How do you rate your first draft?

I'm so glad I got past the 1500 word mark that everything seems fanfarkingtastic.

CaroGirl said:

I edit as I go, re-reading and fixing right the from the beginning several times before the first draft is complete. So, when I finish it, it's in pretty good shape. I need only a couple of read-throughs to polish it up and make it ready for beta readers.

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This is me, also. When I finish a first 'draft', there's very little fixing to it - unless I've deliberately tried something 'different'. Then I won't know how much fixing/rewriting will be needed until after my betas see it. But typically there's only minor fixes and polishing left.

My first drafts are absolutely fantastic. Then I fix them.

Jeff

While I'm writing them, I think my first drafts are good. I mean, when I read through, I understand it and breathe a sigh of relief. My relatives also smile and seem to like what I've produced (but that might just be pity lol).

But then at one point when scrolling back to see how I'm doing, I feel like throwing the computer out of the window.

When the first draft's finished, I read it through, correcting spellings. Then, I smile because I realise it's not that bad -- and I can always fix it.

After all the revisions and etc, it all turns into a plausible novel lol xD

My first drafts are usually decent (by my own standards) but the work-in-progress is going to need a bit of work doing on it. I think it's because I'm winging this one more than usual.

Kathl33n said:

<< I find the editing process exhilarating and inspiring, so first drafts, to me, are a real source of fun.>>

Me, too

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Lucky you guys!

The problems in my first draft are always things I kind-of sort-of know aren't quite somehow working, but they're too knotty or elusive so I do the best I can and keep writing. On the edit, I simply can't avoid them anymore and I have to fix them or else.

My first drafts used to be crap, but now I take time and edit as I go so I don't have to do as much revision and editing. But I still have things to fix and I use revision as a chance to really shape the story into what I want.

I do some rereading and editing as I go so I don't end up with a jumbled ruin that's going to take me years to fix, but that doesn't mean I don't come to the end with a little puppy puddle.

I didn't answer the poll because my problems are not consistent. At present, I have two WIPs going. One is nice and neat so far, at 10k. The other is pushing 80k, and I've known all along that I was writing way-y-y-y-y too much. When I come to the end, I'll have to choose which chapters to keep and which to trash. And, I keep thinking about how much time I've wasted writing them. Still, as that particular novel progresses, I find myself doing the same thing. I can't seem to stop myself. Agghhhhhhhh.

My first drafts are basically my last drafts, minus a proofing pass to catch the odd missing word or (more commonly) something I mistyped that was either a word (the instead of then) or where autocorrect got me. I do very little sentence/word tweaking--maybe once a page or so.

I used to think I was "doing it wrong" since most people edit the same story multiple times before they consider it passable, even in the short story market, but I continue to sell things to established and respectable markets, so now I think I'm just fortunate to be able to write very cleanly.

I do write shorts and novellas, though, so perhaps I will need more passes on longer pieces.

katci13 said:

I worried I was doing something wrong after this last first draft and I didn't have a mess on my hands. Then when I told a writer friend I had finished, she goes, "Great! Only 25 edits to go and you're done!" And she wasn't kidding. I was thinking, 25? I don't think I have 5. Then I started to worry I was editing wrong. Lol!

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Some of us are just lucky that way. Or really good. Or something. I think if I had to read any one of my stories 25 times, I would kill myself. It's not that the stories aren't good, but when I know them that well, I get sick of them. It can get ugly.

WIP#1 first draft is...messy. It was my first novel ever, and it needs CPR. Or trunking. The writing itself just isn't up to snuff. But the draft for WIP#2 came out really clean. Between 1 and 2, I discovered that I am manic outliner, so most/all plot holes were caught in the planning stages. There's some dialogue I need to tighten up, more description to add, and a few dangling details, but other than that...I'm actually pleased enough with it that I'd show it to someone without (much) shame.

It's been a while since I've written a real first draft, so I looked back at an old one. It's sketchy. Lacks depth. Whoever told me to cut back on adjectives and descriptions should be shot. I mean, the thing isn't much more than an outline, but because I didn't know it was an outline, it isn't a very good one.

*sigh* For the umpteenth time...

Telling someone to 'cut back on' adjectives means they're always the special one who thinks they can get away with it, because the adjectives they use are essential.

If you tell someone to never use them, they'll cut their use right back and the only adjectives they use really will be of the special dispensation sort.

Adjectives are way-overused, so the council against them is way-overstrong, to even things out.

My second draft is like a rollercoaster ride. Some scenes I love and I'm completed amazed that I could write something like that while other times I wanna hide from shame and embarassment.

When I tried writing short stories, my first drafts were abysmal. There were so many holes and unfinished threads of thought. Not to mention the need for editing. It was such a headache. And definitely crap.

When I switched over to novels, I finally had the freedom I needed to tidy up threads of plot that were really side plots, fill in the gaps, and actually finish something. The first draft of my very first novel was pretty horrid as far as editing goes. But it needed little revision from draft to draft. More than anything it was editing. The first draft of my 2nd novel went much better. It still needed a lot of editing, but I learned from past mistakes and kept those at a minimum the 2nd time around.

The first novel needed content added in the revisions, going from 65k in the first draft to 90k in the 2nd, 84k in the 3rd and so on until the 9th draft left me at 83k. The second novel came in just under 137k and dropped to 126k in the first revision and edit. It has continued to shrink as I have worked it over.

I don't look at my writing as crap anymore. I found I just wasn't writing in my niche.