The Joy of…Drafting
Most of my past year has been spent editing and revising, but for the past two days, I’ve been able to write fresh stuff for a shiny new project. Oh, drafting, how I love thee.
Really, is there anything more freeing than starting with a newborn idea and exploring? Every scene, every line, every character’s reaction is a discovery. Everything is sparkling and new.
This isn’t a post about plotting vs. pantsing, but I’ll just mention that I’m somewhere in the middle of those two approaches to writing. I have a general idea of the plot and story arc, but what happens within scene is a complete mystery to me until I start writing it. So when I write a scene, I have to listen to my characters to figure out what’s going to happen.
Some may find the blank page intimidating. Not me. All that white space lets me more easily visualize that movie in my mind that my muse is creating. I often feel more like the person taking dictation from my muse than the actual author of these stories. The next morning, I’ll reread what I wrote and think, “I wrote that? I don’t remember writing that.” (You have to imagine that in an impressed voice and not the horrified kind of voice that follows drunk texting.)
But that’s why I love drafting. It’s when I feel closest to my muse. It’s when I can take risks with my writing and see where they lead. It’s when I feel most in touch with my dreams.
That freedom of drafting is why many of us choose to write. It might be the hard work of editing that separates the hobby writers from those who want to make it their career, but how many of us started writing because we just couldn’t wait to revise our work? None. I thought so.
For me, drafting is like the initial excitement when you start a new relationship. There’s no baggage, no exes or in-laws to worry about, no socks left on the floor to ratchet up your pet peeve meter. It’s more like when you first stay up until 4am talking because you suddenly want to know everything there is to know about this person and want to hear their entire life history. And no matter how mundane or trivial the information, it’s all fascinating.
So I’ll get back to the work of editing soon. But for now, I’m enjoying the lust of this new relationship—and the rush of drafting.
Does drafting thrill or terrify you? What are your favorite things about drafting? What are your least favorite things about drafting?
I’m not an outliner, but I do love working on bright and shiny new ideas. I love your new relationship analogy because it’s so true. Have fun with your new project! 🙂
Karen,
Thanks! For me, it varies how much I outline. Sometimes 90% of the scenes, sometimes only about 3 scenes total! 🙂
Drafting thrills me… up until 20K words. Around then I freak out that 1) it all sucks 2) it’ll never be long enough 3) it’s boring and 4) I’ll never finish it.
Fresh new ideas are amazing but at a certain point you have to roll up your sleeves and do the work of writing. I think that’s the part where most works fail: the difference between scribbling out ideas and making a coherent story out of them.
Rachel,
Yeah, I can see that. If you know how a story is going to open with the inciting incident, that alone will carry you to about 20K or so. Beyond that, there has to be, you know, a story. 🙂
I’m lucky that I have such a great relationship with my muse. He’s always there for me. It’s rather like stumbling around in the fog. I might have a clue about where things are going for only the next 10 feet, but once I get there, I can see the next 10 feet in front of me. And so on. I trust him to know where’s he going and he hasn’t misled me yet. 🙂
I love researching the story for world building. I love how the research leads to discovery of plot ideas. I love outlining and how it helps me to discover scenes. I love the first draft.
And yes, I think revisions are the line that split writers from authors. But I’ve been known to use the lure of research for a new work to get me through a day’s revisions.
Hi Suzi,
It’s great to see you here! Yes, I agree. I had much more of the first book of my series plotted out in advance just because of all the world-building aspects. When you have to know how the magic works, or doesn’t work, it informs your story decisions more. Great point!
LOL I had to tease Jami on this subject via twitter. I KNOW her idea of drafting and mine aren’t quite the same thing. She’s way too much of a perfectionist LOL I’m so pantster but I love the way a character will unfold. In one story, a character, who hadn’t even been a glimmer in the eye to begin withjust showed up. Wouldn’t tell me who he was or why or where he came from. I (and my lead POV character!) were not allowed to see his face. It was always shadowed. That’s the part of first, or rather I call them rough, draft’s thrill. I’m laughing now imagining Jami’s conternation at having a character do that to her. *blows kisses* Love you Jami 😀 Anyway, the first draft goes so fast for me (unless LIFE gets in the way. You want an example? How about moving to Texas? LOL then moving back? PS I’m from WA? LOL) that it’s like a love at first sight then never seen again rush for me. The editing part takes a long time for me, however. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. *shhh don’t tell anyone, but I’m as much of a perfectionist as Jami is* Yikes! Did I type that out loud? See, I’ve learned to turn off that inner editor for the first couple of drafts. (Mostly. I admit, I do stop and fix things occassionally as I cannot stand the redlines of Microsoft Word gloating… — Read More »
Leona,
LOL! Yeah, I tried that Write Or Die drafting website and couldn’t for the life of me not backspace to fix my spelling errors.
Um, and actually, the main character of the first story I wrote made it very difficult for me to get inside her head. For one scene (which was embarrassing for her), I had to ask another character (who was a witness) what had happened because she refused to tell me anything about it. 🙂 Really, it’s amazing I continued writing after dealing with her.
What is this “drafting” of which you speak?
Seriously though, I love the idea of it. I just can’t DO it. I write a line, then rewrite it, then delete it and rewrite it again. There is no page of fresh material. You can pretty much assume that a page of my first draft doesn’t have more than a handful of sentences on it that I haven’t picked to death before turning the page and starting a new one. Lather, rinse, repeat, every time I open it. Nutso, right? And I know it doesn’t sound very fun or creative. But I get great satisfaction out of finding that perfect word. “salty”? no. *grumble* delete. “damp”? no. delete. “brackish.” AH, yes, BRACKISH! *self high five*
Christine <———— total geek
Christine,
Oy! Luckily, as I’ve gotten better at the craft of writing, my first drafts are now about the quality of my 50th draft before. No lie. 🙂 Of course, when I first started, I couldn’t avoid dangling modifiers to save my life (mostly because I didn’t have a clue what they were!). But you’re right, I still try to get the right words the first time around. I’m not one of those drafters who does a rough job of it just to clean it up later.
P.S. And brackish is a great word! LOL!
I’m with Christine on this one. I need the right word, otherwise I just can’t continue on until something clicks.
Great post! 🙂
Murphy
Hi Murphy,
I haven’t tried this trick myself, but I’ve heard of other writers highlighting the word that isn’t quite right to allow themselves to move on.