Thread: ...But just HOW bad are your first drafts?

Originally Posted by C.M.C.

My first drafts are, barring typos and whatnot, virtually identical to the final versions. I must be special.

Mine too. Though that's mostly because I edit as I go along. If I type something I don't like it gets deleted there and then, not when I come to revise it. I also have the habbit of re-reading the last couple of paragraphs and improving them once every 10-20 minutes. So my first draft is usually more like a third draft considering how much I do to it while it's being written.

Originally Posted by C.M.C.

My first drafts are, barring typos and whatnot, virtually identical to the final versions. I must be special.

Is that for short stories?

Originally Posted by Ilasir Maroa

Is that for short stories?

It's for just about anything. I don't recall ever having to tear something apart and basically rewrite it. I'm not that kind of writer.

CMC, you're not alone. I'm pretty much the same way. I've tried multiple drafts and it doesn't improve the product in most cases. I don't really see novels and short stories as different animals.

Originally Posted by C.M.C.

My first drafts are, barring typos and whatnot, virtually identical to the final versions. I must be special.

Originally Posted by C.M.C.

It's for just about anything. I don't recall ever having to tear something apart and basically rewrite it. I'm not that kind of writer.

I think these posts should be edited, C.M.C. Specifically, I would remove the sentences in bold.

Originally Posted by C.M.C.

It's for just about anything. I don't recall ever having to tear something apart and basically rewrite it. I'm not that kind of writer.

Just curious. I know a lot of people who plan out their short sories and then write one draft but who take several drafts on novels.

I'm the same as CMC and Mod. One draft for 'most everything I write. Of the six novels, there's only been one major rewrite. The first one was so bad, though, that gutting it with a sledgehammer wouldn't have done anything, so I'm in the process of rewriting it.

Some people can produce their best on the first go. I do it for my college assignments all the time. Usually with about a day to spare before the hand-in date.

I think these posts should be edited, C.M.C. Specifically, I would remove the sentences in bold.

Hahaha -- nice one alan.

I always revise and edit. I also workshop my work extensively both in academic format and in recreational format. Both are important. I really don't think a first draft is ever the best version of a work. There is ALWAYS room for improvement.

You haven't seen my second drafts
Erle Stanley Gardner, Ron Goulart, and Jim Thompson are my role models. Would that I could get to that point.

Originally Posted by Sam W

I'm the same as CMC and Mod. One draft for 'most everything I write. Of the six novels, there's only been one major rewrite. The first one was so bad, though, that gutting it with a sledgehammer wouldn't have done anything, so I'm in the process of rewriting it.

Some people can produce their best on the first go. I do it for my college assignments all the time. Usually with about a day to spare before the hand-in date.

Eh, I barely ever revised for school work unless it was required or I was using ome other non-school project to kill two birds with one stone. Which I did a lot in my english classes.

I'll just say this much and let you figure out the rest: I'm currently on my sixth draft.

Originally Posted by Raging_Hopeful

Hahaha -- nice one alan.

I always revise and edit. I also workshop my work extensively both in academic format and in recreational format. Both are important. I really don't think a first draft is ever the best version of a work. There is ALWAYS room for improvement.

What is this, please? I've never heard of it.

Originally Posted by Eluixa

What is this, please? I've never heard of it.

I'm assuming she means a structured workshop and stuff likethe forum. I not, I feel rather clueless.

Mine have improved. They used to be bloody atrocious, and now they're usually just mediocre.

I used to have a bad habit of editing too soon after writing it, with the result that I was tinkering with the cosmetic stuff (grammar, specific word choice) without fixing the more fundamental problems (plot holes, strange character behaviour, deus ex machina) because I was too close to the writing to see them. It took me a long time to break that.

I'm also slowly learning to kill my babies, which is also hard going.

Kill my babies, you ask? I mean those little phrases, images and metaphors you think are really clever or well-done when you write them, and don't realise how cringeworthy they are until 1 second after letting someone else read the manuscript.

I also write shitty first drafts and turn it into something readable in rewriting. It makes me insecure, it makes me think that I can't do it which is the main reason why I do think of idea's of what to write, but don't start the actual writing. I have this illusion in my head that a 'good' writer writes amasingly the very first time.

When I write RPG's I usually do it in a matter of minutes responding very quickly and not editing that much at all (since there is no time to do that) and somehow it turns out to be okay. So somehow if I am not so scared of failing I manage to do fine. I tried to remind myself of that when I am writing a story.I try to tell myself that it is okay to write shitty (although the critical voice in my mind keeps telling me that it is not) and rewrite later.