I did a quick write yesterday just to see if a new idea I have has enough steam (I can usually tell by how many words I can get in a single scene before I run out of juice and how hard I had to work that scene to get there), and OML... The idea is great; the scene, however, makes my head hurt, and normally I'd get stuck for weeks trying to fix the white room syndrome, the context issues, the places where there are info dumps or not enough information, etc, until I burn myself out before I've even gotten started yet, but then I found this video and it's like it gave me permission to write however horribly I need to in order to get the story on the page - it's not like that first draft is going straight from the computer to the publisher, nobody but you is going to see it, so why should it matter? Perfectionism is for later, when you plan for other people to see the pages. Thank you so, so much for this freedom. I've been so obsessed with listening to my inner editor recently that, over the years, I forgot what my inner writer even sounded like, and I feel so much better.
I write short stories for fun. Sometimes my zero draft is brilliant, and I can't refine it without losing the magic. Then I read Pulp by Bukowski and it helps me fly again. That is the power of having a muse.
Oh my god, YES. I thought I was the only one. I've been told so many times that using a hyphen as a sentence break should be a rare occurrence, once a paragraph at most but I'm just constantly writing hyphens. I would always have to go back, and rewrite the same sentence over and over again trying to get it right--but things go much faster with hyphens for me, and then I just remove them later.
When I began the first draft of my debut novel a couple months ago, I told myself to just let it be bad; I wasn't gonna be able to get all my research into all at once (which I'm still doing), and it's all gonna be revised anyway. All in all, I'm just glad to have a pile of pages stacking up on my desk. Can't wait to have it done, but I'm enjoying the process.
Here I was thinking I was just a really bad writer/drafter (I'm currently writing my first novel). It's so encouraging to know that what I'm doing is ok. Thanks for the confidence boost and extra tips!
I normally write my book within a month. And write anywhere between 1-3k a day as my "goal count." Sometimes write 5k a day. Or have 10k days. But as an online college student with no part-time or full-time makes it easier for me to reach these goals. I am also a pantser so I never plot unless I am writing fantasy or a novella. But with all that being said, this was still helpful. I write "one to three sentences for each chapter as well. " I work in 10-25 minute sprints and use tea and candles to set the writer mood. This was a cool video!
@@sleepyllama9776 normally it's an all day thing. It can happen anywhere in the book and it takes a lot of focus most of the time. Think about the days you are most excited to write, and try your hardest not to let the feeling go. Also during my 10k days I like to take a half an hour break every 1k to stretch, talk over the next few scenes, (I use a voice recorder, or speak with a friend) and refill my tea if I need to. Then put on music and grind out the words. Hope you find success. Have a glorious day ☺️
Me going into this video: "this doesn't apply to me, but I guess I'll watch it anyway." Me at everything you said: "it me, it me!" Turns out I write zero drafts! Who knew?
I'm a hybrid of an outliner and a discovery writer. In the beginning, I'll outline a chapter. Then as I write, if something interesting sparks, I'll jot it down somewhere, hoping it'll build an interesting trait that I never knew my character had-- sort of like letting out a breath that I didn't know I was holding ... except, I'm not sure how I would feel if I typed that last statement in my manuscript. Anyway, writing sprints can be awesome! It's amazing how much I can get done in a short amount of time. It really doesn't take a lot of effort. In fact, sometimes, I'll just turn off my brain and slap words down, hoping that it'll make sense. If it doesn't make sense, I'm sure I'll remove it or edit in a way so that it does make sense.
Dirty drafting is my favourite part of the process, I think of it as if I’m producing thumbnail sketches when I’m planning a painting, lots of messy ideas, tons of crossings out, but in the end I have a complete idea of the image I am trying to present to the world.
Omg this is so helpful. I honestly learn more from your videos than I do in English class😂 I’m currently working on a YA fantasy novel and so far only around 13,000 words into it. Wish me luck fellow writers!!!😇😁
@@cadencev5572 It went...decent. I have a habit of writing something pretty long and then hating it when I reread. I think I’m around 20-25,000 on it now, but haven’t worked on it in a bit.😂👍🏻
Yes, I call it a 0th draft or a bare-bones draft. I just write the components of the scene with little detail and description. Like an overly verbose outline with some dialog. Just get it on the page and then go back and rearrange and flesh out the story.
