7 Misconceptions Writers Have About Drafting 

Loooool, I hate writing essays. One page takes me forever, but when I'm writing fiction I can write 20 pages in the same amount of time.😂

Don't worry lol, we authors also struggle with those essays XD

Hahaha. I hate writing essays but I've already written about 40k words so far in my novel. I don't know why. 😂

Im a writer and i struggle with essays. I guess it's all about wanting to write and being forced to write about sonething you don't nesessarily give a sh1t about. A lot of times when writing an essay, i struggle with the actual points and spend a lot of time trying to think of ways to end a paragraph and when writiting a story, it's all about a specific character ecperiencing something without any paragraph structure rules. Moral of the story ESSAYS are still HARD and BORING

Creative writers often suck at essays. I should know.

That's a good one! Wish I'd thought of it for this video!

Agreed so much!

Yes! This become obvious when you do consistent sprints of the SAME time block. Sometimes it's 500 words of well-aligned usable content, sometimes it's 1200 words that are doomed for the cutting room floor. There are just too many personal variables to assume that time has anything to do with quality. ✌

My slow writing is usually my worst writing. If I'm writing slowly, it's because I'm uninspired and am having trouble finding the words, but trying to force it. Then I never keep it.

If I write too slow and methodically, I totally lose my writing flow.

Karin Lach 😂😂

Editing lost its scare factor for me once I realise that every mistake is fixable. Maybe you have to rewrite ten scenes to do it, but you can.

I actually did that with my first novel for the series I'm writing. I decided it was time to reinvent the entire story from the ground up. It wasn't easy though.

@@oddeyes9413 I think that's what will end up happening with mine. Good luck with your series, I'm sure it'll be great!

@@heianvampire Thanks. Good luck to you as well.

I don't know you but I felt the pain in that comment, I feel like life is too short for you to not being that story in to the world!

@@kmak4861 thank you so much for that. I have taken parts of my original story that I felt were most worth sharing, and worked them into my new story. I'm very pleased with my current project and all who've read excerpts really like it!

That one kills me too! I see it on Reddit a lot from newbie writers and you always have to ask them "what do you define as editing?"

Seriously. I used to be one of those writers who was so in love with my writing. Handing out my rough draft like it's one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and when people complain about how confusing it was and how they couldn't follow what was going on, I'd scoff and say they aren't intellectually superior enough to comprehend the sheer majesty of my work! Bwa ha ha!

I used to think that, too. When I wrote my first draft-don't know if I will get back to it b/c I'm currently working on another project-I would only edit for better sentences, description, or dialogue.

I can get stuck that way, too. Then I can't get going for some reason. Here's a suggestion I picked up from various sources: index cards with scene synopses. 'Character A and Character B have a fight over (something)"; "Character A visits Side Character 1 to learn about (event)" and so on. Shift them around. Maybe a scene would work better if it were earlier or later in the story because it's more relevant there. Then this other scene makes more sense because it's a natural outgrowth of that scene and subsequent events. Or just write down these scenes. They'll be full of info dumps, and you may not use half of them, but they can help you get a grip on your characters, settings, and situations. I'm working on a fanfic right now that had me stalled for months until the simple thing appeared. Now I have to get the characters there. But I have a file of scenes that I wrote (BEFORE starting the story) that I couldn't use because the beginning of the story changed the context. Once I had that first scene, the rest of it fell into place until the writer's block. Or reread those first chapters to see if the action's in the wrong place. Tony Hillerman once wrote about starting one of his Navajo mysteries too early in the storyline. He scrapped the first chapter, rewrote the beginning, and used the discarded material in a federal agent's description of the antagonist's actions. 'The Cats of Ulthar' tells us up front that it's against the law to harm cats in that town, then tells the story of why the law exists. Most Sherlock Holmes stories begin with the victim of the crime coming to him for help, then we learn what happened and follow Holmes and Watson as they investigate.

I always write straight through on my first draft. I’d drive myself crazy if I kept going back to edit as I go. But that doesn’t mean everyone has to do it that way! We all figure out what works best for us. (Though, when people tell me they struggle to ever finish a first draft, I always recommend they try pushing forward without looking back until the end. Just to prove to themselves they can finish.)

@@RachelBateman I wish I could work that way alas my brain can't function like that. Maybe one day I will change but for now its my current crazy process 😂

Oh yeah, my average it about 4 drafts

I can’t write something that doesn’t feel like it’s /it/, so I totslly get that. I don’t commit to page what I haven’t combed through in my head and fit into the larger story first. It has to ALL make sense, or NONE of it does; and I can’t proceed until it makes sense/feels right/is good.

