first drafts=skecth? - Writers Forum

Cady · 12-19-2005, 09:36 PM

Is it wrong to think of first drafts as a sketch? I have been struggling with my first draft recently, just horrified by all the bad writing I am shoveling out, but a thought occoured to me today. Artists ussualy sketch thier work before they ever pull out a paintbrush. Is it ok to think of my first draft as a sketch that I can later add color, depth, and flair too? I like to think of it this way, it takes the pressure off of writing beautiful prose and keeps me focus on whats important, finishing what I've started. Just wondering if you guys feel this is a wrong approach?

invisible_ink · 12-19-2005, 10:30 PM

I think for you to expect a first draft to be anything other than a sketch, is very ambitious; most writers go through numerous drafts before they achieve a story they're satisfied with. I see nothing wrong with your way.

Verago · 12-21-2005, 08:26 PM

That's the same method I use. Works great.

mammamaia · 01-01-2006, 01:47 AM

nobody decides which techniques are kosher and which aren't... 'sketch' or 'rough draft' are more or less the same thing... it's just a matter of semantics... so, nothing that works for you can be considered 'wrong'...

ODaley · 01-02-2006, 04:54 PM

I do not see anything wrong at all describing your first draft a "sketch." I myself am learning that I don't need to pen my craft perfectly the first time through. As invisible_ink stated, most writers go through numerous drafts. Get your words down first. You can fine tune it later.

patthager · 01-29-2006, 11:19 AM

I agree. When you begin writing your first draft a lot of the time your word start defining your concept. By that I mean, when your start writing you have a bare concept and when you start writing you find all the things you need to develope. I.E. "The black knights were storming the castle. The king..." Wait, I haven't thought of a king yet. "..., King Thesolonies ordered his knights..." I haven't though of how rich he is yet, I don't know how many knights he should have. He should probably not be to rich and not have a incredibly huge castle, it will make the battle cooler. "...to guard the gate, he knew it would not last long..." I don't know where this is yet? and where are dark knights coming from? lets see... You think of a lot of stuff while your writing your first draft of your first chapter, probably enough stuff to spread out over 5 chapters, but it will probably be unorganized. So you want to write like, 2 or 3 first drafts chapters before you even begin trying to make a second draft of the first, and you shouldn't try to make your first draft your last.

simon woodhouse · 01-29-2006, 01:16 PM

When I first started writing I knocked out 3 novels one straight after the other.

With the first one my goal was just to see if I could do it, and the second one was to make sure the first one wasn't a fluke. The third one came along because 3 felt like more of a solid number than 2.

Since I finished the third one, probably about 2 years ago, I haven't written anything new but instead concentrated on licking the first three into shape. This has shown me just how rough a first draft is, as I've re-written all three novels in their entirety.

But it's frustrating, because I put a lot of work into each first draft, only to see it all go to waste. Or not exactly waste, because it acted as a blueprint, but a 120,000 word blueprint is a lot of effort. Each book, though, has improved no end during the re-writing, and I've learnt a lot as well.

Hopefully, one day, I'll be able to write a first draft and not end up putting a red pen through most of it.

patthager · 01-29-2006, 04:41 PM

Ya, the more you write the easier it is.

Wilderness · 01-30-2006, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simon woodhouse

Hopefully, one day, I'll be able to write a first draft and not end up putting a red pen through most of it.

Hey
but thats kinda the beauty of a first draft. You can write a general jist of where the story is going, you can get a feel for the tone of the story and can start developing your characters and their lives.
You can let the ideas and words flow.

Then in the other drafts, you fine tunr all that. Get rid of all the nonsense you wrote, fix up the characters and understand where the plot is really going.

I'm the kinda writer that during the first draft, wont move on until every paragraph is perfect. I do that all the way through the first draft, think its brilliant, leave it alone for a few weeks, come back and die. THEN I fix up everything again, paragraph by paragraph.

Different methods work for different writers.
What you said is totally fine!

Good luck with your work.

Lani