This tip is going to save me so much heartache when I finish my manuscripts. I keep forgetting that knowledge is cross-disciplinary. This is JUST like a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in tech, where you use 5% of the resources to test if something is worth creating in your ideal form.
What I typically do, Is, even though my writing may end up in third person omniscient in the end, my "zero draft" (Where I just jot down notes of what I want, finding my 'voice' so to speak and finding heads and tails on life, the "what's the meaning of life" kind-of-moment as far as the story goes), is in first person where I kind of place myself in the shoes of my main character and try to figure out what the situation is even all about. Is it even an idea that is viable? Once that is out of the way and out of my head and I have a sort of understanding of what the heck I'm trying to do, then I start to tell the story in my first comprehensive draft. Why do I start by telling? Because it's concise, it's to the point. It's a matter of breaking "storytelling" up into smaller tasks. Lord knows my zero draft is anything at all but comprehensive and most people would shiver in fear if they saw it! I am a programmer and software developer by trade, and focusing on what "you know" is so ingrained in me. Focusing on what you know, getting that out of the way, and then developing things as you move along. Focusing on EVERYTHING all at once is simply the road to complete failure in my world. I've loooong ago learned that it's impossible to. For me, writing is like a mosaic... there are the really big headlines, the characters, places, key events, and writing for me is about gluing all those pieces, those mini stories, together so that it actually makes a whole and larger picture that carries a complete meaning other than just being scattered ideas.
This is somehow exactly how I feel about writing, with the difference being that I‘m still trying to figure out the process. The fastest draft I‘ve ever written was in first person, so I will absolutely try it just for the purpose of drafting now. Thank you!
I love sprint writing. Sometimes I’ll just sit on my bed and type super duper fast and later just look at it and laugh, but I find things I love within it, ideas and strings that can lead to major twists in the book. It’s super satisfying and relaxing!
I was feeling guilty about dirty drafting until you first mentioned it in another one of your videos. Within days of realizing a 'dirty draft' was alright, thanks to your video, I finished writing it through to the end.
Most recently, I have done a detailed outline, a deep character sketch for each main character and an "available names" list for side characters. I did a family tree for my main characters so that I could understand generational history. This helped me with what I think of as place history too. For this project I drew a map of the neighborhood and city where the story is taking place. All this prep took six weeks. After that, I wrote like I was possessed, coming in at about 90,000 words in a month-then I walked away and didn't look at any of it for six months. I'm revising now. The distance helped tremendously. Given that I do so much preparation, I don't think of myself as writing a book in a month so no unicorn here.
It helps me sometimes when im stuck to actively write badly, then go back and edit it to be better. I think it actually strengthens my writing because i end up writing directly what I'm thinking, and then more of the emotion gets through. Eg: Step 1: Whoever the hell Banksy is, i wish they'd stop painting stuff on my street. Idiot tourists clog up the sidewalk and make me late for my stupid job. Step 2: (I literally copy and paste step one and go through and change it.) Whoever the hell Banksy is, it would be nice of them to paint some walls on a different street for a change. Every morning, I have to fight my way through crowds of sneakers-and-cargo-shorts tourists who make me late for my stupid job. I always discover words or turns of phrase that i would not have otherwise liked or thought to include, and it has made my writing much stronger.
I’m such a slooooooow zero drafter😅 I cant believe you get yours done in 3 months! Here I am 8 months later still working the same draft (I’m not writing everyday though) I’m going to try some of these tips and see if I can cut my time down!
Try 10 years! 😂 This year though I've decided the idea needs to get out of my head and onto paper. If it's stuck with me this long then it deserves a chance! Good luck on your journey!
