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7 Steps to Writing Your First Draft

March 25, 2016 By Rachel Stedman

Your First Draft is Always Shit

The purpose of the first draft is to get stuff out of your head and into words.

 

writer's notebook

 

Warning: Don’t expect great things from your first draft. It’s almost always shit. But that doesn’t matter – what is important is getting the WORDS ONTO THE PAGE. Remember, if you don’t start, you will never finish. That’s the point of the first draft – to finish.

My First Draft Process

  1. Every day I write something new.
  2. First draft stuff is written early in the day, when I’m still feeling creative.
  3. I have a word target. I do not get up from my chair until I reach this target. It might be 500 words, it might be 2000, but whatever it is, I keep going until I’m there.
  4. I begin by reviewing what I wrote the day before.  But I try not to edit it too much, otherwise I get stuck in Edit Mode. There’s a big difference between Edit and Create.
  5. Once I reach my word target, if I’m in the zone, I keep going. (If I’m not, I go for a walk. I find walking clears away the cobwebs, helps me think knotty issues through.)
  6. Every day, I tell myself ‘well done’.
  7. Repeat this process until finished.

And I DO NOT get worked up over what is happening until the story is finished.

Worrying about plot holes is a sure fire way to procrastinate.

Something like Nanowrimo can help – the way you get a little graph at the end of the day is quite cool. Plus, its nice to feel you’re not alone.

Of course, this is all wonderful stuff. I break my rules all the time.

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Filed Under: How To, Writing tips Tagged With: Writing Tips

About Rachel Stedman

Award-winning author Rachel Stedman lives in Dunedin, New Zealand with her husband and two children. Her first novel, A Necklace of Souls, won Best First Novel at the New Zealand Post Book Awards 2014. In 2012 Rachel was the winner of the Tessa Duder Award and was shortlisted for the Tom Fitzgibbon Award. If she's not got her nose in a book, she's on instagram or twitter (@rlstedman) or at her local library. Her website is www.RLStedman.com.

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