Does it matter if everything is coming out like drivel?

Ugawa · Nov 30, 2008

Now i've hit the almost 40k mark in my novel, it seems everything I write is coming out like drivel. I know this is only a first draft, so it's not going to be great, but I know for a fact things weren't coming out this C*** in the first 40k.

Does anyone else have this problem? I don't want to take a break, because i've been working on this WIP for almost three months now and just want to get the first draft finished.

Any ideas that could help me, or anyone else with this problem .

Thank you

XX

Red-Green · Nov 30, 2008

You're allowed to write poo. You are. Really. Sometimes you have to write through the crap to get to the good stuff.

scarletpeaches · Nov 30, 2008

Absolutely not, it doesn't matter one bit. That's what re-writes are for.

I speed-write my first drafts...or try to. At the moment I'm at...lessee...54,030 and I started on 1st November. I'm aiming to get to 75k by midnight next Sunday evening.

Many people edit as they go, but my thoughts are - that would slow me down. I'd get too caught up in making it perfect before moving on to the next scene. And I prefer to edit when I'm able to look at the piece of work as a whole, which I cannot do until I type or write 'The End'.

Now sure, my first drafts are messy, baggy affairs with typos, continuity errors, deliberate continuity snafus [Just this afternoon I decided the heroine needed to be wearing something different so her outfit changed from one chapter to the next.], telling-not-showing, adverbs, you name it.

Thinking of it this way might help: for me, the first draft isn't about writing. It's about storytelling.

I get the story out of my head and onto paper at speed and then, when I'm on the second draft, that's when I write. The storytelling becomes storyshowing.

So no, you write crap if you want. You can't edit what you haven't written.

Oh, and yes - what I'm writing at the moment? Rubbish. I think so anyway. But at least it's done.

Noah Body · Nov 30, 2008

Sure, all the time. Once the honeymoon period wears off, you come to realize that writing a novel, no matter what its genre, is a lot more than scene A leading to situation B for character 1. In other words, it becomes a lot of work, and when the initial glow wears off, it generally leads to some degree of professional tension.

Just keep plowing on. Keep tickling the ivories, and when you get a first draft, rewrite it.

The Lonely One · Nov 30, 2008

I think what's important here is the final draft you send off to an agent (and then the actual final draft that hits shelves). However you get there means nothing to anyone but yourself, so do what is most conducive to your getting to that "final" stage. I try to avoid it, but I do end up doing micro-editing while I write.

Someone can tell me "that's wrong, write crap and then re-write" or "if you don't outline your story will suck" -- no offense to those who do those things -- but really it doesn't matter a rat's ass(k me no more questions, tell me no more lies, etc.) if your MS and their MS end up at the same place.

job · Nov 30, 2008

The Lonely One said:
I think what's important here is the final draft you send off to an agent

That is it in a nutshell.

You start with a blank screen.
You end up with a submission-ready manuscript.

There are fifty of ways to get from that beginning to that end.
Experiment. Listen to sugestions. Try this. Try that.
Find the path that suits you.

Congratulations on 40K of lousy first draft. This is a fine achievment.

Nagoyaka Aikouka · Nov 30, 2008

Just adding in another chime of "I agree" to the well orchestrated chorus above me.

The more you push to get to the end of that first draft, the better off you usually are in the end. When the first draft gets finished quickly, even if you think a lot of what you've written is complete drivel, especially toward the end, it's better to just get it done.

What ends up happening as an alternative can be even more devastating.

If you try to make everything perfect on the first run-through, you end up shooting yourself in the foot. You will get sick of the project much more quickly, and while you end up with five or six really solid chapters, you just can't will yourself to continue because it's taken a month to get to this point. Then you end up losing an idea that could have been really big and really successful, simply because you were too proud to think you could write some crap along the way.

The first draft is meant to be a draft, nothing more, nothing less. Try to keep that in mind, and don't worry about what you're actually coming up with until you go back and do your editing.

