I’m about 40,000 words into the first draft of my current novel. There are many lessons that I’ve learned along the way of this piece of writing, as well as past projects. Here are a select few that I believe novice writers should be aware of:
- Your First Draft is Always Crap…
Although this is my first time writing a first draft with the intent to publish, it isn’t my first attempt at a first draft. There have been many, and to call some of them bad would be putting it lightly. The first draft I’m working on now isn’t as bad as previous novels I’ve written, as my writing has improved over the years, however it’s still not anywhere near where I envision my final piece will be. Remember, your first draft isn’t about getting your novel down perfectly, or even close to it. It’s about coherently fleshing out your plot and characters, the prototype if you will, you’ll have plenty of time to tweak the writing later. It was a while before I came to terms with this, it used to be something that really bothered and slowed me down. I would think it pointless to continue writing if I wasn’t 100% happy with everything previously written. Which brings me to lesson two.
- … But Finish it Before You Edit
Looking back at a first draft before you finish, especially if it’s a particularly messy one, might make you want to go back and start editing, but you need to stop yourself. The thing about editing a novel is that there isn’t a clear finish line. You can always keep editing, up until that date you submit to an agent or publisher, or even until it is published, you’ll always be looking for ways to improve. So, when you go back before you’re done a first draft it can slow you down, you can end up just editing and editing without moving forward with your plot. Some people might see this as a means to have a complete first draft (as in you first draft is your last) but it doesn’t work out that way. Most times it gets messy. Because you’re going back and forth you lose track of certain aspects of your story, it breaks the flow, and it doesn’t turn out the same as going from start to finish. There’s also something motivating about finishing a first draft, the sooner you get it done the faster things will move forward from there.
There are some people who do like to edit before they finish, so if you’ve had success with that by all means continue working, and I’d love to hear about your success stories in the comments below! But for those of you haven’t or are struggling to finish their first draft because they keep editing, stop it. Your first draft will probably be bad regardless, and that’s okay.
- There Is a Lot More to Writing a Book Than Being a Good Writer
That’s an understatement, being a good writer is the most important part of writing a (good) book, but it’s only a fraction of the process. From marketing your novel, to submitting to agents and publishers, to learning about publishing contracts and royalty rates, there is a lot for an author to be aware of. I’ve slowly been researching the different aspects of the field other than writing and think I’m aware of what to expect once my final draft is done (but of course there’s always more to learn). I intend on doing future blogs on some of these non-writing aspects of publishing. Such as traditional vs self-publishing or querying an agent. If you have any specific topics you would like me to discuss comment below and I will get to it as soon as possible! I also intend on doing a sequel to this post with more first draft lessons, there have been plenty and I imagine there will be more to come.
As always, thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you back here next week!