What to do after first draft?

I take a break and write something else.

*tries to look sensible and organised*

Okay, maybe I really shove the draft in a (virtual) drawer and hide from it forever.

Eisen said:

Hello! Just want to ask: What do you do when you have finished drafting your novel? What I do may have little relevance to what you will do. There's no set road to take and everyone has their own thing.

Do you immediately start re-writing the whole thing? If I knew the whole thing needed to be rewritten I would...sadly I usually don't find this out until I've revised heavily I do start revising immediately, yes, because there will be many many MANY bumps in the draft to smooth over. I stop when I get stuck or don't know what to do next. I might then just think about it for a while and then start again, or I might set it aside and work on something else for a while, and after I feel I can't get any further on my own, I'll send it to betas.
Do you write the next one in the series (if a series) or a brand new story? Not right away, usually. Usually I keep doing revisions and edits until I get stuck. When I need a break from the manuscript, that's when I start working on something new.
Do you take a writing workshop? I don't, but you could if you wanted to.

I've heard some folks say to take a break then look at the draft fresh. If you are one of those folks who do that, then what do you do during the break? Start a new story. (Might be a short story or a novel or whatevs)

Thanks!

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If this is a first novel, it might take a lot of experimentation and stuff to find what works for you You might also want to take some time to critique others' writing and pooting around the site to see what you can learn about improving craft and stuff. (I do this Whenever, not necessarily as part of a post-drafting process )

I usually take a break. That can be anywhere from a few days to a few months. Then I go back through and read the first draft to get a general feeling about it. I don't usually go and do a complete rewrite. I'll revise problematic scenes, but I'm usually satisfied with the work in general. It's more the sentence level stuff that I fix in revisions, getting it into a form that other people can read without gouging their eyes out.

After I let other people read it, I'll fix some of the bigger things they mention. I might be weird, though. Most writers talk about all their drafts and how they start over from scratch. I've done that, but I usually consider it a completely new project. When I start over from scratch, it usually means the story needs a complete overhaul, and I rarely do that right after finishing a draft. Most of the time, though, I'm satisfied with my story for the most part.

Eisen said:

What do you do when you have finished drafting your novel?

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Rewrite it.

Do you immediately start re-writing the whole thing?

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Yes.

Do you write the next one in the series (if a series) or a brand new story?

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Not until I see the money. I get started on a different story that could fish in an agent/editor.

Do you take a writing workshop?

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No.

After finishing a draft, I leave it for about a month (less if we're talking about a short story or novella). In that month, I'll come up with a story or two, research agents and publishers and chase any outstanding subs.

I will generally take a break from it, and go do something non-writing related like play computer games.

How long I leave it depends on the situation. For a first draft, generally I put in notes as I go (RESEARCH X), or (PUT IN SCENE ABOUT Y HERE) or (FIX PLOT HOLE). Hopefully by the time I get to the end of the first draft I've figured out how to fix these problems, so I'll get going on Draft 2 quite quickly. And if I haven't, I'll start on draft 2 with the things I know I can fix and hope everything else will sort itself out as I go.

I do detailed chapter plans before I start draft 1 these days, which means I am no longer stopping work on Draft 1 when it's halfway finished because I don't know what happens next.

I usually do not take a break unless one is forced on me by other obligations. I collect a set of colored pens and a highlighter or two and set out on a straight-through read of the completed draft (in hardcopy). I don't stop to make changes, but I mark up the pages with my editing marks. Some examples--marked places to delete, places that need expansion, circled errors, highlighted parts that need to checked for accuracy, and places that need better clarity. I'll also make brief notes that go beyond simple marks (for example, "consider moving this scene to xxxx"). The important aspect of this is to read the story like a reader would, and see how it flows, how the story takes shape, how the my intent in developing the story actually came through. This sets me up for a better grounded run through the first editing pass. I do it right away, if possible, so my thought processes that gave rise to the first draft are still fresh in my mind. Also, realize that I really love the editing process since I think this is where the real challenges come in writing a novel-length story, and I live for those challenges. Also, my main goal is to get the story submission-ready, so I want to put my energy into that process straight away.

