How do you usually feel about your first drafts?

Papa'sLiver · Sep 21, 2006

Please excuse if this is a question that's been asked many times, however, I'm now reading the first draft of my novel, after having let it ferment in a drawer for about six weeks.

It's okay, but man, really rough. It's like being on a rollercoaster, sometimes I'm riding high and thinking, "Man, that's a good part!" and then I'm, "Wow, dude, you really blew that, you asshat."

I realize that it's probably very much the same for all of you, however, I just wanted to hear your thoughts, in the hopes it will help me keep my spirits up. This is only my third novel, however, the other two I never finished and I intend to finish this one, come hell or high water, as it is the first book in a planned action/fantasy trilogy that I really think will be something.

Thanks!

Eric Summers · Sep 21, 2006

I'm looking at my first draft as the first major sketch of my finished work. I can already see while I am writing chapter 6 things that are going to have to be reworked in chapters 1-5. Some of the stuff I am churning out is good, some of it is little more than placeholder text to just let me know in Second Draft what the hell is supposed to be going on.

I watched my dad paint for many years. He always started his paintings by using a pencil and sketching in the basic outlines of his subject. Then when all that was done, he would pencil in some more detail. Then he would start to add broad areas of color, then start adding more detail, and then more and more detail until it was done. He never just picked up the oil brush and went to work on a blank canvas.

I respect my first draft cause it is very important, but I will not love it. My second draft will probably get some affection from me, but my third draft will hopefully sweep me off my feet.

If I get to draft #10 and it still ain't working I'll drop the old "It's not you, it's me" line and move on to the next book.

Carrie in PA · Sep 21, 2006

Generally, I like my first drafts. That doesn't mean I *keep* them, but they're always the bones of whatever I'm working on.

Soccer Mom · Sep 21, 2006

I'm usually surprised. I remember the story, but I have forgotten the words. I wrote that? Really? Sometimes this is a good thing. Sometimes I wonder WTF I was thinking.

ChaosTitan · Sep 21, 2006

I love my first draft, because it exists. It's done, it's on paper, it's a first draft! Woohoo!

But writing is like moving. First drafts are moving day. Everything is there, inside of your new house/apartment/condo, and you're just so excited to see it all.

Then comes the painting. And the unpacking, and arranging of furniture. The inevitable rearranging of furniture. Tossing out old stuff, adding new stuff. Until finally, it's finished. Done! Time to send out invitations to your open house party and show it off to the world.

Zolah · Sep 21, 2006

Usually when I type 'The End' I feel this huge, blissful (dare I say, orgasmic) burst of satisfaction and happiness. Grinning all over my face, I print the ms out, and put it away with the intention of leaving it for at least a fortnight to rest. But then, as the hours and days begin to trickle away, memories of what I have written begin to bug me - things I know I need to change, things I'm not sure about, things I want to check. By the time a few days have gone past I feel overwhelmed by how much work I'm sure I'm going to have to do, and I can't stand it anymore: I HAVE to get my hands on that printout. I grab it and try to read through it as quickly as possible (in order to get The Big Picture - problems with structure, character, pacing etc. I actually polish language as I go, being a natural freak, so at this point there isn't normally much small scale tweaking to be done, it's all major), making hysterical notes in red in the margins and on the back of the pages, like 'NO, NO, NO, NO!!!! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!!!!' or 'RUBBISH! DO BETTER!' But then I get to The End again and find that comforting, and start to feel that actually, it wasn't soooo bad, and I can probably fix it. I write a long list of things big and small that need to be done (like an editorial letter to myself) and then I get to work with a sense of optimism and cheerfulness.

So a fairly manic reaction from me, really.

RTH · Sep 21, 2006

I think of my first drafts as grape juice. May taste good, but man, there's a lot more you can get out of it.

But damned if it doesn't take a lot of years and a lot of bottle-turning to get it right. That relief of getting to "the end" is only a masochistic sort of illusion that I only see through months later.

Though I've tended to always like my first drafts; if there are problems, I usually abandon ship before I even get to the end. Once I've gone back from 250 pages to completely rewrite every word of a book -- I wouldn't call it a second draft, just a totally new version of an idea and a character I liked. THAT was tough to do...

Maprilynne · Sep 21, 2006

I think it's the best fetching thing anyone has ever written EVER!

And that's my sign to put it down for a few weeks and then take it back up, realize it sucks, and then slash the hell out of it.

Maprilynne

Papa'sLiver · Sep 21, 2006

Hey, these are all very helpful! Thanks!

Yeah, I have to say I'm very relieved regarding this draft in general, as I was afraid I would have to do a page one rewrite, as I've done before. I once wrote a first draft of a mystery, then ditched it, and started over, then ditched about 60% of THAT, and... etc.

That was hell.

Akiahara · Sep 21, 2006

So, you guys edit hard copies?

I'm wondering if you could go down to Kinko's or something with a laptop, and print from there. I don't want to print who knows how many pages on my printer.

Saundra Julian · Sep 21, 2006

Ditto, Soccer Mom. Heavy on the WTF part!

Papa'sLiver · Sep 21, 2006

Yeah, I have to edit a hard copy. I bought a little brother 2040 laser printer for about $100, and after printing about 1100 pages, I'm still on the cartridge that came with it!

