Finally looking at my rough draft -- and horrified.

WriterInterrupte · Jul 17, 2012

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post, although I've been looking at this site for a while now. I've found it super helpful!

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this:
I finished my first novel about 6 months ago. I took it on as a fun learning experience -- and I did learn a lot -- and it continued to morph in different directions as I was writing it, based on a very loose outline that also continually changed. At 105,000 words for a YA novel, I was certainly okay knowing how much I would need to cut and rewrite later. I put that novel aside and started and finished a second in the meantime. The second one was a much different experience. While it meanders as well, there seems to be a more cohesive plot and stronger characters. (At least, I hope. That one is sitting for a while right now.)

Still, during the last few months, the first one would come to mind, and I think the distance really helped. In my mind I have narrowed in on the story I was trying to tell, which I think came together somewhat during the last 1/3 of the novel. (It took me an awfully long time to get there.) But I am so incredibly overwhelmed with the 105,000 words in front of me that I could scream. There are so many scenes that obviously don't fit I'm about to start chopping like crazy, even if it means I might miss a little treasure here and there.

I don't know if I should just toss the whole thing, and I know that it's ultimately my decision. But I'm wondering if anyone else's rough drafts look this way. Because I keep reading about "shitty" first drafts, but I think this might be beyond that.

Thanks!

Anne

mirandashell · Jul 17, 2012

I think maybe you're just overwhelmed at the idea of chopping at over 100k words. Anybody would be.

So how about using baby steps? Take it a chapter at a time. You have a good idea of where the story needs to go, yes? So start with the first chapter and see what's there. If it's usable. If it starts where it should start. If yes, good. If not, dump it.

Then do the same for the next chapter. Think of it as lots of small jobs. Not one big one.

mirandashell · Jul 17, 2012

And yeah, everybody writes a shitty first draft. Everybody.

NeuroFizz · Jul 17, 2012

You will learn way more by ripping that first story apart and putting it back together than by dumping it into the trash and starting something else. And in the process, you just may find that first story has publication potential.

If you really want to learn to write, roll up your sleeves and discover the fun in taking a rough story and trimming, bolstering, adjusting and polishing it into a story that will excite readers. That is what a writer does. A writer doesn't write a first draft, think it's crap, and flush it down the S-bend.

Phaeal · Jul 17, 2012

A novel is not complete until it's been through all the drafts it needs to make it your best work. A huge part of the learning process is learning how to edit.

My vote: Stick with the first novel and cut your editing teeth on it. Take things one step at a time. Reread the novel, more than once if you need to. Develop an overall plan for fixing the plot line, strengthening characters and character development, enhancing the theme (which, btw, you may only discover now, after the fact.) Write notes for each chapter: what needs to be cut, what can stay, what needs to be changed. Rewrite one chapter at a time.

Repeat the process as necessary. Once you have your structural components sturdily in place, concentrate on polishing at the sentence and word level. Could be another draft, could be two. At this point, really work at reducing your word count, if you need to.

Give your firstborn a fair chance, and it will repay you in the craft you learn during the struggle.

Jonathan Dalar · Jul 17, 2012

Many times first (and even second, and sometimes third) novels are simply trunk novels. Their value is in the learning experience they provided to the author.

Sometimes they are salvageable - or just worth the effort to salvage - but sometimes not. Give it a fair shake. Edit it. Edit it again. And again. And by then you'll know whether to trunk it or try and publish it. Either way, you're already doing the right thing by moving on to a second and third novel before going back to it.

NeuroFizz · Jul 17, 2012

(This is my approach and one suggested for new/developing writers) Trunking a story shouldn't be an option. It can too easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Trunking should be a choice made after a writer gives that story a full effort to the best of his/her abilities to make it work.

An option exists from the outset, too often as an easy way to avoid the hard work of writing, while a choice is made based on an expended effort in the context of the work yet to be done.

dangerousbill · Jul 17, 2012

WriterInterrupte said:
I don't know if I should just toss the whole thing, and I know that it's ultimately my decision. But I'm wondering if anyone else's rough drafts look this way. Because I keep reading about "shitty" first drafts, but I think this might be beyond that.