There is no right way to go about handling a first-draft story. There is only the way you find is best for you. And for anyone new to this step, the search for the best way is to try different approaches. Good luck with it.

rwm4768 said:

I usually take a break. That can be anywhere from a few days to a few months. Then I go back through and read the first draft to get a general feeling about it. I don't usually go and do a complete rewrite. I'll revise problematic scenes, but I'm usually satisfied with the work in general. It's more the sentence level stuff that I fix in revisions, getting it into a form that other people can read without gouging their eyes out.

After I let other people read it, I'll fix some of the bigger things they mention. I might be weird, though. Most writers talk about all their drafts and how they start over from scratch. I've done that, but I usually consider it a completely new project. When I start over from scratch, it usually means the story needs a complete overhaul, and I rarely do that right after finishing a draft. Most of the time, though, I'm satisfied with my story for the most part.

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I am like this. I edit to make my sentences stronger. I don't normally rewrite. I've already figured out plot problems and such as I'm writing the first draft.

I have to take a break because my mind is still in story-mode, and I won't see the problems right away. So I'll shelve the mms for a while, as long as I have the luxury to. Write something else, research, or do art.

By the time I go back to the original story, my emotional distance will have set in, and I can approach editing and revisions with more objectivity.

I edit and rewrite each page as I go, so my first draft is also my final draft.

It depends... Revising/editing is something I think you should do even if you think your first draft is trash and you don't even want to look at it.

Some people like to take a break, others don't. Do what feels right for you and it'll work out fine.

I try to let it rest.. but often can't. Makes life hectic if I have several ongoing projects. It's not a good way to do things but it feels good, dunno why.

I tend to go through the manuscript for grammar issues that I make a lot (then/than it's/its and punctuation in dialogue are my weaknesses) and run a spell check. I do this type of editing a little while writing, but I tend to do most of my work on an alphasmart with an itty bitty screen. It makes catching errors difficult. Once I've done all that I try to get beta-readers/my writing group to see if the story is working.

I let them sit for...well, years. Especially since I've only really done drafts for NaNo or a class project I've spent months on and can't bear the sight of them.

I'm actually working on my second manuscript and had put the first in a drawer- wrote it as a screenplay that did well in "fellowship" contest- but then switched gears and decided I wanted to write my stuff as a novel first-
Finding in a filing cabinet- I was sooooooo removed from it- I could truly see it as a "reader" and not the writer of it- it was very helpful and that is what you are trying to do when you put something aside.
Luckily I still really liked it and it is now second in line to be written in novel form.
Now the opposite can happen- I can looked back on what I think is the "greatest" idea ever and now think "yikes" and toss it!

Do you immediately start re-writing the whole thing? No, I move on to editing. I rarely rewrite. It's usually tightening things up. I avoid writing things that will need a rewrite. If it's not going to work, I can usually already tell as I'm writing the first draft, because I mull over each scene before I write it. For this reason I'm a slow writer.

Do you write the next one in the series (if a series) or a brand new story? Whatever catches my interest at the moment.

Do you take a writing workshop? Nope. I probably should.

I've heard some folks say to take a break then look at the draft fresh. If you are one of those folks who do that, then what do you do during the break? I don't. I take like a couple days off, just to rest my brain, but not because it'll give me new perspective on it. My memory sucks, so it's like new to me anyways. I'll remember the general storyline, but I'll forget the details of how it happened.

Mourn.

caw

I start revising right away. I might take a day or two break from writing, or I may just start right away. I do my first draft with pencil and paper, and have made a list of revision notes (stuff like 'mary needs to have the knife in her coat before she gets on the boat') at the beginning of each notebook. (I start writing on the 10th or so page in order to keep space for these notes.) I also write a synopsis as I go so that I have a good idea of the story arc. I read my draft again once or twice to be sure I really know the story and am aware of the strong points and the flaws. My revision is to type my story into Word, keeping the story arc and the revision notes in mind.

Persei said:

Some people like to take a break, others don't. Do what feels right for you and it'll work out fine.

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Agree. And sometimes I may do one, sometimes the other. Or even take a vacation from any kind of writing.