The Importance of a First Draft

May 9, 2020

I find that one of the hardest parts of writing is writing the first draft. Whenever I look at it, it’s hard not to keep comparing it to a final draft of something, or even to the idea in my head. On top of that, I keep thinking that it’s only the first draft, so there must be a second, third, and fourth. Which means this one will likely be tossed. Does that mean this time is wasted?

The point of a draft is to get ideas onto paper. It doesn’t have to be perfect the first time. If you think your entire draft is perfect, you probably need to raise your standards and expect more of yourself. That’s not to say parts of it won’t be, but you can’t expect perfection of yourself every time. Especially with the first draft, it’s important to get words on the paper. You can outline it first, but I’ve found that, while helpful, I discover a different direction for the story while I’m actually writing. So instead, get words on the page, and don’t worry if it’s not perfect. You can fix it later while you’re editing.

Once a draft is finished, it provides you with an opportunity to look back on it. With Villain in Vermilion (year six of Girl in Red), I had a first draft done long before I had to post it. This gave me the opportunity to make necessary changes before I had to post it. In Cherry Champion (year four), I was able to stretch out a few plot lines, rather than have them scrunched up at the end, as they had been in my original draft. Finally, there’s the ending to the series. I’ve written several different endings, finally settling on the one that made the most sense. That’s not wasted time, that’s what it took to get to the end for me.

But there will be times when your original idea isn’t working. On my current work, I ran into that problem. Specifically, my main characters were boring. They each had exactly one mood, and each scene was a repeat of the one before it because of that. I rethought the entire story, and realized that my antagonists were not only redundant, but both were unnecessary. I got rid of them, then added more depth to my main characters, which allowed them to grow in different ways. It means a lot of what I wrote can’t be used, but that wasn’t time wasted. What would’ve been a waste was if I’d realized there was a problem, but carried on as though everything were fine.

While writing drafts may feel like a waste of time for little reward, they’re necessary for a good finished product. I look back at Girl in Red, and the parts with which I’m the most happy are those that got first and second drafts. Not all of it did, and the series suffered for it. But I learned from my mistakes, and I hope other people will too.

Remember, this is for your writing. It’s worth the effort.

#Essay #Advice