A question about the wretched first draft.

juneafternoon · Feb 1, 2008

Yes, I know it's supposed to suck monkey ass, but I am looking over some old WIPs and I found so many consistency mistakes, like characters changing names regularly, someone starting the scene with a character half nude and then her going to Walmart without even changing ...

And don't even get me started on some of the sentence structures, vocabulary choices, passages... In some places, I was writing total purple prose and in others I had a more sharp, direct style.

In short, the writing was all over the place. Does anyone have that?

This is for my own peace of mind.

Zelenka · Feb 1, 2008

I try to write every day, which means that sometimes I feel more 'on' than other times. When I look back over my first drafts I can see the change, I have purply bits and sharper bits. Recently I was editing my WIP and discovered that I had a character called Miss Ronald who changed her name to Miss Roland halfway down a page. I have to add a lot of character's names to the MS Word dictionary to keep myself from changing the spelling by accident.

So no, you're not alone!

SageFury · Feb 1, 2008

juneafternoon said:
Yes, I know it's supposed to suck monkey ass, but I am looking over some old WIPs and I found so many consistency mistakes, like characters changing names regularly, someone starting the scene with a character half nude and then her going to Walmart without even changing ...

And don't even get me started on some of the sentence structures, vocabulary choices, passages... In some places, I was writing total purple prose and in others I had a more sharp, direct style.

In short, the writing was all over the place. Does anyone have that?

This is for my own peace of mind.

I have passages all over the place, and scribbled ideas and blah, =)

ORION · Feb 1, 2008

uh...yeah...Lottery was like that. And then I edited and revised etc...up until the first pass pages I even had my character's "Friday night spagetti night" on Saturday and had a character miraculously get from the car to the house and back...LOL

My new novel is so full of holes and inconsistencies I can't even start to list them. The thing is...
the REAL writing comes in during editing and revising...I firmly believe anyone can create a first draft but shaping that into a coherent story - now that takes effort...LOL

Stew21 · Feb 1, 2008

Welcome to First Draft Ugly.

Yes, it happens. The first draft (especially if you write by the seat of your pants) is the crop of the season - not yet ready for market.

The first draft gives you all the clues you need for voice - you pick the best of the crop and rewrite with it.
the first draft gives you the crop of characters, you choose the best and rewrite with them.
the first draft gives you the crop of ideas for scenes and plot - you pick the best and rewrite with them.

Yes.

first drafts are ugly, but they give you what you need to make a better second draft.

Bubastes · Feb 1, 2008

In my current WIP, I've already switched from 3rd POV to 1st POV and back to 3rd POV in the span of 15 pages. In other stories, I've had characters change genders partway through the story.

Listen to Orion. You can always go back and fix the first draft.

Ravenlocks · Feb 1, 2008

Wait, this is only supposed to happen in the first draft?

Just this week I added a scene to the second draft of my WIP, then realized it was a bad choice dramatically and didn't fit the tone of the previous chapters. It's gone now. Oh, and I'm fairly sure that during the revision process I've introduced important information in one spot, then forgotten that I introduced it and introduced it again as if for the very first time. Alternately, I may have thought I introduced it while actually omitting it, which is going to be confusing when characters refer to it later.

Luckily there's still a third draft coming, which will be done as a quicker read-through where I'll catch that stuff. Fun fun.

joyce · Feb 1, 2008

I'm currently in the first editing stage and I'm having to keep an eye out for my time lines. On one page it's two weeks, then three pages later it's four weeks. I'm going nuts!

lostcheerio · Feb 1, 2008

That and worse. Writing a first draft is like going down into the mine and dragging up a big truckload of dirt and nasty old rocks and stuff. The point is to get a lot, to get big chunks that *contain* what can be sorted and refined and shaped and perfected. It always looks ugly.

Stew21 · Feb 1, 2008

My current WIP that I've started to query (on hold now for more revisions) started as 3rd person, switched to first after 150 pages or so, and I had to fix that in 2nd draft.
I had to work on consistency of voice in third draft.
I still have beta feedback on the way and a couple of other ideas on my own that I think may need to be taken into consideration before I query any further.

Yes, First Draft Ugly can last through 4+ drafts.

Trish, knows from experience.

S.H.P. · Feb 1, 2008

juneafternoon said:
Yes, I know it's supposed to suck monkey ass, but I am looking over some old WIPs and I found so many consistency mistakes, like characters changing names regularly, someone starting the scene with a character half nude and then her going to Walmart without even changing ...

And don't even get me started on some of the sentence structures, vocabulary choices, passages... In some places, I was writing total purple prose and in others I had a more sharp, direct style.

In short, the writing was all over the place. Does anyone have that?

This is for my own peace of mind.

Ah, yes, lol. My agent made me aware that I would constantly have folks sit down and never have them stand again, pages would go by, things would happen, and folks would do all those actions on their azz.

Mel · Feb 1, 2008

A multi published author I'm reading right now had a main character sit down on a couch, then get up from a chair.

I've changed the spelling of some names without realizing it. Sometimes it works better and other times it's frustrating. I have horrible gaping holes, and all the other bad writing mistakes. But, all can be fixed later.

