First Draft Glory

As November’s National Novel Writing Month creeps ever so swiftly up on us, in which hundreds of thousands of people sweat and bleed and struggle to reach that 50,000 word count, I would like to take a moment to revel in the awesome power of the first draft.

First drafts are far from glorious. First drafts, by their very nature, suck (unless you are freakishly, inhumanly talented). Between my first and final drafts, nothing remains untouched by the might of my red pen.

Recently, I sat down to write a short story. I had my characters already running wild in my head with my world and my conflict. Maybe because I’ve focused so much lately on revision, it seemed like I’d forgotten how much I love the magic of that first draft.

And that initial step is total magic. It’s intoxicating.

In first drafts, I don’t worry about structure, hitting all the right beats at just the right time, or if I’m being too trite, too melodramatic. I don’t worry about polish; that’s for successive drafts, and I can’t get it right on the first pass, no matter how I try. So I get the story on the page. I know that later I’ll make it better.

Even knowing where my story will go, what the major beats are, there is still so much exploring and discovering to be done. The feeling of the story coming together, word by word to make a cohesive whole, is like nothing else.

Maureen McHugh’s novel writing process chart. Source: Tumblr.

Like any relationship, it will have its ups and downs. You start off on a high. At some point you hit a low and have to be talked down from trashing the whole thing, and it’s always a mixed bag of emotions by the time you hit the end. But then you have a story. It will probably need a lot of work, but you’ll have something to work on.

I finished the first draft of that short story. It is in desperate need of revision, but I know it so much better than I did before. Now I’m tackling a first draft of a novel. Not the one I’d intended to write next; it’s the one pulling on me most strongly right now. Just in time for NaNo.

I love the freedom to let my story suck. I love focusing purely on the story — translating it from images and impressions in my head to words on a page. That is the best magic I know.

NaNo is a great time for getting those words on the page. It’s what the month-long event is all about. The energy of like-minded people encouraging, commiserating, and sharing provides extra momentum. Tackle that first draft, and see where it goes.

So, will you be doing NaNo this year?