Comments on: First Drafts Suck

By: Kerrin

Kerrin — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 10:15:36 +0000

i think someone mentioned it but i seem to have a few key or main scenes in mind and just ask myself (or my characters!) what do they need to do to get there? It helps so far. Though this is only my second ever novel i’ve written completely! You’re methods are more likely to work than mine 😉

By: Suzanne Jones

Suzanne Jones — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 17:10:30 +0000

Also arriving very late (sorry). First drafts are just horrid. I actually used to send first drafts out (cringe) before realising everyone redrafted their work. But I was young and foolish in those days.

XX

By: Lacey Devlin

Lacey Devlin — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 07:54:45 +0000

I’m so incredibly late commenting that I have nothing to add. So instead I’ll be a parasite and suck up all the other great suggestions 😉

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 05:13:45 +0000

Julie – Congrats on your Nano! Well done you. Yep, first drafts are sucky but you’ve got the raw material there and that’s the main thing hmm?

Emily – hi there! Yes, skipping ahead is pretty much what I do these days when things aren’t going right. And actually, writing that scene tends to tell me what’s wrong with the one before.

Julia – good for you re Nano! And hey, I bet you it won’t be as bad as you think. I tend to be quite surprised, after a first draft splurge, to read it back and find it not quite as awful as I thought it was. 🙂

By: Julia Broadbooks

Julia Broadbooks — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 02:10:39 +0000

Someone mentioned that 20 question trick to me when I was writing my Nano (yes, I won, thank you very much). I totally saved me more than once when I had no idea what should come next.

Now that I'm done, I'm going to have to look over the suckage that is my first draft and see just how bad it really is.

By: writerstoauthors

writerstoauthors — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:23:05 +0000

Hi Jackie,

Whenever I get stuck on a certain part of a story or just want to bang my head on the computer screen I always skip ahead to a scene that I am looking forward to writing. I know I will have to edit it later, but I find it helps to just do something (and its either that or clean the house!)

Good luck on your manuscript!

Emily Harper

By: Julie P

Julie P — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 13:20:04 +0000

I've just finished NaNo and agree the first draft does indeed suck! I've done the 50,000 words for NaNo and I'm just cranking up the word count to finish the first draft off. I haven't read back through what I've written but I know it's a load of rubbish! But it's something I can improve on in future drafts. I am finding it hard going at the moment, though, so I know what you mean!

Julie

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 01:58:33 +0000

Maisey – cheers to you m’dear! Those ideas rock. That Lisa, she knows a thing or two eh? 🙂

By: Maisey

Maisey — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 01:31:38 +0000

Amy and Jackie, showers, FTW!!

I was stuck on my rewrite...*grumble* I felt like I STILL didn't know my characters. Lisa Hendrix advised me to write a scene that would never be in the book. So I did. And that helped with my hero hugely. And then I started letting my heroine talk, rant, actually, to her parents about why she was the way she was, why her business meant so much to her. And it was like I just met her for the first time.

Highly recommend that!

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:12:46 +0000

Cat – you’re inspiring me again. Stop it! 🙂 That’s exactly what my first draft is like and I should start thinking of it like that actually. Lump of clay that I can mould. Love that image. Hmmm, should look at Save the Cat then you think?