Is it a waste of time to write a perfect first draft?

[JS Wiig]

A drawback can be, if you’re the type of writer who can’t move on until what you just wrote is perfect, you may never get anywhere a la the perpetual Chapter 1.

 

[Steve Harrison]

I edit as I go and perform major edits at each quarter stage of a novel. It's slow going, but means there's not a lot to do at the end.

It means that I consider my first draft (my WIP) is my only draft is of submission quality. Which, of course, as my editors soon make apparent, is nowhere near perfect...

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Some writers only write one draft but in the process they may decide they are heading in the wrong direction, cut out a few chapters and go back and rewrite those before continuing on where they left off. Other writers, when they say they only write one draft apparently mean exactly that: they have it all "perfect" in their heads and only need to write it down once. How much thinking about their writing (consciously or unconsciously) they do in advance I don't know. I think the longer you write and the more books you produce, the number of drafts is going to be fewer and fewer. My first book I think I went through about twelve drafts, and I think that every single one of them was necessary. I was not only writing the book, I was learning how to write: not just how to get the words down, but how to develop my ideas in way that mere outlining just doesn't cut it (at least not for me).

No writing is wasted, so long as you keep learning. If one kept on making the same mistakes forever because they thought they were incapable of missteps, that would probably be a waste of time.

 

[Rufus Coppertop]

Terry Pratchett once said that, "The first draft is just you telling yourself the story."

Seconding this!

Telling yourself the story is not a waste of time.

If you've told yourself a story that you like - if the characters are engaging and the story interesting and the plot pretty much makes sense and has a beginning, a middle and an end then your first draft is perfect AS A FIRST DRAFT.

That doesn't make it perfect as a written novel of course but (by the Living Harry!) you'll have something to work with. Something that might have a few plot holes that you can fill with some careful thought and something you can rewrite, hone and polish and make into something that readers will enjoy.

Finish telling yourself the story. Do the editing later.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Telling yourself the story is the heart of what I do. I aim to get the magic and wonder of first time discovery across to the reader. In most cases, my novels are carefully planned, at least the first two thirds are, I usually give the last third more flexibility. Readers have to know from the the novel they're reading that the author is with them the whole way.

 

[AlexH]

I prefer writing cleaner first drafts because I don't really enjoy editing. It's all a learning process, so the more 'clean' first drafts I write, the better I should become at them. I was very shocked recently to send a first draft to an editor who thought it was the best thing I'd written. Previously, drafts I'd sent were the third minimum. I think it was a fluke though, and it'll be a while before I write a first draft that good again.

So even if I end up removing or replacing whole scenes after spending time on a first draft, I don't see that as a waste of time because I still learned things in the process. Though I should note I'm talking from the perspective of short stories.

I often miss things out and add them in on later drafts, like senses and worldbuilding.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Some writers only write one draft but in the process they may decide they are heading in the wrong direction, cut out a few chapters and go back and rewrite those before continuing on where they left off. Other writers, when they say they only write one draft apparently mean exactly that: they have it all "perfect" in their heads and only need to write it down once. How much thinking about their writing (consciously or unconsciously) they do in advance I don't know. I think the longer you write and the more books you produce, the number of drafts is going to be fewer and fewer. My first book I think I went through about twelve drafts, and I think that every single one of them was necessary. I was not only writing the book, I was learning how to write: not just how to get the words down, but how to develop my ideas in way that mere outlining just doesn't cut it (at least not for me).

No writing is wasted, so long as you keep learning. If one kept on making the same mistakes forever because they thought they were incapable of missteps, that would probably be a waste of time.

Yes, I do wonder about how many of those who only write one draft did so with their very first novel. You don't need to plan as much for a journey you've taken before.

 

[RJM Corbet]

Telling yourself the story is the heart of what I do. I aim to get the magic and wonder of first time discovery across to the reader. In most cases, my novels are carefully planned, at least the first two thirds are, I usually give the last third more flexibility. Readers have to know from the the novel they're reading that the author is with them the whole way.

I feel some best selling popular writers such as Lee Child and James Lee Burke, have roughed out a basic novel in their minds and then just sat down at the typewriter and let the details take care of themselves -- most times without a predetermined ending. There are often a lot of holes in the plot, when you think about it later, and the ending can be a bit lame, but by then it doesn't matter because the reading experience has already kept the pages turning after time for lights out?

I'm sure the storyteller's inborn skill has more to do with page-turning writing than seamless plotting and sentence construction, etc. But it is when great storytelling and great writing come together that make a truly classic writer like Hemmingway? And Hemmingway did rewrite.

I really like @Stephen Palmer observation that the magic is in the first draft. Thanks for that nugget, Stephen

 

[sknox]

First draft is a myth, imo. Or at the very least, it's a poorly-defined phrase. Does a clean (or "perfect") first draft mean there were no corrections at all? Not a Backspace to be found anywhere? The eraser unused?

Yeah, I don't think anyone here is suggesting that. So, if a person has composed the plot and characters and setting in their head, without setting down a single word, does that mean there was no editing, no shifting about of plot elements, in their imagination?

Or does a clean first draft mean I didn't make any significant structural changes before I sent the manuscript off to the editor? In which case, "perfect" is certainly not the right word. And even "clean" might not be the word the editor used!

My point here (omg, he has a point?) is that the phrase "first draft" is especially unhelpful for the first-time writer, mainly because they likely are envisioning something not appropriate to them. My own process is so messy (uh, I'm being advised I'm to use the term "organic") that I couldn't even begin to number the drafts. It'd be like asking a sculptor to identify first, second, third draft.

