Support for Indie Authors discussion
Archived Author Help
>
Overcoming First Draft Inertia
date
newest »
newest »
I find a large glass or two of wine helps. One doesn't produce one's best work under the influence, but it does get you past the blinking cursor stage!
Oddly enough, the blank screen isn't what trips me up; it's when I've just finished writing a chapter that I'm not all that fond of, and I'm torn between soldiering on with the next chapter and going back to fix what I think is a mess (inevitably, space and time often tell me that what I wrote that I thought was so horrible actually wasn't all that bad).
The way I start my outlining usually helps with it these days. The outline starts as a few sentences, then I gradually build those into "chapter" paragraphs. When I start the rough draft, it's like putting leaves on a tree. If I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing, I copy/paste the actual paragraph from the outline and start adding to it until I find my direction.
Mod
Here is my standard process:On legal pad with my favorite pen:
1) Create a ten line outline.
2) Based on that, create a two page outline.
3) Create a final outline. 12 to 20 pages.
Convert that outline into Scrivener. Then write the novel.
10 to 12 weeks for the first draft.
For me, I start with whatever it was that sparked the idea. I've currently got about thirty 'scenes' written for my next book,but no earthly idea what order they will go in or how many of them will make it to the actual manuscript, but at least I'm getting them out of my head.
Mod
I hate blank pages and will type just about anything to make it go away. For me, it's a process of deciding:
1. What character(s) I want to introduce first
2. How close to the center of the story do I want to start
3. What the characters are doing
4. Where they are
I've usually decided this while doing some other task before the writing has begun. So, when I get to the computer and start to write, I just pound on the keys and start describing that opening image.
I solve it the same way I solve any form of writers block or reluctance to write. Normally (unless it's tipping down with rain or I am in an especially good writing mood) I have to take a thirty minute or so walk through the fields outside my town. It's a lovely walk that goes past some old WW2 concrete pillboxes and a river - something about it just gets my brain juices going. It was after this particular walk that I first came up with the concept of the story I'm writing at the moment so, given how much of an influence the area was, I decided to set the story there.
Different people have different techniques and I think you just have to find the one that's right for you.
For me, a first draft is more like a purge than a writing exercise - I write very quickly to get the story out of my head so that I can concentrate on actually crafting something that resembles a story from it. I guess it's because of the way I approach my first draft that I've never really had any problems with moving it forward - it sort of harks back to Clayton's idea of it being disposable... I guess that is just my way of making it disposable too...
Mod
That works well. If I'm stumped a bit with a scene, I skip it and come back later. Sometimes my rough drafts have huge holes in them.
I love starting a new project (starting with a new blank Word document). Putting those first few words down is magical.
V.M. wrote: "Don't start at the beginning. Just start with whatever scene moves you and branch out from there."No lie, that's how Bounty got started. I wrote a mid-story chapter until I got into the groove, and then returned to the beginning to knock out the first couple chapters. Just writing *something* is the key, even if it's out of order.
When I start a new book, I type out very sketchy notes for the first chapter or the first few chapters and then I let the whole thing build up in my head for a while until I can't wait to start Chapter 1. And I agree that it's important to keep reminding yourself that it's the first draft and all you have to do is get the story down on paper or onto the screen. The actual wording can all be changed afterwards. That frees your mind to go where it pleases because if some of it's mince, it doesn't matter, since nobody's ever going to see it anyway!
Mike wrote: "I find a large glass or two of wine helps. One doesn't produce one's best work under the influence, but it does get you past the blinking cursor stage!"If I start drinking, I start dancing.
J.D. wrote: "Oddly enough, the blank screen isn't what trips me up; it's when I've just finished writing a chapter that I'm not all that fond of, and I'm torn between soldiering on with the next chapter and goi..."I've adopted a "one-way only" policy to first drafts. It keeps me from getting lost in the quagmire of revision. At most, I'll make a quick note to myself regarding big ideas for previous chapters, but I'll always move forward to maintain momentum.
I start with an idea that pops in my head. Normally I have a nice pace through the first couple of the chapters. It's the middle chapters that get me sometimes. That's when I stop, think about it, and let my mind wander. Then I will head back to the computer, write a few sentences...either hate them or like them, and normally a sense of direction will come back to me. I do have a habit (whether some think it's bad or not) of re-reading from the beginning when I get stuck in the middle. That will, most of the time, jump me back into a good groove and where I want to take the story. Sometimes it even surprises me.
If the screen is getting to me, I'll go write long hand for a little while. Once the pump is primed, I'll usually get going too fast for me to keep up with pen and paper, and then I switch back to the keyboard. I can type a whole lot faster than I can write.
Clayton wrote: "J.D. wrote: "Oddly enough, the blank screen isn't what trips me up; it's when I've just finished writing a chapter that I'm not all that fond of, and I'm torn between soldiering on with the next ch..."This is what I do.
1) take a walk outside and think.2) fix a few drinks and think.
3) smoke some tea and think.
4) write scenes out of order.
5) sleep.
6) watch and dissect a movie.
7) read a book and rewrite it.
