How Clean Is Your First Draft?

brainstorm77 · Aug 10, 2009

I'm curious to know

If this has been asked before here then I apologize

Nateskate · Aug 10, 2009

It's been asked, but that matters little as there are new people circulating in all the time.

My first draft had creative ideas, but it wasn't good writing. I wonder if I have a writer's dyslexia? All the same, I fight to make it work.

Carmy · Aug 10, 2009

I don't know if it's been asked before. If it has, a mod will move it.

To my mind, the first draft is to get things down on paper regardless of typos and grammar errors, and fleshing out of characters and setting. I know my characters inside and out by the time I begin writing. Having said that -- by the time I start writing, the complete story is in my head, including the ending (which I often write first).

The first draft is therefore a mess, but it's a permanent record of the story that I can flesh out and correct.

From what I've read, there is a great temptation to go back and keep correcting the first chapters.

KellyAssauer · Aug 10, 2009

brainstorm77 said:
I'm curious to know If this has been asked before here then I apologize

It's just awfully personal!

My first drafts might be clean in the way of punc errors or misspellings and they might even read half-way decent (just the decent parts) but my first drafts usually need four rewrites before I can see where things fit and what will need rewritten...

NicoleMD · Aug 10, 2009

About as clean as the floor in a truck stop restroom.

Nicole

scarletpeaches · Aug 10, 2009

My first drafts get cleaner with each one, but they still need a lot of work. My first drafts these days are better than my manuscripts from years back.

lucidzfl · Aug 10, 2009

My first draft is about as clean as a nasty case of 3 day louisiana swamp ass.

SilverPhoenix · Aug 10, 2009

First Drafts for me tend to be pretty uneven...the writing is clean in some places and messy in others, and I skip out little bits here and there (to fill in later).

I did post some first draft stuff up awhile ago ~ see here lol. It's a bit shabby, but could be worse.

The Lonely One · Aug 10, 2009

Cleaner and cleaner as I grow as a writer.

Though it depends on the hour, to be fair.

NeuroFizz · Aug 10, 2009

I have noticed an upward trajectory in the "closeness" between first draft and final draft (there is significant modification and tinkering in between), but with that general trend, there is variation around the line that makes each project unique, some requiring more work than others. I'd kick myself in the butt if I didn't see that upward trajectory, by the way, because it would mean I'm not learning from my mistakes, or gaining from my experience, or both.

I no longer give myself permission to write first-draft crap, although I'm not yet able to stop the gaseous emissions. I now give myself permission to fart through the first draft. I wonder if Uncle Jim has a certificate for that.

LilliCray · Aug 10, 2009

In terms of grammar, spelling, and punctuation, my first drafts are almost spotless. (I'm lucky enough to have a natural affinity for the mechanics of grammar/spelling/punctuation.) Sometimes the writing's even halfway decent. Mostly my first drafts are a mess--I tend to jump around everywhere, and I often get off track. I rarely know the ending of my stories, so the first draft goes all over the place trying to find the right road.

DeleyanLee · Aug 10, 2009

Depends on what you call "first draft".

If you mean what spills from fingertips to blank screen, then it's anywhere from complete word vomit to almost perfect.

If you mean what I have when I finally write "the end", then it's a complete draft ready for beta readers and/or line editing. I do all my editing as I'm writing, scene by scene, story arc by story arc. Got to, otherwise it never gets done.

bettielee · Aug 10, 2009

As clean as Joan River's mouth.

scarletpeaches · Aug 10, 2009

bettielee said:
As clean as Joan River's mouth.

It has corners pulled so tight they meet at the back of its own head?

bettielee · Aug 10, 2009

You better believe it

Very few spelling and punctual errors, but everything else has its corners pulled back so tight they meet at the back of their own head.

ishtar'sgate · Aug 10, 2009

How clean is my first draft?

I THINK it's pretty clean but then I put it in a drawer for a couple of months. When I read it again the revision process starts in earnest!

JamieMT · Aug 10, 2009

Depends on the day. Some days, I write pretty decent stuff right off the bat (in my opinion, anyways). Other days, I ramble aimlessly and end up with lots of redundancy, mis-named characters and plot holes (not to mention serious verb/adverb abuse). My blog serial is a first draft (I post it unedited) - depends on the day whether that particular scene is any good or not, so you can check that out for a working example, if you'd like.

RJK · Aug 10, 2009

Mine need several revisions before they're ready for others to view, but I try to keep typos and spelling errors out of it. The word processor points them out to me. It only takes a second to fix them and the annoying squigglys go away.

lm728 · Aug 10, 2009

DeleyanLee said:
Depends on what you call "first draft".

If you mean what spills from fingertips to blank screen, then it's anywhere from complete word vomit to almost perfect.

^What DeleyanLee said.

Sometimes I have my good days, sometimes I have those days where I pound out crappy words just so I can add to my word count.

Libbie · Aug 10, 2009

My first draft was technically very clean, but I didn't like the voice. Over the years I've found it saves me a lot of time an annoyance if I mind spelling, grammar, and structure as I go instead of worrying about all the boring technical issues later on, during the revisions. I prefer to save my limited revision energies for working out plot problems and improving voice.

jennifer75 · Aug 10, 2009

I read, "how clean is your first date" ..... haha.

Now, to answer your question, my first draft is/was horrifying.

cwfgal · Aug 10, 2009

scarletpeaches said:
My first drafts get cleaner with each one, but they still need a lot of work. My first drafts these days are better than my manuscripts from years back.

Oh, man. That's so true for me, too.

Beth

scarletpeaches · Aug 10, 2009

Me and Lori dared each other to read our early stuff one night on MSN and our conversations consisted of:

"Oh man this is shit!"
"This is sooooo embarrassing!!!!!"
"I can't believe I wrote this!"
"I'm gonna delete this. It's crap."
"Don't you dare! It's good for a laugh."
"I'm not laughing. I'm crying."
"At least it shows you've improved."
"Yeah. And at least it shows we're both better than [insert figure of fun du jour's name here]."

lucidzfl · Aug 10, 2009

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who manages to squeeze shit through the tip of a pen.

I really thought I must have a problem because my first drafts are seriously, farking, god, awful.

jennontheisland · Aug 10, 2009

Reasonably clean, but glaringly purple.

How Clean Is Your First Draft?

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