I think the key is to use a bit of moderation. If you edit as you go it takes longer, but you save yourself editing later on so it balances out some what. I think even reading the prior chapter as you are writing the next can be helpful. You don't want to be sitting down writing chapter 5, and going back to reread and editing stuff in chapter 1 though. As long as you are making forward progress each time you sit down and write, you are probably fine.

I do have a video on forming a writing habit that might help. But it's not a topic I've touched on recently, so I can work on a new video for it.

I have the same problem. I hate editing but it's a necessary evil. 😭

(not that you need my thoughts, but in case it benefits you I want to mention an idea) A hypothetical solution: Do you think it'd work to read the scene, then write it like you would a draft with an outline? (where the 'outline' is the scene's last form in the previous draft.) That way you don't have to 'edit', you're basically leaning on your bigger skill, but with more structure to your second version of 'drafting' so that it'd come out more polished.

I'm the opposite lol. I'm over halfway done with a first draft right now and I'm already making lists of everything I want to edit in it. I have to stop myself from doing so now!

Lol same. I use Google docs, and on occasion, I go back and reread random stuff, and leave comments on stuff I need to fix, or I just fix it 😂 I also, as I’m writing and if I don’t like what I write, I leave a comment saying how much I hate it and need to fix it 😂 I’m more of an editor than a drafter.

the first draft of the book i just wrote had Shipname, NotCeasarFlickerman, and Commander Noname, lol.

@@MorganChaos Lol. Can definitely relate. :)

This is such a wholesome comment. Also, your english is better than some native speaker's.

That's a great idea!

I'm so glad you liked it! Such a great video idea 😀

I don't think any writer is ever pleased with their work. Its always something you ultimately don't like.

Love_always_matters I *absolutely agree* - it feels like it’s a mystery subject a lot of the time. I would love to know about the variety in historical novels/ historical fiction/ historical fantasy, how agents & publishers feel about them- & how people go about writing them; one of my WiPs is set around, during & after the English Civil War, so mid-17th c- & my research has taken me to some very obscure places. Are there different rules to writing these types of novels? The internet has changed a lot of things, I feel; people are *going* to call you up on mistakes- now, more than ever, so I don’t really stop researching (I try not to let it take over my writing but I know it’s *so* important)- yet, there are authors out there _cough_ Philippa Gregory _cough_ who still publish what seem (to my personal history lover-minded view) garbage stories.

OcarinaSapph1r3 -24 absolutely, like is it a dead genre? The only newer books I know of/ have read (mainly historical romance) have kind of sucked. Like they are really cliche and inaccurate. Are they not really in demand anymore? I’m writing a regency era story at the mo, and it’s just such a overdone era. But I just love it so much I had to write in it.

Love_always_matters They say write what you want to read... & I love me some historical fiction! But it’s disheartening to see mediocrity rewarded- there are far better historical novels deserving of adaptation than many of what I’ve seen (looking at you, Philippa Gregory)- & why is it the **same** stuff getting redone- & the same *type* of stuff? Don’t get me wrong- like, Shakespeare & Austen are eternal (the latter especially so... I’m actually descended from the Austen’s via one of Jane’s brothers, so her work has a special place in my heart), but maybe give something else a chance. How many times do we really need to see *another* ‘Little Women’, or ‘Wuthering Heights’? I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with the new one (though Jo in the trailer did not sit well with me, & I’m really tired of movies having the same actor play a child/ young teen, & then older teen/ adult, just because the older actor means bank- it feels stupid, frankly. It’s different with a series, I guess- up to a point). Rosalind Laker is my absolute fave *_ever_* historical fiction writer, & there are a couple of others I enjoy; I read the Reader’s Digest Condensed version of ‘The Venetian Mask’ when I was like 11/ 12, & fell in love with historical fiction. She brings some fascinating ‘shadow-worlds’, as I call them, to life: ‘The Sugar Pavilion’- with smuggling, sea-bathing at Brighton & early confection-making, around the time of the Revolution/ Napoleonic Wars - ‘The Jewelled Path’; with its’ Art Nouveau aesthetics, competing courtesans- both real & fictional, a young woman trying to forge a career for herself, & finding & losing love- jewel thieves, Russian nobles, ambitious dancers & Monte Carlo- I mean, it’s just a great read... I don’t know why, but I see Katie McGrath in a red wig, in the lead role of the latter, when I visualise the story in my head.

