How rough do you allow your first draft to be?
Hi fellow writers!
I'm working on my first bigger project - a novel.
Sitting at about 75% of the first draft. I know, the first draft is always crappy, but I'm wondering - HOW crappy are yours? Is your first draft something that just needs a little bit of editing here and there, probably a scene or two cut or replaced and that's it?
I myself made the mistake of restraining myself with editing too much while I wasn't even far in - the first 30-50 pages took an eternity, I couldn't move on from parts that just didn't feel at least 99% perfect, so I worked on those and totally lost the focus for the bigger picture. Then someone told me "Hey, don't worry - a first draft is only to bring that thing into existence. First THEN you really start working on it."
I did that and just kept on writing.
I know how I want the stroy to begin and I know how I want it to end, I mostly struggle with all the things that could possibly happen in between. So now I have a beginning that transitions into a number of very detailed outlines and dialogue concepts which can theoretically be replaced or, in the worst case, even cut out should the book become too long, and all these possible scenarios have loose ends that can easily be tied to how I imagine the end.
Should a first draft be more clear in that regard? Does that first draft concept of having a beginning and an end, but not really having a strict plan for the plot in between work for any of you, too? Or should a first draft already contain 100% of the final work?
Looking forward to some of your experiences!
Cheers,
Ed