That's what a first draft is, right?

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Lakey

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I've been referring to the current draft of my novel as my "zeroeth" draft. Plot points and backstory evolved as I was writing, and for the most part I just kept marching forward as though the previous chapters had been written the way I would write them now. As a result of that, it's incoherent - if someone other than myself tried to read it from beginning to end, it would make no sense. And for that reason, I haven't felt comfortable calling it a first draft.

But it dawned on me yesterday that all of that is precisely what a first draft is. I don't have to demote it to zero just because it's not yet readable. It has holes that need to be filled; it has scenes that need to be dropped and others that need to be rewritten completely; it has continuity problems that need to be smoothed out. What is that if not a first draft?

And as of this afternoon, it's finished.

As ideas came to me, as everything about it evolved, I just kept plodding onward, and today I wrote the last words of the last scene of: The First Draft. It is nowhere near ready for human consumption, but it's complete. It's roughly 118,000 words; I'd say I need to cut about 40,000, add about 20,000, and completely rewrite the rest. It took about 28 months to get this far, and it will probably take as long to do all of that. But here I am!

(And now, back to this short story I've been trying to finish editing.... :e2coffee:)
 

Maryn

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That's a draft, ma'am!

I sometimes work the same way. It helps me to add comments to the parts already written that now require change in light of the Big Idea I got part way through. Stuff like "Hide the knife here" and "Make Joey drunk in this scene so he reveals his secret to Clive." I can futz with just how to do that later.
 

D.L. Shepherd

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Hey Lakey, it's been a while! Sure as heck sounds like a first draft to me. Nice work and congrats on the huge accomplishment! :snoopy:

Time to celebrate, take a break, and then on to your edits. I second Maryn's idea of putting comments wherever you are planning to change things. My current re-write is riddled with notes, and they sure are coming in handy. Have fun with the short story in the meantime.
 

Lakey

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Thank you all. :e2coffee:

I sometimes work the same way. It helps me to add comments to the parts already written that now require change in light of the Big Idea I got part way through. Stuff like "Hide the knife here" and "Make Joey drunk in this scene so he reveals his secret to Clive." I can futz with just how to do that later.

I second Maryn's idea of putting comments wherever you are planning to change things.

Oh - I already have pages and pages of notes that I’ve built up as I went along - which chapters I’m planning to cut, which to combine; what plot points need fleshing out, which scenes need more deliberate tension designed into them; what I need to research or review for each chapter; and so on. My next step, I think, painful as it will be, is to read the whole thing start to finish and add to that set of notes. Then the rearranging of scenes on a large scale, and identifying and filling the major gaps. Then onto the details.

I’m sure it will take at least as long as writing the thing in the first place did.

Are you a computer person? Because we count from zero, not one.

Funny you should say this. I work for a software company (as a writer, not as a programmer) whose flagship product is a programming language that famously indexes from 1, rather than from 0. For me I think the concept of “zeroeth” comes not from array indexing but from polynomial-series approximation - my draft is a zeroeth-order approximation to the final product.

Congratulations, Lakey! :partyguy::Sun::hooray::Hug2::snoopy::hat::banana::banana::banana::banana::Jump::Clap::Clap::Clap::Clap::PartySmil

<3 thank you!
 
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talktidy

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So, you have something with a beginning, a middle, and an end. You also have a clear idea of what needs to be done to resolve narrative inconsistencies.

No matter whether you call it My First Draft or you call it Gladys, give yourself a huge pat on the back on getting this far.
 

rgroberts

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Definitely a first draft. It's on the page and you know what needs fixing - that's nothing if not progress!
 

D.L. Shepherd

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Thank you all. :e2coffee:

I’m sure it will take at least as long as writing the thing in the first place did.

<3 thank you!

Maybe not...now you have a map ahead of you to help guide your edits. Either way, progress is progress no matter the pace. For what it's worth, I write and edit slow too.
 

Lakey

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No matter whether you call it My First Draft or you call it Gladys, give yourself a huge pat on the back on getting this far.

Gladys! I think I've found the perfect name for my novel...

Anassa kata, Lakey! ;) :e2cheer:

:Sun: :heart:

Definitely a first draft. It's on the page and you know what needs fixing - that's nothing if not progress!

Maybe not...now you have a map ahead of you to help guide your edits. Either way, progress is progress no matter the pace. For what it's worth, I write and edit slow too.

:snoopy::snoopy::snoopy:

Definitely a first draft and you definitely need to celebrate! :) So many people never make it to the end. You did. You are awesome :partyguy:

Thank you all. I'm still kind of amazed that I've stuck with it this far.
 

WGough

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:partyguy:

Congrats, Lakey! Whether someone calls it a first draft, a rough draft, or a discovery draft, it's done!
 
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