First drafts are usually shitty.

First novel attempts are usually shitty.

But don't pitch it. At the very least, you can use it as a marker to measure your progress in future.

Some folks can produce a salable novel the first time out, but they're a tiny minority. I wrote six novels before I wrote one that sold.

But you're the last person on earth who can look at your rough draft and tell whether it's salvageable or not. You might want to join a critique group, or start another novel project first.

Buffysquirrel · Jul 17, 2012

I'm going to deviate from the general line here. You've said that you now know what the story is, and you know that it isn't expressed all that well in the novel you've written. So set the original aside and write the story again.

BethS · Jul 17, 2012

What Buffysquirrel said.

Don't try to salvage it. Rewrite it from scratch, only this time you'll have a much better idea of what the story is about.

Literateparakeet · Jul 17, 2012

I agree with the others, give your first draft some "editing love". (It makes "tough love" look like butterflies and bunnies...)

I'm working on my first draft of my first novel right now. Sometimes I think it is nothing more than a very wordy outline. I mean the basic plot is there, but the characters are flat, the wording is dull. Ack, it's horrible, and yet I love it in the--a face only a mother could love--sort of way.

I prepared the first chapter for a writing conference, which meant serious editing. I went over it again and again (over a period of a couple weeks). I notice that with each "pass" it gets a little better. It's like I am adding layers. Or a better analogy, like those learn to paint shows where the artist puts blotches of paint on the canvas. You think "how could that mess be a picture?" But as he adds more and more details a picture begins to emerge. And it's a beautiful picture by the end. But it didn't start out that way. It happened layer by layer.

So give your first draft some cuts (think sculpting) and perhaps some details that will deepen the characters and their motivations. And watch the magic happen, or not, but either way it will be a great learning experience.

lorna_w · Jul 17, 2012

I am cheering you on for knowing it isn't great yet. Some writers, it takes years of distance before they can see the problems. So whichever you do (start a new one, revise this one, or rewrite this one without referring to the first draft), enjoy and keep learning.

dawinsor · Jul 17, 2012

A friend once told me she was relieved when she looked at an earlier book and saw weak places. lf everything still looked swell, that would mean she hadn't learned anything in the meantime.

Justine Larbelestier has some good tips on revision:

http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/2008/01/02/how-to-rewrite/

Holly Lisle does too, but I'm having trouble finding that link.

ETA: Got it!

http://hollylisle.com/one-pass-manuscript-revision-from-first-draft-to-last-in-one-cycle/

Charlie Horse · Jul 17, 2012

When you see blood on your keyboard, then you'll know you're heading in the right direction.

semmie · Jul 17, 2012

Charlie Horse said:
When you see blood on your keyboard, then you'll know you're heading in the right direction.

Is that what that means?

*snicker*

WriterInterrupte · Jul 17, 2012

Thank you all so much for the feedback. I had no idea when I wrote my message how motivating your responses would be. I don't know what I was thinking: of course I have to keep working on it, if only for the learning experience that comes along with rewriting and editing. (And that may mean basically rewriting the whole thing from scratch.)

I didn't expect to find anything close to a masterpiece when I started reading the first page, but this has been quite a startling discovery. I have NO idea how anyone could revise a novel without taking some months away from it.

I suppose you get better at all of it with experience.

Thanks again. Your words were invaluable.

Anne

theelfchild · Jul 17, 2012

I'm in the same boat. Only mine's even longer (not saying this as a point of pride. It got away from me and meandered all over the place).
Can't really offer any advice, but I do want to say keep working at it! Because that's what I'm doing, and it's nice to know I'm not alone.

WriteMinded · Jul 17, 2012

I once had a monster 150k plus novel that I gave up on. I dug out the backstory I was so fond of and used it as an outline for the book I finished. Now I'm working on another book that is also part of the original. I'm writing it from scratch, but the meandering monster is useful as a guide. Kinda like a huge outline.

