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Writing the first draft - what is your method?

Miss Vicky

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I've done both the just sit and write until you get from beginning to end and I've also written an outline of the story before writing.

Both work, but I found the outline to be extremely helpful in keeping me on track to finishing. Having everything planned out in advance also allowed me to pick and choose which scene I felt like putting to page when I sat down to write. So if I just wasn't feeling up for tackling an emotionally intense scene, I could work on something else and still make progress.
 
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When I write, I do create an outline/guide/story line. For me, an outline is the major events that take place in the story, and I just use a table of contents as my guide even if I'm just writing away. It works for me. Every milestone in the story is its own chapter.

I just about always have some plan in everything I do, even writing.
 

cool pop

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I outline first. This is when I do all my brainstorming, whatever and then I get to writing. I used to be a pantser and never will I be again! I turned to plotting in 2014 and haven't looked back.
 

D. E. Wyatt

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I've tried a couple methods, but I've settled in on this:

First I create a basic concept. Just one or two paragraphs with the central plot, and the general style and genre I'm going for. Then I begin fleshing out who my central characters are going to be (main protagonist, antagonist, and major supporting players). Once I know who my players are, I begin fleshing out my basic plot synopsis into something a bit more detailed. I also begin developing the world itself. Geography, history, etc. I try to get as much of this developed in advance as I can, allowing for things to change unexpectedly (characters going off the rails on because their development takes them that way, introducing new characters or settings I didn't anticipate, needing to make an addition to fill in a plot hole, etc.). Depending on the work I MAY not have the entire world fleshed out, just enough to work from, all handily noted down so I can expand on it where needed and without contradicting myself in the book. Additionally, if I need a map I begin that process here.

Once I've got this started, I make a general outline noting each chapter and what will happen in it, IE who is involved, what plot points I'm hitting, etc. I may also make notes on specific moments I want to use (for example, on my rewrites for the novella I'm working on I outlined an entire card game so I can track who has what cards, who wins each hand, etc. so I don't get lost while actually writing it the scene). Depending on the complexity of the story and how many simultaneous plot threads I have, I'll also create a timeline so I can note where each event takes place, how long characters are taking to get from Point A to Point B, etc. Also handy for tracking things like lunar phases, tides, weather, the seasons, (if the book is set over an extended period of time) and other things that can affect the environment.. I may or may not keep the outline and timeline in separate documents. It depends on how complicated the story is; if I need to closely track them simultaneously I keep them separate.

After completing the outline, I begin the first draft.
 

Will Rogers

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I generally write a rough outline before I start writing. Nothing too complex, just short sentences that describe the main beats of my plot. Then my first draft focuses on plot and character. I aim to get my story in order and ensure I know my characters and have them interacting with one another properly. I usually start the process of writing each chapter by writing a short summary of what needs to happen in that chapter, then begin writing the actual prose. I'll tweak any mistakes in earlier chapters if I spot them, but I only tend to go back during my first draft for two reasons:
1) To remind myself of what I've written
2) If I make large, sweeping changes to the plot

At this stage, everything is highly changeable and I try not to get too attached to anything.

For example, I got half way through my current WIP before deciding to completely alter the second half of it. My main character was going to take someone hostage and use them as a bargaining chip towards the end of the novel, but this made him a pretty unlikable character, so I changed the whole second half of the book. He still took this person hostage but only for a short amount of time. The hostage was introduced as a second POV, filling the position of "likable character" while my MC was being a bit of an arse. The MC and his hostage come to understand each other better and end up helping each other in the finale. I think my WIP is better as a result (but who really knows?!).
 

Cairo Amani

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I find it hard to continue writing something I don't feel is good, so I go back and reread what I wrote the day before and make *light* changes. Ones that make me feel better about the piece of work but don't necessarily take tons of time and joy away from writing progress.

I think there's a balance. I don't let other people offer critiques of my first draft or anything unfinished either. I think it's easy to get distracted by improvements you want to make. But its best to remember it's hard to edit if there's nothing to edit.
 

aryheron

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I used to be that same way exactly. I would even spend years writing the story because I wanted EVERYTHING to be perfect, I would get stuck all the time on certain scenes because suddenly I felt they were not as perfect as they should have been.

Now it’s a little different. I like to have as much material as I can in the first draft. Basically what I do, before I even start writing the first draft, is taking a notebook that I dedicate solely to that book and start writing in it as much information as I can about the book. Characters, backstory, mythology of the book, plot points, plot twists that I definitely donÂ’t want to forget, certain quotes that I might randomly come up with and I feel IÂ’ll use them (not always the case), details about the world, character quirks... And then itÂ’s when I start writing, because I feel I wonÂ’t get stuck so much. I still get stuck a lot, IÂ’m not denying that, but at least having that much info about the story I want to write helps me finish it, even if the first draft might still be crappy. ItÂ’s okay, at least I finished it!
 
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Gateway

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I seem to have fallen into the trap of writing the first few chapters thinking I have made good progress, only to then stutter. I now find myself - over three weeks later - reading what I have over and over again. This includes changing, adding and removing content because, as a “self doubter”, I am afraid that what I have is just not good enough. I’m now lost in the fear that I cannot continue until what I have is “perfect”, if that makes sense.

After doing some research I have found that one way of supposedly getting your first draft done is to forget about the finer details and just dump literally everything into the first draft - even content that’s poorly written or added for the sake of making progress. In other words, just get it done and save the finer details for the second draft/first edit.

Would anyone here recommend this approach? It would be awesome to gain insight into everyone else’s method/approach for completing their first draft :)

Everyone's approach differs.

I tend to write the world, that'll bring out some important characters, then I'll figure out the approximate journey and then how the characters change and then theme. I'll just write as much material as I can for the first draft and edit second draft onwards. Writing is rewriting.