote the day before or a couple of days ago, and find yourself repeating it. This is surprisingly common. I’ve even encountered it in published novels. The other thing you need to note is favourite words. I’m fond on crunchy as in Autumn leaves or gravel. Also amber. I have no idea why, but until I realised it, they showed up in every story I wrote. Weird. However, now I’ve noted these rascals I take pains to reduce my usages as much as possible.

The Plan

Once you have written your notes. You need to decide how you will attack the mess. Here are your options:

Begin at the beginning. Go on until you reach the end. Then stop.

Focus on all the bad bits first. Cut them, move them, or edit them so they fit with the rest of the story.

Start with all the good bits. Edit them first and colour-code them so you know you’ve worked on them.

Rearrange all the scenes that may be out of place and put them in some sort of an order. While you’re at it, you may want to delete all those duplicate bits.

The Project Outline

A novel is a big thing and it’s very easy to get lost in it. As I’ve said many times before, I like using a spreadsheet to keep track of my revisions as I go. Yes, it’s a pain to set up, and it does take time to keep it updated, but in my opinion, it’s worth it. Below is a sample from the revisions of my most recent novel, Great Warrior. As you can see, I note the page, the date the event takes place (because it’s historical fiction and some dates are significant). The thread means the specific item that needs attention. In addition to that, say, introducing a new character, I may note specific things I need to include. These items don’t necessarily mean I have to add those items immediately, but I need to keep them on my To Do list until I’ve either resolved them, or I’ve decided they don’t matter. One item below on page 144 asks if Bea is in mourning. This story begins not long after Queen Victoria’s death. Beatrice is the late queen’s goddaughter, so I needed to research how long she would be expected to follow the stringent Victorian rules of mourning. This update didn’t occur on page 144, but later. Once I’ve addressed an issue, I can cross it off.

Decide for yourself what items you want to include in your list. Perhaps you want to incorporate some of the elements of structure such as the act, inciting incident, climax, etc.

If you’re not the techy sort, you can create your own worksheet in your notebook. Alternatively, you can use Post-It notes. It helps if you have a big wall or at least some large space where you can, ah, post your Post-Its. The advantage of this approach is you can see where you are at a glance. Another advantage of this method is you can colour-code your notes by character, event, chapter, or whatever your preference may be. You can also move things around as you make changes.

One disadvantage, though, is this system isn’t portable, and it’s difficult to keep the information available after you’ve finished the story. I should add that I like to keep my template for the worksheet so I can use it again for future work. I can also use it to reference back for information on certain characters. This is particularly helpful if you are writing a series.

Different writers take different approaches to the Post-It system. If you want me to elaborate on this in a future blog, I’d be happy to do so. Alternatively, you can look up plot-boarding or how to do novel planning with Post-Its on Pinterest or other sites on the Internet. You’ll find more options than you can shake a stick at. Though why you’d want to shake a stick at them, I can’t imagine.

Some Don’ts

Your job here is sorting, so don’t spend too much time on each item. Your goal is to create a coherent storyline. It doesn’t have to be complete. If you’re missing a scene, for instance, just leave yourself a note where that scene should go with a brief explanation of the content. For instance, “This is where Joan tells Robert about Conrad’s shady past.”

Don’t mess with the grammar and spelling. You might spend hours fixing the language in a chapter, only to delete said chapter later. All your work has gone to naught. As a pedant, it pains me to say this. There’s nothing I like better than playing with grammar, punctuation, etc., but at this stage it’s like painting a building that’s due for demolition.

Don’t start any serious re-writing until you have your structure sorted. Know how your story begins, what they key plot points are, and how it ends. This is where that 3-Act Structure comes in handy. If you want more information on how to structure your novel, see my previous post here.

Finally, good luck with sorting out the story. I know it can be tricky and time-consuming, but you’ll feel very good when it’s done and you’re able to devote yourself to the more fun aspects of the rewrite.

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