Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Ugly First Draft


As the plotting stage of my current WIP comes to a close, I've spent a lot of time considering my plan of attack for the first draft. I'm a big believer in giving myself permission to write a terrible first draft. Otherwise, the perfectionist in me takes over. The only way I'll actually finish a first draft is to write it fast and give myself strict deadlines.

That's why I love NaNoWriMo. If you're not familiar with it, National Novel Writing Month is a project held in November that challenges participants to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. I have participated in and completed NaNoWriMo two years.

It's not November, and waiting until November to start my first draft isn't an option. I've decided to create my own plan. From April 1 - May 20 (50 days), my goal is to write 1,000 words every day. I plan to update my progress on this blog. Hopefully, it will help to keep me accountable. Wish me luck! Anybody want to join me?

What is your process for writing the first draft or starting a new project?

8 comments:

  1. There's a few days of thinking about the project (aka procrastinating (-; )

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  2. That's a really good goal--and reasonable too. I read somewhere that Stephen King writes 1,000 words every day too, I think 6 days a week.

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  3. That's a really good goal--and totally realistic! In the past I have powered through first drafts, but this time I'm going a bit slower and really trying to write clean. It's an unusual choice for me, but it seems to work. Of course, by the next book I could be back to my old method.

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  4. The purpose of your days should be focused writing. Completing the 1,000 words a day is an easy task that you can finish. I will support you anyway possible.

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  5. I do 1K a day. With my full life it's a do-able goal and even then sometimes too lofty ;) I do however try and write my best. I'm critical of myself even during my first draft!! ouch. I know.

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  6. Hi Julie! I give the NaNo-ers so much credit, because November is a busy month! Your goal sounds great! When I'm in first-draft-land, I set daily and weekly goals. It helps!

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  7. You go girl!! What a great inspiration to me. I have a first draft I'm attempting to finish. Could do it in a day, if I'd just sit down to do it!
    I'll be keeping a careful eye on your blog. No pressure, right?! :)

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  8. Hi Julie! I haven't done Na-No in November, but I did the one in July once and that was GREAT! I almost finished my novel then. (I have since finished it, but am having trouble getting the edits done...not my favorite part, I'm afraid.)

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