i touched on this in another thread, thought i'd get some opinions if anyone is interested in disclosing the drawbacks and merits of each method.
do you do a barebones first draft or a solid first draft?
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I've gone both ways.
No, wait, THAT'S not what I mean!
It's all well and good to learn about what works for other authors, but in the end you have to learn what works for you. It is different for everybody. If we all wrote the same way, there wouldn't be so many of us, because there'd be no need.
I think I tend to do a solid first draft, but I have done bare bones first drafts as well. The book, its characters, and my mood tell me what to do. I listen.
Why do you ask?
No, wait, THAT'S not what I mean!
It's all well and good to learn about what works for other authors, but in the end you have to learn what works for you. It is different for everybody. If we all wrote the same way, there wouldn't be so many of us, because there'd be no need.
I think I tend to do a solid first draft, but I have done bare bones first drafts as well. The book, its characters, and my mood tell me what to do. I listen.
Why do you ask?
I should probably hold off on responding until I actually COMPLETE a draft.
But so far I've been trying to write a "solid" first draft, even though I know I may have to make massive revisions later.
I've tried writing barebones. Just for me personally, the barebones approach kills my spirit. The next time I open the document to write, seeing all that "shoddy" work makes me doubt myself. So, just in my case, I prefer to try to write as close to the "finished" version as I can...dwelling on word choice, on dialogue, on characterization and setting, etc, etc., even though I know I'll likely change it. I try to write as well as possible at all times.
I don't know that this would help anyone else...but...you asked.
But so far I've been trying to write a "solid" first draft, even though I know I may have to make massive revisions later.
I've tried writing barebones. Just for me personally, the barebones approach kills my spirit. The next time I open the document to write, seeing all that "shoddy" work makes me doubt myself. So, just in my case, I prefer to try to write as close to the "finished" version as I can...dwelling on word choice, on dialogue, on characterization and setting, etc, etc., even though I know I'll likely change it. I try to write as well as possible at all times.
I don't know that this would help anyone else...but...you asked.
My first draft is my most solid draft. After that, I just add/subtract a few (very few) scenes and tighten things up and polish. All my work goes into the first draft. Usually, all the work is done in my head, too. I don't write and re-write pages in the first draft, or anything.
Same here. I make the first draft and good as I can make it. Then I make it better. I never write capriciously just to get something down.
-Jason
It feels solid while I'm writing it, but my first drafts are always much too short and have to be significantly expanded later on. So it the big scheme of things...they're bare bones.
I used to spend ages on my first drafts, making them as solid as possible - so I thought. Turns out they were crap. Then I gave myself permission to write baggy, messy first drafts and nowadays they're better than my angsty, tortuous works from years ago. I wouldn't say that's a reflection of 'loose' first drafts having the advantage - just that my writing has improved so even my slapdash works these days are better than the older pieces I took ages to complete, as a teenager.
Solid. But when I write an individual scene I usually start with bare bones, which for me is mostly dialog and action. After that, I added the add the details that bring whole scene to life.
This is my first novel, but I'm writing barebones, then beefing it up after I complete a chapter. It's easier for me to judge pace this way. Plus it gives me time to get the plot out, then go back and add nifty, texture-rich nouns and verbs without going off on a description tangent. My dialogue is the only thing that runs long (looooong) and I have to cut.
Oddly enough, I don't write short stories this way. Huh. Wonder why.
Oddly enough, I don't write short stories this way. Huh. Wonder why.
I'm a first-drafter. The first go-round has to be the best it can be, otherwise I'd get frustrated and bored and probably just put it away and start another one. I use the second draft as just an editing draft - add some minor bits, polish a few badly read paragraphs or find excessive dialogue tags, etc.
I've never been capable of slapping in filler so I could move on, or skipping parts. I can't skip anything - I'll even get hung up on a name or way to describe an object. Until I can get it, I can't step around it.
I've never been capable of slapping in filler so I could move on, or skipping parts. I can't skip anything - I'll even get hung up on a name or way to describe an object. Until I can get it, I can't step around it.
My first novel was solid. So was my second. My NaNoWriMo piece will be very loose.
Hey, I'm flexible.
Hey, I'm flexible.
Well, I thought my first draft was solid. Then during the next 8 drafts, I realized it wasn't. Same will probably hold true with my current wip.
I think the trick is to make it as good as you can without letting it slow you down. Like one of my drinking pals once told me - focus on getting the vomit out....you can go back and take care of the chunks later.
I think the trick is to make it as good as you can without letting it slow you down. Like one of my drinking pals once told me - focus on getting the vomit out....you can go back and take care of the chunks later.
I tend to write this way as well.