Jerry B. Flory · Nov 30, 2008

If I'm writing my drivel I toss out everything. If I hit a block I go to another page entitled "Sewer of Consciousness" and type gibberish until actual coherent thought shows up on the page.
It's all drivel.
A finished work is organized drivel.
When you write you are a writer. When you rewrite you are an editor. Those worlds are as different as student and teacher in an English comp course.

xiaotien · Nov 30, 2008

let me introduce you to my mantra :

i am allowed to write utter poo.
i am allowed to write utter poo.

a poorly written novel is better than
a never written one.
that's what revising is for! but you've
got to have something to revise!

/bootay shake!

scarletpeaches · Nov 30, 2008

Further to that...!

The only novel which is sure to never be published is the one which is never written.

blacbird · Nov 30, 2008

Robert Ludlum made an entire lucrative career out of writing this way. It even continues after his death.

caw

Teena · Nov 30, 2008

Drivel is ALOT more common than really great stuff... Keep going!!

Garpy · Nov 30, 2008

One other thing to bear in mind is that if you recognise what you're writing is poo it goes to show that;

a) your internal editor is wide awake and paying attention, and
b) you're a writer that can up his/her game.

I've come across one too many wannabee writers who insist they only ever write 'final' drafts, and cannot, will not, take on board feedback. Seriously...if you suddenly find that you're really enjoying reading your own stuff and can't find a way to rephrase it better, then you should probably give up writing.

Akuma · Nov 30, 2008

Garpy said:
One other thing to bear in mind is that if you recognise what you're writing is poo it goes to show that;

a) your internal editor is wide awake and paying attention, and
b) you're a writer that can up his/her game.

I've come across one too many wannabee writers who insist they only ever write 'final' drafts, and cannot, will not, take on board feedback. Seriously...if you suddenly find that you're really enjoying reading your own stuff and can't find a way to rephrase it better, then you should probably give up writing.

I can just see Shakespeare smacking his forehead on his desk over and over again, saying, "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

Nagoyaka Aikouka · Nov 30, 2008

Gives new meaning to the terns "headdesk" and "facepalm" when you put Shakespeare's face on the individual performing the actions. *laughs*

blacbird · Nov 30, 2008

Akuma said:
I can just see Shakespeare smacking his forehead on his desk over and over again, saying, "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

Shakespeare at work:

"Cry havoc, and let slip the pigs of war" . . . No, not pigs, whatever doth beset mine enfeebled brain . . . "cats of war" . . . Ah! I am undone by mere mortal words, more than man canst truly know! . . . "elephants of war", as did great Hannibal himself . . . No! No! No! a thousand times No! Ah, tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in its petty pace from day to day, and never shall I finish this accurséd play . . . "cows" yes, "cows of war" . . . No! by all the demons of Dante's Hell, no! . . . Alas!

caw

ishtar'sgate · Nov 30, 2008

I envy you guys. I cannot give myself permission to write drivel. If I know it stinks I chuck it out. (Of course I don't always know and my editor has to tell me

) I'm not saying that my first draft is anywhere near perfect, far from it, but my writing improves as I go along and less and less of it gets filed in the round filing cabinet. More power to you if it works for you. I hate rereading my previous days work and thinking it sucks. I can't leave it alone. I have to fix it before moving on.

xiaotien · Nov 30, 2008

i was like that when i used to write poetry
and short stories. then i tried doing the novel thing,
and i wrote the first 40 pages, and revised revised
revised those 40 pages. i didn't move forward.

so i used nano to make myself just write.
no looking back. i wrote 35k that month.

that's how i'm tackling my sequel.
i'm barreling forward until i get to the end.
then i'll revise.

/bootay shake!

if i threw away pages every time i thought
it sucked, i wouldn't have had a novel to sell!

Mad Queen · Nov 30, 2008

I only write drivel when I don't outline. When I outline, I'll still have to edit the text later, maybe even chuck it away, but it's so much better than I don't see the point of 'just writing' anymore. I'm just going to hurt my fingers (I already have RSI from typing too much).

tehuti88 · Dec 1, 2008

I'm one of those few people who can't allow myself to write drivel; if I'm not writing it the best I can the first time then it's just a waste of time. BUT I realize that most people aren't like this.

