Tuesday 21 August 2012

First Drafts: Permission to suck?

After a long time working on my completed MS, I am back to a first draft. I have been having trouble getting going, discarding one idea after another and rewriting the same part of one of the ideas I DO want to go with over and over.

I have realised why this is. I had become too used to working on a finished, polished, shiny draft that the first draft, in all its awkward rusty glory was unwieldy. It didn't move smoothly under my hand. The ordinary descriptions and stilted dialogue leapt off the page like sore nails.

I wanted to stop and polish, to make that first sentence, that first paragraph perfect. I wanted it to be the final draft.

But it isn't. It's the first draft, and the joy of the first draft to me is getting it out, letting the words fly out, not *worrying* about them, just letting them be.

If I stop to polish, I will never get anywhere. I know some people work this way, polishing each chapter before moving onto the next, so that when they get to the end it needs little revision.

I can't work like that. I do work to a plan, in the hope that by the end massive rewriting won't be needed. But I have realised in my first draft I need to Get The Thing Out. Just write it. Warts and all! I need to give myself permission to suck. Nobody need see it (save the poor CPs who may offer and even then, I can revise before I share it.). I need to get the words out, on the page, so that I have tools to work with.

So that's what I am going to do.

How about you? Have any trouble with first drafts? Do you stop to polish or do you Get The Thing Out? Let me know!


22 comments:

  1. I am a polisher - which is an annoyance because everything takes so much longer that way! Doing CampNaNo helped me break that tendency a little because there wasn't time to polish - the words just had to come out and it worked really well. But my bad habits have slipped back already!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Takes longer but when you get to the end there'll be less to tidy! I wish I could have stuck more with CampNano as I think it's a great exercise!

      Delete
  2. Yes, you have permission to suck. It is the first draft. :D I'll send out chapters to my betas as I write them, but don't do that much fiddling until I'm done. Sometimes a part will really bother me and I'll go back and fix it, but usually I leave it alone.

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you ;) I feel better now!

      And leaving it alone to get to the end sounds a good plan!

      Delete
  3. Yes, you have to push that first draft out. Just do it. Sometimes, if I'm overthinking too much I will actually write the words: Do Your Worst at the top of my page to remind myself that it's okay to suck. Trust me, between those first words and publication, the work will go through so darn many revisions that it is totally not worth wasting time trying to get every single word just right the first time around. So do your worst!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, you are right, just have to get it out. I like the idea of writing Do Your Worst out, great tip!

      Delete
  4. Permission to suck granted! My first drafts are so terrible I cringe to think of anyone coming across them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, I feel better, permission received!

      Delete
  5. I like to get it all down then go back and rework it! I like to see the big picture before I edit as my brain seems to cope better if I can fool it into thinking really it's already finished! Lol. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it's important just to get it all out too! Thank you, fingers crossed!

      Delete
  6. I just write and see what comes out. Then I'll tweak it a bit, leave it, go back to it, tweak, leave, go back etc. Anyone who thinks their first draft can be their final finished work is either VERY clever or, more likely deluded!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tweak and leave sounds a good process to me! Thank you for commenting!

      Delete
  7. I'm sort of a polisher. Usually, when I sit down to write, I reread what I wrote the day before and some polishing inevitably happens. Not a whole bunch, but enough to make me a polisher. Whatever works, right? Even so, I still have to agree that first drafts are totally allowed to suck. Good luck with yours! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah well actually, now you say I do like to read over a bit of what I've just done to get back in the flow of writing, though not sure much polishing happens! Yes, just get draft out I vote!

      Delete
  8. totally get what you're saying! thats why nano is so good. it forces you to get thru the draft w/o looking back, tho i do make notes on things to check and improve for later! very tempted to read it too! but i will wait! getting harder each day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish I could have done better with Nano, wish you so much luck with yours! You will soon get it read it over! :)

      Delete
  9. I write as it flows, then go back and start the re-write. I have to follow the thought -- but it's the re-writing that makes it stand out. First drafts are called that for a very good reason, but don't be surprised if you end up with 10 of them -- just kidding -- or am I?

    :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah ha to ten first drafts ;) Yes I agree the rewriting is where some of the stand out stuff happens, so important! Thank you for commenting!

      Delete
  10. I try to go back and polish/edit/revise a little every 10K words or so, just to save myself from trying to do it all at the end. Doing it for every chapter seems like it would drive me crazy, as would trying to do the whole thing at once!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for commenting, very interesting that you get some polishing done as you go! Sounds like a good plan, nice middle ground!

      Delete
  11. I have the exact same problem, I have this great ideas but when I write them down for the first time the writing just makes everything suck. Nothing left to do but push through!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have to totally worry about it less. I bet it's not as bad as we think too, and it's important just to get it out! :)

      Delete

Please comment, I'd love to know what you think! :)