I use cheap paper for drafts, then print out on nicer, brighter paper for submissions.

I just can't edit on screen. I need that red pen.

TrainofThought · Sep 21, 2006

My first draft was bad because I wrote the story without worrying about punctuation, chapters, sentence structure, etc. I put it all down. When I went back I thought, “I gotta long road ahead of me.” I love my first draft because it told the story I wanted at the time. Now, my story is very different from the original. Progression is a beautiful thing.

John61480 · Sep 21, 2006

I wrote the first draft of my first manuscript (a novella) pretty smoothly, considering it was my first crack at something bigger than short stories. But for some reason when I wrote the first draft of my second novel, a mainstream-sci-fi work, it read like a glorified outline. It was horrible! I felt so down and I already knew the next series of drafts were going to be basically fillers. But I learned so much from that experience. Now I make sure not to write so damn fast and actually take my time, even if I am only able to write one page!

Rob Gregory Browne · Sep 21, 2006

I don't write first drafts. Or, at least, I try not to. What I try to write are final drafts, carefully polished.

In other words, I edit as I go. When I'm done, I really want to be done.

Papa'sLiver · Sep 21, 2006

Rob Gregory Browne said:
I don't write first drafts. Or, at least, I try not to. What I try to write are final drafts, carefully polished.

In other words, I edit as I go. When I'm done, I really want to be done.

That's very much like Vonnegut, from what I've read about him.

maestrowork · Sep 21, 2006

Pretty darn good, like eating soft boiled eggs...

L.Jones · Sep 22, 2006

Rob Gregory Browne said:
I don't write first drafts. Or, at least, I try not to. What I try to write are final drafts, carefully polished.

In other words, I edit as I go. When I'm done, I really want to be done.

Me too. Can't help it. Moving forward past a mess in early chapters is like putting on lipstick over unbrushed teeth or nice clothes over yesterdays undies. I might do it in a pinch but it would create a voice in my head telling me to fix it.

The WIP is my first attempt at a rough draft deal, and it's taken me twice as long as usual to do. Mostly because I get to a point and think - I have to go back and get this new thing in or risk missing it in the edit. I feel as if I am building on a crumbly foundation.

That said, I not only hate my 'first drafts' I don't think I've ever turned a book in that I didn't cringe over. By the words "the End" I usually loathe the thing and am convinced of my total lack of worth as a writer. Thanks to my agent, I usually don't have time to wallow in that because I have to move onto the next book due.

annie jones (Sisterhood of the Queen Mamas - Dec 06 - "Laugh Out Loud Funny" - Publisher's Weekly)
Luanne Jones (Heathen Girls - out now)

stace001 · Sep 22, 2006

Soccer Mom said:
I'm usually surprised. I remember the story, but I have forgotten the words. I wrote that? Really? Sometimes this is a good thing. Sometimes I wonder WTF I was thinking.

I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes I'm amazed by my brilliance.....and other times, my total lack of imagination.

Mike Coombes · Sep 22, 2006

stace001 said:
I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes I'm amazed by my brilliance.....and other times, my total lack of imagination.

Hmm... I tend to swing between smugness and a mixture of loathing and nausea. I prefer the smug moments.

FergieC · Sep 22, 2006

It's okay, but man, really rough. It's like being on a rollercoaster, sometimes I'm riding high and thinking, "Man, that's a good part!" and then I'm, "Wow, dude, you really blew that, you asshat."

That's exactly how I feel about mine.

Thing is, the first one I tried writing never actually got finished; the second couldn't be re-written because it was basically all bad - had no structure, plot, poor characters etc. So I'm taking, Ok, some good parts, basically has potential, needs a lot of work still as an improvement.

But there was a while, after it had been in the drawer for about six weeks, and I first took it out again, that I seriously wanted to burn it! I had to put it back in there for a few more weeks before I could start the re-writing process.

I suppose the only thing you can do is focus on the good bits, and what's working and go from there.

For the next novel, I really want to take a far slower, planning and revising as you go approach. Not that I didn't revise as I went, I did, just obviously not enough.

Glad to see others feel the same though - cheers for starting the thread Papa!

wordmonkey · Sep 22, 2006

If I've amassed a ream of paper filled with around 90 thousand words I am very happy. And frankly anyone in that position should be.

Is it a perfect piece? Of course not.

Does it need work? Don't all first drafts?

But sometimes it's more about the journey and less about the destination.

Jamesaritchie · Sep 22, 2006

first draft

For me, a bad firsts draft means a mediocre final draft, so I try to make my first draft as perfect as possible. I don't edit as I go, but I do try to think twice before I actually write a sentence down.

How do you usually feel about your first drafts?

Papa'sLiver

Eric Summers

Apply Directly to Forehead

Carrie in PA

Write All The Words!

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist

ChaosTitan

Around

Zolah

Over the hills and far away

RTH

Call me Ishmael

Maprilynne

Author Waiting in the Wings

Papa'sLiver

Akiahara

Saundra Julian

A work in progress

Papa'sLiver

TrainofThought

A flowering bud of bitchiness

John61480

The Elements of Style

Rob Gregory Browne

Papa'sLiver

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

L.Jones

stace001

Look into my eyes

Mike Coombes

Guru

FergieC

Bored at work fanatic

wordmonkey

ook

Jamesaritchie