Omg this is so helpful. I honestly learn more from your videos than I do in English class😂 I’m currently working on a YA fantasy novel and so far only around 13,000 words into it. Wish me luck fellow writers!!!😇😁
For NaNoWriMo last year, I decided to write one million words in the month (not my wisest idea), and functionally I vomited words on the page and then a story happened. For me, Zero Drafting is the tangible experience of the story where I'm there as a stenographer to my ideas and the world, and then subsequent drafts are when the craft gets involved. I did hit the million words, and since, writing fast and dirty drafts of stories has gotten significantly easier, cause I'm writing a normal volume. I also recommend a freewrite, alphasmart, or any dedicated digital typewriter for anyone who gets distracted by their computers. It's how I write the instinctual draft. Great video, as usual.
@@ferrin6326 Willpower, patience, a willingness for spelling errors and total freedom to write whatever came to mind. I also planned my days around 33k word goals. I had been writing 4k-12k a day for months prior because I was zero drafting a series I started a decade ago (I finished it on January 10th this year at 2.4 million words). I also had days where I exceeded the goal (at a max of 73k), and some where I was way below (
Can I just say that word sprints (13:00) have revolutionized my writing? It has been the single most helpful way I've found to get actual progress. Great video!
@@HolziWolziWooo I really like 30 min, because I feel like I can get in a groove. Recently I've been sprinting solo, but that is getting harder so I need to get back into a group.
The whole concept of dirty drafting is new to me... I used to show my chapters to my little sister (she writes exceptional fanfics) as I wrote them but it kinda stuck me on writing, because I couldn't dirty draft... Really thank you for the video, I didn't even heard about the concept of zero draft and writing sprints before see it xD
Thanks Alexa! I now realise that I've been zero drafting and this makes so much sense! I had "told myself the story" but then went back to write it in a different way (different POV/tense etc). I'm going forward now feeling much more confident that I didn't make a "mistake" with that zero draft, but that it was simply my process. I'm likely to fast draft a zero draft with my current WIP too - it's just how I get it all down! Thanks again for a great video!
Do you ever take requests? If you do, could you please give us a tour of what type of books you read, that’s on your bookcase? I mainly ask because I am always curious as to the books I can not see.
I am such a dirty drafter!! LOL I did not realize this until I had my first draft printed and handed to my closest writing friend. It has sooo many holes in it but I have particular scenes in my head. Those scenes are why I'm so motivated to write. When I see those on the page it inspires me to write more so that other can fully feel the emotions of those scenes like I do. Thanks for posting about the writing process!
I can draft a book in 4 weeks but it takes 6 months + to do all the revising and then editing. I'm slow at revising and that's the part that scares me. How do I write the draft in a month? Once I get an idea, I'll write a narrative account of what happens. It's typically 8-12 pages long. All telling with the odd line of dialogue that seems to fit. Then I leave the idea alone for months and work on something completely different. When I come back to the idea, I'll break it up into chapters, mark off stuff from John Truby's book "The 22 Steps of Storytelling" to make sure the importnat stuff is there. I'll go through the major character(s) and sort out who they are and what their conflicts are. Then, while the iron is hot and my enthusiasm is high, I strike and tackle the damn thing, with my printed summary taped over my desk. Then comes the revision. Yeah, this is where I suck big time. I've followed Susan Dennard's process and it has been immensely helpful, but despite all the above, I still find my 1st draft to be messy and in need of much revising. I figured my brain is just super chaotic. Finding videos like this and others really help because I walk away thinking, "I may have a messy process, but it's okay. I'm not alone."
I love your videos! I always feel like I've learned something by the end and can apply it to what I'm doing! Keep it up! No one teaches, explains, or clears writing confusion like you do!
I write most of my books in about 1 month to 1½ months, and 2 things changed the game for me: 1: rewarding myself with star stickers every 500 words 2: outlining like my life depends on it I'm a very reward-oriented person. I want to be rewarded for my accomplishments no matter how small they are, and writing a whole book can take a long time which means it'll take a long time for me to get a reward. But 500 words? On a good day where I'm really in the flow, I can dish out 500 words in 15 minutes. Maybe I actually wrote 600 words, that means I only have 400 words until the next star! and BOOM! suddenly I have written 5-7000 words in a day. Outlining I do to save myself from getting stuck during the drafting stage. There are still some gaps in my outline, but nothing major. I used to hate outlining, but I realised that I hate getting stuck more and now, honestly, outlining is one of my favourite parts of the process.