OcarinaSapph1r3 -24 I haven’t actually read loads and loads of historical novels, but two out of a series I have read (called the Bridgetons) by Julia Quinn, is getting adapted. God the first book was dire, almost everything about it was bad, that I can’t even write it all here. The second book was an improvement, but my only motivation for reading the whole series is someone I know is connected to the Netflix adaptation. Shame really, there are so many more books that deserve it than that one.

Love_always_matters Tell me about it- & it’s just as bad when they ‘reinvent’ or ‘reinterpret’ the classics. I don’t get why they often ignore the book/s in adaptations- they get the rights, & then don’t care, because they apparently don’t *need* to; but there’s **reasons** why stuff becomes popular (even crappy stuff, _sigh_ like 50 Shades... [I only watched Cinematic Excrement & Lost in Adaptation’s **fantastic** reviews of them]) I get the importance of balancing stuff like that, truly- but all the stuff you hear with authors disowning adaptations makes me sad. If they were done properly, authors wouldn’t be doing that, & fans & critics would be less likely to castigate the adaptation (some stuff is just poor in its’ original form, too- & an adaptation can only do so much to fix it... don’t @ me, but I prefer the movie-version of ‘Watchmen’s’ endplot, to the alien-thing of the author.) Like, this isn’t even a dream, because I don’t think I’ll ever reach Best Seller/ household name-status, but I’d like to imagine that if a novel or series of mine was ever adapted, I’d be able to describe it to people as supplementary to the book/s, rather than an entirely different entity, as almost everyone currently does - I _get_ the necessity, sometimes, in *some* areas, to refine & even cut- but it shouldn’t be arbitrary or personal preference; it should be what best suits the story, & its’ themes & atmosphere. You could try something *really* radical- & respect the audience. I get studios & bean counters want to have as wide an audience as possible, but things don’t appeal to everyone & that should be ok. Sorry for the rambling, lol.

What I try to do is write the rough draft straight through and then do one round of developmental edits before passing off to beta readers. That way I actually get a draft out and still get to turn in something that isn't too messy.

Congratulations! Did you have previous writing experience or this book was your first time ever?

@@HDloly thank you so much! I published three SP books - but I'm not a marketing person so it they did okay but not great. Guess going with a publishing house is a better fit for me.

wait wait wait wait, you wrote a book in only six weeks?

@@rosalieoosterlaken2949 it's always six weeks for me - at least before Corona. Now there is Homeschooling going on, so I'm not writing a lot at the moment :(

I have a video on that! It's called "Are you query ready?" The short answer is there's no magical number, but you should have definitely properly revised your book at least once.

I have a Book Writing 101 playlist that should help!

Can you clarify what you mean? Looks like in what way?

I believe he/she means how rough (or readable) the first draft is supposed to be? I also had a hard time imagining what it's supposed to look like :/

I would also really love a video about that- I have gotten good at finishing first drafts but I find revisions intimidating. I got very good at revising/editing short pieces and schoolwork, but large drafts feel different and it's difficult to know how to prioritize what to address. Like, is going with my gut on the little things that bug me a good way to start, or is it better to address large structural things first even if it's harder to think about and easier to get stuck on, and is it fine/necessary to do both at once, or will that lead a bad place? I think what I want is a video about how you /decide/ what to work on from one draft to the next.

I wouldn’t be worried about what a first, second, third draft looks like, because it is going to look different for every single person. There are so many factors to consider including level of ability, the genre, the complexity of the storyline, the style of prose, etc. that will influence how polished one draft is from the next. My first drafts tend to be fairly polished, because I’m a perfectionist and get caught up in tweaking it as a go - but it also takes me a million years to finish something as a result. It also means more focus on developmental edits rather than line edits. But that is just me. Like Alexa said, each project is going to be a bit different from the next, so I wouldn’t compare too closely. :)

@@teganmartin8751 Sure every project is going to look different even for the same person, but I would still like to see a video about it and find it helpful. I'm not worried or comparing myself to someone who writes a very different kind of fiction, so just worry about yourself.

I always do a first pass to smooth out continuity issues, anything that I changed midstream or know I want to change, so my first CPs read something that logically holds together.

@@AlexaDonne Thank you my friend, I love your content and always appreciate your candid approach. ✌💖