Here's my own unasked-for advice. If you are wondering how much editing and revision you should put in on the first draft (or first chapter or whatever), ask yourself some more questions. What am I worried about? Do I think it's done but not good enough? Do I think it's not done and I can't see how to get to The End? Do I just generally think I'm a hopeless case and even if I keep writing the Worm of Insecurity gnaws at my insides?

The point (egads, he has another!) is that "is it a waste of time to write a perfect first draft" may not be the most useful question to ask. It's a place to start, but not a place to end. Sort of a first draft kind of question. <g>

 

[DLCroix]

Hi, @KloKandall! Humbly, what I wonder is if something is going to break because that perfect first draft is not produced. I mean, what real demand or importance is it to get it right the first time? Hmm, I think that when a person who wants to write a story begins to suffer with all these self-imposed goals he gets out of the way but so much so. I, on the other hand, would advise you to relax and enjoy the process.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

We’re all different, and I don’t believe there’s a wrong way to tackle this. My first novel has had countless drafts, by which I mean complete rewrites in which characters, plots, voice, themes, all changed.
The way I think of multiple drafts is that the whole piece is rewritten with significant changes, not just a few lines tweaked and typos cleared up.
By my own definition, Knife Edge, the novel that’s due to launch next month (my first published novel) was a first draft when I submitted it to the publisher. I wrote it in 2017, sat on it until 2020, hauled it out for its first read through since writing it to pick up any typos, and submitted it.
No one else had read the full novel before that. A couple of people had read the opening 1k and my then writing group, The Hexmen, had a few excerpts inflicted on them at time of writing, but I didn’t have any potential beta readers I could ask because it’s a crime novel and all my writing buddies are SFF writers! So it went in on its own, like a child starting school having never played with other children.
My next crime novel was also a first draft, ie one writing effort then a brief read-through. It did have the benefit of beta readers before winging its way to the publisher, but no rewrites or major changes, just typos.
However, I do write clean drafts and as I go along I sometimes add an extra chapter early on if I realise the plot or character detail needs it.
And I should add that once the line editor gets her hands on these novels, there are definitely significant changes! She has such an eye for detail and continuity.

 

[Toby Frost]

It's never going to be a waste of time to write a perfect first draft, because if you are of the very small number of people who could do so, it would be a very useful skill to have. But it might be a waste to try to write a perfect first draft, or to refuse to accept that there might be errors in the first draft. Generally, a writer would be better off writing a finished first draft and then honing it in subsequent revisions.

 

[SashaMcallister]

I prefer to just get all the thoughts on paper as quickly as possible. Shaping/reorganizing what's already there is much easier.

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

Hey guys, I'm an aspiring writer. Right now I'm working with my current novel around 94k words in 3 months. It's painful progress but I like it. Sometimes I always wondering, is it possible to write a perfect first draft, or it just a waste of time? If it was a waste of time, what exactly writing a first draft? Does that mean all of the first drafts will be bad?

It depends on your process. For me, a first draft is getting down material that didn't exist before I outlined it and then wrote it down, not about producing a perfect draft. My second draft will be better and longer, and different. The published version of my "The Witch's Box" bears only a passing resemblance to the first draft, as I cut out a whole arc of chapters and added a different, longer one and made a whole lot of other changes. The same is happening with my current project, which has been refusing to come together, and as I ditch the crud and write in new ideas it bears less and less resemblance to the original outline.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

One big hazard with trying to produce a perfect first draft is that you might spend so much time fussing over tiny details that you burn yourself out on the plot and characters (or work yourself into a nasty writer's block), before you have enough of the story down to encourage you to keep on going. This is not the inevitable consequence of trying for perfection on the first draft, but it does happen to some people, and is something to look out for.

 

[Toby Frost]

Several times I've seen someone write Chapter 1, edit it, edit it again, vaguely start Chapter 2, re-edit Chapter 1 and then give up. If you plough through to the end, at least you've got something to edit.

 

[Lawrence Twiddy]

Yeah I'm all about getting my ideas down and flowing with it, I do small rolling edits but do not spend to long overthinking over the same section and burning out creativity. Move on come back to it, you'll be fresher, you'll have more story arc and character progression to better analyse how you wanted to get there.

But hey listen if we was all the same, it would be a boring world right? Try anything to see what works best for you.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Having said what I said, I do honing afterwards, but much of this is copy-editing honing. Tweaking. The old advice about taking a three month break after writing before you read it again is very good. That gives the brain time to forget what it's done.

The other thing about getting the "magic" first draft is that, since all plot comes from character, and since novels are all about people, you do have to have a pretty fair idea of who your characters are at the beginning - and then let them take over. In the last few years, I've taken to getting photographs - eg. of Victorians for my upcoming Conjuror Girl trilogy - so that their faces are imprinted on my mind before I've written a word. This worked particularly well for the second of the two main characters, Lily Scrobbeswright, because I found absolutely the perfect photo of her, which seemed to sum her up. It was a real help.

When I wrote the Factory Girl trilogy I knew lots about Kora, Dr Spellman, and Edward. Other characters were a bit more diffuse - Mr Deimos and Mr Phobos in particular popped up as vivid characters. But Kora both was known to me at the beginning and developed unexpectedly as I wrote - a great and satisfying combination.

 

[sknox]

Several times I've seen someone write Chapter 1, edit it, edit it again, vaguely start Chapter 2, re-edit Chapter 1 and then give up. If you plough through to the end, at least you've got something to edit.

Absolutely this. Getting all the way to done is the difference between telling a story and just writing. Writing is easy. Telling a story is harder, but it's also the only one of the two readers care about.