Giving Up On The First Draft

[Jessica]

Have you ever given up a story on the first draft? Why or why not? Why do you think other people do this? Just something to talk about. :)

[Irene]

I have (twice to be exact) and for two totally different reasons.

The first lengthy piece I tried to write I bit off a bit more than I could chew. I planned out a trilogy, very quite in-depthly in fact. However, I planned it out so 'well' that the writing was dry and I got bored quickly.

The second one I tried was a salvage of the first piece and was just about as disastrous. However, it was a really great learning experience. I gave up on this one because I had so many loose ends that it would take too many pages to wrap it up into a book but not so many that I could feasibly expand it into two.

So I have discovered I have to write a little on my idea before I plan it out and then go about planning a few major points, filling in between as I go.

As for other people I think they just plainly get discouraged.

[Tara ♪]

Well, I have tried writing a few drafts of different books in a series I planned out. However, what I have found is that these little drafts could really be better used as background info for another story in the series that I'm working on. That's pretty much the only one I've abandoned so far. ;-)

[Nordlys]

Irene wrote: "I have (twice to be exact) and for two totally different reasons.

The first lengthy piece I tried to write I bit off a bit more than I could chew. I planned out a trilogy, very quite in-depthly in..."

I'm the same I've found, I have to write a bit before I start the planning, to keep it natural and fresh, letting my imagination run a little wild, and avoid it getting dry and forced. But then I have to go back to focus a lot of time on planning the worlds and characters and such, but I try not to plan the story too much so that I'll feel stuck within a set frame (if that makes sense). I know overall where I need the story to go and end, but I won't make a very planned out structure before I write: I'll do that along the way. I know the main story basically. The theme.

I have only given up on one first draft, because it sucked and could never be saved. All others I keep even if I give them up, because I can still see the potential, I can see the emotions they stirred in me when I first thought of them. And sometimes I go back and manage to continue with fresh eyes, a fresh imagination, or I make something new out of them, and other times I find I can use some of it in other stories. Many are still waiting to be saved... I'm a big fan of never throwing anything away, even if it seems bad, there may be a pearl hidden inside somewhere:)

[Irene]

Nordlys wrote: "Irene wrote: "I have (twice to be exact) and for two totally different reasons.

The first lengthy piece I tried to write I bit off a bit more than I could chew. I planned out a trilogy, very quite..."

I will plan out the world/characters as I go so I can let everything develop without constrictions. I do plan a little in the beginning but it is more of an idea than anything. I think the only story planning I really do is a timeline that gets filled in as I go along.

I keep pretty much all of my writing too :)