I never throw anything out, not even the bits that have to go. I just cut and paste them into a different document - just in case. I can't remember ever going back to dig anything out, but I'm so much happier knowing they're there if I need them.

L. Y. · Jul 17, 2012

mirandashell said:
And yeah, everybody writes a shitty first draft. Everybody.

^ What she said.

My very first attempt at a novel was a 170,000 word mess. Yes, 170,000! It took me a long time to trim it down to something readable.

Thought I'd post this to give you some hope--don't give up on your first novel just yet!

Good luck!

rwm4768 · Jul 17, 2012

Work on revising it and getting it as good as it can be. Then if you feel good about it, try querying it. If that doesn't work out, don't get discouraged. Write some new stuff. Then come back to the first novel at a later time when you're better equipped to write it.

In my experience, I started a fantasy series when I was 15 and knew nothing about writing. I edited and edited, but it never got to a point that it was good. Then I finally came to the realization that I had to rewrite the book from scratch. It was a tough decision, but it's one I'm happy with so far. I'm about 1/3 of the way through the new draft and feeling like my writing is much, much better.

Ellielle · Jul 17, 2012

Seven years later, I still can't even look at the first draft of my first novel ever without grimacing the whole way through--it's so bad. I did read it over after I'd finished and immediately trunked it, because it was just that terrible.

So kudos to you for 1) having written something that you feel there's a chance of fixing and 2) wanting to put in that effort to fix it, even if it's intimidating. Those are things to be proud of.

A. M. Howard · Jul 17, 2012

BethS said:
What Buffysquirrel said.

Don't try to salvage it. Rewrite it from scratch, only this time you'll have a much better idea of what the story is about.

I completely agree. You'll have a much tighter story and you'll know what to stand by and what to toss aside.

Sunflowerrei · Jul 18, 2012

I'm always horrified at the end of a first draft. I didn't even attempt to revise my first novel. I remember reading this on Twitter during NaNoWriMo 2011: The writer's life is a strange mixture of "Wow I wrote that?" and "Dear God, I wrote that?"

GFanthome · Jul 18, 2012

I couldn't agree more with everyone who suggested rolling up your sleeves, grabbing an axe, and skillfully chopping out the excess.

Whatever you do, don't get discouraged and throw in the towel. This is the best opportunity you will have to improve your writing. But I strongly suggest stepping away from it for a few weeks. It's amazing how much perspective that provides. Being away from it allows you to see it in a completely different light - a light that accentuates all of the places where you need to implement cuts and improvements.

One thing to note, however. If even after that exercise you still find you don't like the end product, THEN you can shelve it and start on a new project. But I'm of the thinking that you should always give things a second chance.

Shirokirie · Jul 18, 2012

I remember when I was told that mine was a trunked novel and that I should stuff it in a drawer and forget it about it. You know, take a break, do something else.

Instead I kept plugging away at it. Partly because I just can't shove it in a drawer, I love the story and the characters too much to just let it all collect dust. But mostly because I'm stubborn. Persistence is maddening, though, especially when you keep making changes and your story still falls on its face. But like everyone else who has said it:

Don't give up.

It's taxing, it's tiring, its also a draft.

The absolute first draft of my WIP sits online on a roleplaying site somewhere, open to the public eye. I don't bother to even look back at it, or recall what ideas, world structure and plot things I had at the time--it was that bad.

So, while it may be crap the first time around, keep pluggin' away at it. If your story is like furious, blazing passion that you just can't hold in and!--yeah, revise, cut, revise, cut, revise, add, cut, revise more.

I think you get the idea.

After you've divorced your story, then you can trunk it. :tongue

Finally looking at my rough draft -- and horrified.

The grad students did it

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

Science fiction, horror and fantasy

The grad students did it

Retired Illuminatus

Nerdy Budgie

Hybrid Grump

Dorothy A. Winsor

Speaking in metaphors

barefooted

Thinking up something clever

Derailed

Thread surfer and virtual bartender

practical experience, FTW

needs something clever to put here

At the computer, opening a vein

*Leers at you awkwardly*

Leers at you awkwardly