Just wanted to suggest that perhaps what you THINK is drivel isn't nearly as bad as it seems. I know I've had times when the writing came so hard, I thought for sure that what I was writing sucked (even if it was the best I could do), then later on after the hard work was done, I looked back and it wasn't so bad. It just seemed bad because it was so hard to work through it.

I can't say for sure that's so in your case, but it's a thought.

Noah Body · Dec 1, 2008

blacbird said:
Robert Ludlum made an entire lucrative career out of writing this way. It even continues after his death.

caw

Yeah, but Bobby once helped push my pal's car out of a snow bank after we slid into it one fine winter day in Connecticut's Gold Coast. He did it one handed, because he had a mixed drink in the other. Gotta respect a guy who can do something like that and not spill a single drop, unless it was down his gullet.

Alpha Echo · Dec 1, 2008

scarletpeaches said:
Absolutely not, it doesn't matter one bit. That's what re-writes are for.

I speed-write my first drafts...or try to. At the moment I'm at...lessee...54,030 and I started on 1st November. I'm aiming to get to 75k by midnight next Sunday evening.

Many people edit as they go, but my thoughts are - that would slow me down. I'd get too caught up in making it perfect before moving on to the next scene. And I prefer to edit when I'm able to look at the piece of work as a whole, which I cannot do until I type or write 'The End'.

Now sure, my first drafts are messy, baggy affairs with typos, continuity errors, deliberate continuity snafus [Just this afternoon I decided the heroine needed to be wearing something different so her outfit changed from one chapter to the next.], telling-not-showing, adverbs, you name it.

Thinking of it this way might help: for me, the first draft isn't about writing. It's about storytelling.

I get the story out of my head and onto paper at speed and then, when I'm on the second draft, that's when I write. The storytelling becomes storyshowing.

So no, you write crap if you want. You can't edit what you haven't written.

Oh, and yes - what I'm writing at the moment? Rubbish. I think so anyway. But at least it's done.

I am exactly the same. My first draft comes out pretty fast. It's the rewrite that takes longer, and it's during the rewrite that my writing gets good. (haha - how's that for a great sentence...gets good...)

I know some people who revise as they write because they can't stand just letting crap sit there on the paper.

It just depends on how you roll. We all roll differently.

Ugawa · Dec 1, 2008

Thank you all for your help ^^.

It has really put my mind at rest

XX

echnos · Dec 1, 2008

Poo is good.
drivel is marvelous.
Utter crap is definitely permitted for the first draft...vomit those words out!
(eww, lol)

Keep going! Don't worry about what is behind, just reach that finish line!

And now I must take heed of my own advice, because I have been OBSESSING over my first chapter, which is ridiculous.

ONWARD HO!

Grin.

Dark Cyril · Dec 1, 2008

echnos said:
vomit those words out!

I hereby proclaim these the greatest words ever written!

...

And they single-handedly help drive the sales of Alphabet Soup to an all time record high, saving the economy in it's time of trouble.

To once again chime in on the OP, yes, drivel is completely acceptable. Sometimes, it's hard to do, I know I still struggle with it sometimes, but the best thing you can do is just write. Eventually you'll find yourself back where you want to be and after finishing and then going back, you'll be able to find a better way from point A to point B (or whatever alpha-numeric or foreign character you decide to use

).

If you take more than a five to fifteen minute break, all you do is increase the chances that you're going to creak to a halt on the WIP.

Does it matter if everything is coming out like drivel?

It's a catastrophic success!

KoalaKoalaKoala!

Entertainment Ronin

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

In the end, it's just you and the manuscript

under the Milky Way

bedazzled /bootay shaker!!

Bennie's Mom

keyboard monkey

Rare Writer Pokemon

living in the past

bedazzled /bootay shaker!!

California Mountain Snake

Mackinac Island Fanatic

Entertainment Ronin

I should be writing.

It's a catastrophic success!