Tuesday, July 28, 2015

First Drafts

Are first drafts always the hardest part of your WIP to hammer out? Or do you breeze through, typing from an outline that fills in like a color-by-the-number painting?

I've found that even though I have an outline, I still struggle with fleshing out my characters and making them individuals. I don't think I've ever breezed through a first draft.I wish I could get through the entire manuscript without wanting to change everything before I finish.

Right now I'm on chapter 8 (working with an outline) and I'm adding in extra ideas that are causing the chapter to go in a different direction. How will I make it to chapter 9? Have you ever experienced this dilemma? What did you do? I'm considering re-writing chapter 8 again. Or should I continue on and finish the first draft before I do anymore re-writes?

Tell me what you think about first drafts and how you solve any problems in them. Do you ignore mistakes and finish the draft?

1 comment:

  1. I do a little of both. Sometimes I will fix major issues if they affect everything to the point that I can't go on. But I try to ignore everything else. It helps me to keep thinking that the first draft doesn't have to be perfect and that I can fix everything. For some reason, I can see more clearly how to fix things once the ms is finished and I see the whole picture.

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