My first draft is usually a solid piece of writing when it comes to action, dialogue and narration. My second draft is where I go back and fill in setting and description.
When I get an idea it just explodes, and then I try to keep the momentum. Then when I go back it may look poorly written, and sometimes downright pathetic. However, I've found that the initial inspiration is often the most powerful. And so, although my story looks nothing at all like the first draft, that first draft is still the skeleton for the entire series, though a reader wouldn't recognize they were written by the same person.
It's kind of like when I wrote songs, and many songwriters will tell you this, if you get a song idea and don't put it down right away, you'll lose it.
The only time I'd write sketches was if I was at work or out somewhere and had an idea, and simply wanted to remind myself what to add to the story.
I have 3 drafts before my First Draft:
Storyboard is a narrative saying what is going to happen in the chapter
Rough is where I actually write the story, but concentrate on action and dialog.
Draft is where I add description.
Then comes First Draft and that's where I look for passive verbs and phrases, remove extra adverbs, look for too many prepositional phrases in a row, remove extra exposition, and generally clean the thing up.
I don't know why I work this way, but it works for me. Often, however, the line between them blurs. Sometimes, if I'm on a roll, my Rough version will turn into my Draft version.
Storyboard is a narrative saying what is going to happen in the chapter
Rough is where I actually write the story, but concentrate on action and dialog.
Draft is where I add description.
Then comes First Draft and that's where I look for passive verbs and phrases, remove extra adverbs, look for too many prepositional phrases in a row, remove extra exposition, and generally clean the thing up.
I don't know why I work this way, but it works for me. Often, however, the line between them blurs. Sometimes, if I'm on a roll, my Rough version will turn into my Draft version.
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For me it really depends on the scene or chapter. If it's a pretty straightforward scene with nothing but diaglogue or action I'll do a very solid first draft and touch it up in later revisions. If it's a heavy scene with lots of character or plot development I'll usually cherry-pick and write the most salient parts in solid snippets, not worrying about the supporting structure so I can make sure I hit the emotional and intellectual point I'm trying to hit, then I'll spend hours going back and weaving the web of story around those gems.
The first draft is rather solid, but needs to be expanded in second draft. I leave placeholders with telling in first draft (not every part, just some of them - so I can get through them more quickly and don't lose my momentum) that are used to mark the spots I need to "show" what's happening. So the length I add is in those places. the whole story is there, the plot is complete, the scenes just need a pillow-fluffing to be full and done.
Third time through is little stuff like making sure I'm using the strongest verb, sentence structure, adding pieces earlier so the pieces later have a context.
I'm currently almost done with the replace tell placeholders with show phase.
Third time through is little stuff like making sure I'm using the strongest verb, sentence structure, adding pieces earlier so the pieces later have a context.
I'm currently almost done with the replace tell placeholders with show phase.
johnnysannie
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Funny you should ask - I just got home from doing a program on writing for the local middle school and one of my "props" (I do this program at different schools each year) is a skeleton to demonstate the "bare bones" of writing and how I flesh out each piece!!!!
THe kids loved Boney - he's a cute Halloween skeleton when he's not working as a prop!
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I just can't write any other way then how (at the time) I think the story would read. I mean I do sometimes jump around, write a bit that's later on and then return, but my first draft is basically the novel. Then I go back and futz a bit with it, sometimes the logic isn't quite so logical, or there are loop holes ( I am so sick of loop holes). But really it pretty much is as is.
I don't consciously choose either. In rewrites I don't take out/put in as much as replace - cause I have a knack for getting things wrong.
But I do try to make everything sound the best I can at the moment, and write the scenes as I see them. But sometimes when I need to regain the flow I allow myself to write crappy fillers too. So my wip's a mixture of scenes I love and scenes I hate with very little in between.
Makes for a headache-inflicting rewrite, I can tell ya.
But I do try to make everything sound the best I can at the moment, and write the scenes as I see them. But sometimes when I need to regain the flow I allow myself to write crappy fillers too. So my wip's a mixture of scenes I love and scenes I hate with very little in between.
Makes for a headache-inflicting rewrite, I can tell ya.
I'm with the solideers. Unless I'm having a mental block about a particular scene, I generally write as well and completely as I can, so by the time I'm done with the first draft I can just two a quick edit instead of a total redraft. Edits for me are usually just making sure descriptions work, sentences flow and there are no unconscious repetitions of words in close proximity. I work out all the plot kinks in my outlines. I don't think I'd do well with a bare bones draft. I like being able to look back at my last page and actually read it as if it were a proper novel. It spurs me on in a way.
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Barebones would be like an outline and I don't outline. I write the best first draft I can write mostly because I can't write any other way and then be satisfied with my work at the end of the day.
Linnea
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