The writing process is simple, right? Just four steps: plan, write, rewrite, and edit.
But we all know that it isn’t that easy. Planning seems easy enough. But writing that first draft can be the hardest step as you try getting your ideas on paper and herding them into order. You get stuck on wording, stop to research minute details, and start doubting your original idea.
But remember: the first draft is just thinking out loud.
As John Warner puts it in The Writer’s Practice (2019), “One of the mistaken notions I often see in people developing their writing practices is a belief that you start drafting only once you’ve figured out what you want to say. Instead, we should think of the drafting stage as the process of figuring out what we have to say.”
You might have a good outline of your story or only a vague idea about your direction. If you can’t figure it out right away, the trick is to just jump in. Immersing yourself in the story will often lead you straight to your answer. This is your world—you make the rules. Worry about the details later. Now is the time to be crazy.
Make your first draft fun and messy. Here are a few tips that might help you just get those ideas out on paper.
1. Use a fun (or stupid) font.
Sometimes, writing in Comic Sans or a squiggly handwriting font or even Courier New helps you take yourself less seriously. It feels less official and permanent somehow.
2. Add brackets for the missing parts or the places you get stuck.
Like this: [MC somehow escapes? Research lock picking. Maybe something to do with circus experience. Tie this back to childhood]. Or maybe: [Epic fight scene here for later] or [big argument—write later]. Put them in red font if you want to find them easily later, or else just CTRL + F and search for brackets.
3. Write a summary of a whole chapter to write later.
When you are trudging through the boring middle chapters of your story and want to skip them for later, you can leave behind a quick summary to write later. For example: “Chapter 3: MC is sad in this chapter. Describe grieving her boyfriend and how she meets the fortune teller. Make the fortune teller predict that she will meet a mysterious stranger from the past.” These summaries will help you get to the end faster.
4. Use a challenge or a beta reader to speed through your story.
A challenge like NANORIMO will help your creativity flow without the obstacle of perfectionism. You can also use timers, timed playlists, chapter or page goals, or other imagined deadlines to speed up your writing. If you need some friendly accountability, get a kind beta reader or a suffering fellow writer who expects book updates from you every weekend.
5. Skip descriptions.
Don’t worry, you can always add them later. But if you’re trying to get the heart of the story written, don’t describe characters or settings. If you do, I promise you will go down a rabbit hole hunting for the exact shade of green for your character’s eyes (like I have done many times). Leave it for later, or leave it in brackets like this [describe this later]. This will also help you later when you are editing, because you will have less fluff to cut out.
6. Write the dialogue first.
To speed up your writing, write the dialogue first while leaving out all the descriptions of actions, settings, or characters. Remember, the first draft is the Ugly Version. It does not need to be perfect. Because dialogue often drives the plot, writing it first can help you outline the conflict, motivations, emotions (the important and interesting stuff) before anything else.
7. Embrace the mess.
Don’t worry about editing and rewriting at all. You can always research the details, check your spelling, or find a better word later. Keep on writing your bad, fast, and monstrously creative first draft. Speed is your friend.
8. Ignore your page count.
Whether you think you are going over or under the page count you planned, don’t stop. If you are going over, you can always cut excess pages later. Perhaps you have the opposite problem and have already hit the climax too early in your first draft. You can always expand your page count with strong descriptions, explanations, and down beats later.
9. Bulldoze through writer’s block.
Writer’s block can be a major obstacle, but there are so many techniques to get through it. Try writing in a new place, setting timers, or filming a faux story idea pitch. For more ideas, check out my post The Easy Guide to Beating Writer’s Block.
10. Use posters.
Put a poster on your wall, or a sticky note on your laptop, or any other method to remind yourself regularly. Put a mantra to remind yourself. Here are some ideas:
It’s not that serious; it’s just a first draft.
Just have fun.
This is the Ugly Version.
It doesn’t have to make sense to anyone (even me).
“To become a proper writer, you have to forgive yourself the catastrophe of the first draft.” –Alain de Botton
“It doesn’t matter if it’s good right now, it just needs to exist.” — Austin Kleon
“I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box, so that later, I can build castles.” — Shannon Hale
“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” ―Terry Pratchett
Check out this website for more inspiring first draft quotes from fellow writers.
The first draft is hard because it is literally magic. It is creating something out of nothing. Sometimes it may feel like vomiting: dragging something out of your brain and putting it on paper. But it is pure alchemy—turning an abstract idea into a concrete form. Keep making magic!
Sending love,
Anastasia xoxo