I consider a Zero Draft as this nebulous entity existing somewhere between solid [Outline] versus completed [First Draft]. So for me the process is like this: Idea Vomit Loose Plot Solid Outline Zero Draft First Draft *** Edited to add that my crutch words are "literally" and "totally" and "entirely" and HOLY WOW do I annoy myself LOLOL
How did you know I needed this right now!? I wrote 5k words in about 3 hours yesterday and I'm excited to keep that going since I've been putting this off for 5 years. Edit: Lol that didn't last. Here I am yet again.
My advice is write awkward and fun first drafts. Get the story out in its most creative form, and this is usually found on a sentence by sentence format, a certain creativity plotting may struggle to materialise. Once you have the dirty first draft rewrite the entre thing, sentence by sentence. Now you are plotting a novel, or writing to a plot, because you are rewriting your first draft without the bad stuff and filling it with good stuff. Then what? Rewrite the entire thing again a third time. No need to refer to notes or stick to a plan, no need to feel nervous; you know this story by now. Once you finish this, contemplate if it is ready for line editing. If so, proceed. If not, do a forth draft. Once a draft has been completed that conveys your original idea and as been boosted by subsequent drafting, proceed with line edit. What does that involve? Rewrite each sentence of your story, sentence by sentence, so that each sentence is absolutely beautiful. Rule: rewrite each sentence once only or you'll forever be thinking you can do better. Do better in other books. Get this book done. Once you have rewritten each sentence, edit it for grammar, syntax, spelling ect, but cut cut cut at this stage. Rewriting each sentence prob caused word count to rise, but now you will lower it again. Done? Proced with copy edit. Done? Popceed with manuscript assessmebt, sit back, and wait to be torn apart. That's horrible, you say. That's beauty, I say. Thanks for vid 😉
I used to rely a lot on my friends approval to whom I sent my first chapters and then I would spend months ignoring the story and not writing anything. Even if they liked it I just neglected the story. I think this bad habit, at least for me, comes from writing fanfiction and getting attention and validation from readers right away. Fortunately I've been able to stop doing this, mostly because one of your advice. As an aspiring author, no one cares about your book as much as you do. You may be really happy that you achieved a certain goal and you can share with someone and they don't care. I used to get really sad because no one got happy with me. But I just embraced it and I'm now halfway through my first draft. Thank you so much for your honesty and good advice and sorry for any English mistakes, I'm a not a native speaker.
Great video! It's so true that sometimes you just need to use those crutches and get the words on the page. My zero draft was a lean 30K, and now I've doubled that.
I don't rely on my alpha-reader, but if I know we will meet to read the story furtherm it always gives me an extra push. ^_^ And I need to write it all out wordy - if I try to reduce it while draftingI don't write anything at all, LOL! I've come to see it as first creating the abundance from which I can later pick the best. ;-)
I like the idea of jumping around between the most emotionally and visually compelling or consistently recurring imagery or scenes first and then connecting them up with logical minimal transitions. I fear it will turn out very "slide show" in draft 0 especially and maybe also even draft 1 (if I get there). I will go for the sufficient description and anti-passive language edits as part of draft1. I plan to use the excuse of "illustrating" when I hit writer's block ... Or who knows, maybe I will be too stressed out with the tumultuous times and resort to self-soothing gaming ...
Wow! Okay, I have been hitting that 80-90% wall and abandoning the work because I guess I was convinced that I had to write the entire first draft, do or die, and if I didn't the story wasn't going to work. This is a game-changer for me. Whole frame of reference for this just flipped. Thank you!
Zero drafting is my specialty! I'm hoping to get my story developed eventually. I kinda suffer from overwhelm if i try to take on too much at once. Hopefully i'll figure it out somehow! Have a great day!
Do you have any tips for revising a zero draft? I have a NaNoWriMo project that fits more into the zero draft category than the first draft category but I have no idea how to approach revising it.
My struggle is always against my inner editor when trying to draft fast. The best way I combat her is to either write wordsprints on my AlphaSmart neo in "timed typing" mode, which prevents the use of the backspace, or on my computer in either Wingdings/Webdings font or plain white. The objective, of course, is not to see what I'm typing so I resist the urge to correct it.