8) pick up a mag and randomly flip pages then write about the photo i come across.
9) program a simulation and see what the RNG comes up with.
10) see #1 lolz
I write whatever comes to mind. For me, it's the act of starting that's the hardest. Once I've started, things go smoother.
What helps me is to have the first chapter "written," so to speak, in my head. I don't mean outlined, I mean actually written, with the words I'd like to use already chosen and everything. What I have in my head doesn't end up on screen word for word, of course, but it does give me a very firm starting point that ensures that the first chapter not only gets written but finished. Even though the first chapter is also the chapter that goes through the most revisions once its time for edits, but so goes the way of first chapters.
I'm with you on this Clayton. Writing freehand away from the computer lets the imagination flow. I can write more quickly than I can type and I'm away from social media distractions. Don't sweat it, we all have a method that works for us.
The important thing for me about a first draft is not to be judgmental. I write what comes to my head, and if I don't second guess myself, it flows nicely. After the first draft is written, I feel extremely relieved, because now it's on paper. THEN, I go back and look at it. I can see things I need to expand or cut or re-write, but it's a whole lot easier to do that when I have the basic ideas down on paper. Trying to be perfect (like in the movies when the author keeps tearing pages out of the typewriter and throwing them away) the first time out of the shute just scares me to death. I'd never write anything it if had to be perfect the first time around.
As i get ideas, I put them into my story clip file. When I'm ready to start on the next book, I go through my clip file to see what sounds most interesting. Start pulling 3-5 ideas into a new file, seeing how they play off of each other, get more ideas. Brainstorm using freeform index cards in Scrivener. Work up to a basic plot. Copy those index cards into a timeline/plotline. Research. Then Snowflake Method... logline, five line summary, five paragraph summary, character sketches, etc. Add some more conflict or subplots and flesh out the plot some more. Review using a beatsheet. Then... start writing and write 5,000 words per day (excepting Sundays) until it is done. That's my first draft. Although I did have one idea 'mug' me at the end of August when I wasn't planning a write a new book (until November). Couldn't get it out of my mind, researched like crazy for two weeks, jotted down a fifty-scene plotline and basic character sketches one night and started writing the next day. Write until done as usual.
I kind of just write whatever comes out even if I hate it because I know my brain is eventually going to give up and give me the good stuff. Then I go back and fix things up.
P.D. wrote: "As i get ideas, I put them into my story clip file. When I'm ready to start on the next book, I go through my clip file to see what sounds most interesting. Start pulling 3-5 ideas into a new file,..."You're very organized! I wish I could keep my workflow that structured. I just write jokes and good lines on scrap sheets of paper and cram them into a folder, and half the time I misplace that folder. Glad to hear you've got your process down.
Alice wrote: "The important thing for me about a first draft is not to be judgmental. I write what comes to my head, and if I don't second guess myself, it flows nicely. After the first draft is written, I feel ..."Oh, the lure of perfection. I finally learned recently that even my best work will never be perfect for everyone, so I may as well relax about it. I've really valued moderate speed lately: fast enough to not second guess myself too much, but not so fast that I rush out garbage.
I love beginnings. I never have a lack of beginnings. The blank page holds no terror or trepidation for me, because I never start writing without knowing what I'm going to write. I'll either be inspired to write a new beginning, or to pick up an old beginning and carry on with it...or else I don't write.But I can't write totally by seat of the pants. If I have a beginning I like but don't know the story's ending, inevitably it gets bogged down. I have to have something to write toward, regardless how nebulous that ending is in my mind.
I may not know who does what in the end--or even who the ultimate good/bad guys are--but I have to have a general idea of either the ending's main "scene" or how it concludes.
Without those, I reach an impasse and just let the story sit unfinished, gestating over untold numbers of months, years, whatever. In the meantime, new beginnings are coming to mind all the time.
I agree. I have lots more beginnings than I de endings. Sometimes a book will start out and be clear for a few chapters and then die. It ends up a file somewhere. I do have to have a sense of where I am headed in order to start the first chapter, even if that understanding is sketchy.
That's where my outlines have helped me. I make the basic plot point I want to happen for that chapter, and move on. Sometimes it changes, sometimes everything changes, but I never find myself painted into a corner (or if I do, I just have to be patient and wait to figure out a solution) or at a loss for what to write next. It also keeps me from having to overhaul thousands of words of text when I decide to take a different path later on.
You're very organized! I wish I could keep my workflow that structured. I just write jokes and good lines on scrap sheets of paper and cram them into a folder, and half the time I misplace that folder. Glad to hear you've got your process down. My clip file is in Evernote. On all of my computers, on my phone, etc. Very quick to clip a webpage, take a picture, or make a note.
After some trial and error, I now write all of my first drafts by hand onto a legal pad, and I finish drafts much faster than I ever did on a computer. Knowing my work is "disposable" relaxed my inner critic and allowed me to strike through garbage lines or scribble in the margins. I understand this method takes the long way around, but it works for me.
How do y'all overcome the inertia of a blank computer screen? Writing exercises? Talking into a recorder? Going for a run?