Right now I'm afraid to go look at some of my older writing, but I will at some point.

Komnena · Feb 3, 2008

Mine definitely needs more description but just right now I'm only concentrating on getting the story line down.

The Grump · Feb 3, 2008

Isn't that what rewriting is all about???

Still, s**ky first drafts are needed to get the ideas down on "paper". Then, you get the fun of turning your ideas into something readable by someone else (without embarrassment, hopefully). Think of it as editing your formalized daydreaming.

Red-Green · Feb 3, 2008

Oh, yeah, my first drafts (I write longhand on the first one) look like the work of someone with dissociative schizophrenic states. I change character names, locations, tense and person, usually because I'm trying to find the voice, rhythm, etc. that works for the story. One of my WIP, the male MC has had his name changed ten different times. So when I go back and begin the work of revising and creating the second draft, I just have to remember that wherever one of his old names appears to type in the real one. I'm often typing from one tense to another. It's more than mildly crazy-making, but totally natural unless you're one of those people who completely plot your book before you ever start writing.

GeorgieB · Feb 3, 2008

StewMama called it "First Draft Ugly". That's a perfect description of every one of my first drafts. I write almost every morning, the time when I feel I'm most "on". Re-reading some of that crap reveals all sorts of problems, from grammar, spelling (spell check is ALWAYS off), head-hopping, scene-hopping (if there's such a thing), inconsistencies in action (his left wrist hurts after swatting a guy with a right), inconsistencies in character name spelling ... all sorts of problems. You gotta get over it and edit with your barf bag handy.

Ernest H. said, "All first drafts are shit." Believe it.

BlueLucario · Feb 3, 2008

juneafternoon said:
someone starting the scene with a character half nude and then her going to Walmart without even changing ...

Can I read it? :tongue

Look, I know how you feel. Just edit everything when you're done.

KTC · Feb 3, 2008

I try to write final draft during the first draft stage. I'm an extremely anal person and I do not like reading errors in my work...first draft or not.

Having said this, I always find a slew of errors. Be assured that you are not alone. I am constantly shaking my head at the stupidity of some of those errors. My biggest is using the wrong word. That drives me crazy, because I know the right word.

I haven't done this one, but this is what I mean: WRITE INSTEAD OF RIGHT...or vice versa. I slap myself when I find these errors.

You are not alone.

Devil Ledbetter · Feb 3, 2008

My constant error is dropping words. Whole words, (usually articles) that I'm sure are in the sentence, just aren't there. I probably do this in my posts, too.

Fortunately, my long-suffering crit partner can spot a missing article from clear across the continent.

jessicaorr · Feb 3, 2008

lostcheerio said:
Writing a first draft is like going down into the mine and dragging up a big truckload of dirt and nasty old rocks and stuff. The point is to get a lot, to get big chunks that *contain* what can be sorted and refined and shaped and perfected. It always looks ugly.

AH, I love this! I want to paint it on my office wall

I'm such a perfectionist- I need to actively give myself permission to fail the first time around.

I think the important thing here is that you know your first draft stinks. If you thought the rough stone perfect how could you shape it into anything other than an ordinary rock?

Stijn Hommes · Feb 3, 2008

Yep, First drafts are riddled with such mistakes.
I even had a final draft once that had a kid in it who walked around a forest in shorts.
Nothing special, except it was the middle of winter...

farfromfearless · Feb 3, 2008

My first draft was all over the place, especially when it came to plot points and what not. I kept changing my mind and going back and forth on issues, and for me at least, I found that finally having an outline to help me steer through the pitfalls of an inconsistent plot was immensely valuable. Halfway through I also started a character file -- just rough notes on general appearance and behavior to help me remember if someone had blonde hair or brown. It worked for me, and I'm on my second draft with a much clearer sense of where the story needs to be edited.

Dragon-lady · Feb 3, 2008

I just threw out the entire second half of a novel... painful. But it's for the best.

chevbrock · Feb 3, 2008

This could be a thread for another post - you know, how, some people make a pastime out of pointing out mistakes in films? Are there people out there who look for mistakes in books?

Paichka · Feb 3, 2008

Hahahaha June.

Looks like the issues you're having are issues we all have -- in my WIP, I change hair color and name spellings ALL THE TIME. Without even noticing! On page 1, one of my minor chars has "dark eyes", then two pages later I talk about them being light green. One of my sort-of-important minors also has his name spelling changed over two separate paragraphs...ON THE SAME PAGE.

*d'oh!*

I use my husband to catch these mistakes -- he loves to point out where I've contradicted myself. One place he pointed out is one of my favorite lines, too, but he's right. It has to go, no matter how proud of the construction I am.

I like the whole -- the first draft is a block of marble, just carve away everything that doesn't look like a novel in the editing process -- bit. Don't expect Draft The First to ascend the dizzy heights of Mount Awesome. Settle for the Foothills of Mediocre, and jazz it up during the rewrites. Finish the thing first.

That's step 1. Making sure it doesn't suck is step 3 or 4. That's also what your betas are for.

Good luck!

A question about the wretched first draft.

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