A lot of the people have also shared that they do word sprints, which are essentially writing as much as you can in a specified timeframe. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm thinking it might be a good idea!
I'm zero drafting my first novel. I am literally putting a string of scenes together so that I can show it to my CP/alpha readers to help me find the story and write more well rounded characters. Then, I'll do the rewrite for my rough draft and really get down to business.
I was skeptical of the zero draft idea, but then realized I go back to chapters and rework and rework without any forward momentum. I decided to just give the zero draft thing a go, and it’s been amazing. I am a zero drafter and I really recommend it!
I discovered something about this on accident. When I started, it would take me 1-2 hours to get 200 words down. Then I took my laptop to work and sometimes would have just a half hour or so and get down a lot more words. I started setting a timer on my phone in 30 minute increments even when I had more time, then one hour increments. . I went from spending 6 hours or so of my Saturday writing to get 500-700 total words on a *good* day to getting about 1000 in an hour, sometimes for multiple hours. I'm in the middle between pantser and plotter, I'll have like a paragraph of notes on chapters in something resembling an outline, then I deviate from it a lot. External pressure helps A LOT for me.
I was learning how to plot adn realised that I plot pretty badly since I can't stick to the plan. But it turns out that I am a natural zero drafter...that was fun to discover. That helped me feel like less of an imposter and I got my zero draft completed! whoohoo! On to self edits!
I hate writing sprints. I need thinking time to visualize my scene before I write it. I find I start with stronger verb choices if I avoid sprints just to get word counts.
Well, sounds like an outlining of some sort. It surely took me a lot of time to write my current (studies, and let's be real, I don't have any commitment to publish anything), and sorry to tell... there was no zero drafting. It was most discovery writing as it can be: I had no damn idea where I'm going, changed the ending (and what leads to it) more than 3 times... And I had (not the best) ending. I didn't change much of it after two edits (no beta readers). Does it mean I'm another kind of unicorn (not having any first draft)? Now I thought of an idea and started working on the most abstract first draft. Let's say me and proper planning don't get along :(
I have done both discovery writing and outlining before. I find that 10% discovery writing and 90% outlining works for me: get most of the heavy lifting done first but allowing myself room to input something that comes to mind that works for a scene. I'm attempting to be a zero drafter but honestly, I'm a 0.5 drafter because I have a tendency to condense multiple steps into one lol, which makes writing h a r d for me. The one true tip I have for anyone zero drafting is to write down everything. This can be ideas for the story or the worldbuilding, plot points, character traits, wants and needs, the actual story etc. It's better to get it all out before you forget and so you can maintain momentum.
If you’re going to do a zero draft you might as well just write a super-outline with bullet points of every action and piece of dialogue in the scene. Without having to write elaborate descriptions and flowy sentences, you can just flesh the idea out in order (and fix plot holes/make the structure cohesive)
I blew through a couple of stories no problem, but the one that I am doing now, has slowed me down quite a bit. Not because of the block, but because I don't like this one much. I am close to the end, but I need to be careful anyway.
Thank you for this video! I've been interested in fast drafting for awhile now but wasn't sure where to start. It's hard not to be page perfect writer. This really helped me realize how beneficial a "dirty" draft can be. I feel liberated!!!! 💜💜💜
This has been invaluable to me this month. I'm writing my first ever first draft, and as a perfectionist with an anxiety problem, I quickly learned that I had to jus let go of it being any good on the first go, or I would never finish. So I know that everything I have right now - even if the plot elements are decent - the prose is just terrible, but I needed to have it down first or I would obsess. Thank you so much Alexa!
thank you for this!! it turns out I've written a zero draft!! I'm very proud of what I've done but I've been frustrated that I can't write the ending because of my "list of things I want to fix" from the beginning; I have a more specific title, theme, arc(s) than I did when I started but was beating myself up for not being able to "finish" this encourages me that I don't have to, I can go back and rewrite with more intention, and reach the end next time!! :)
Hello, when Fast Forward Drafting, should I include character dialogue? And, if so, then I should or should I not concern myself with the exact dialogue words and only focus on what the conversation suppose to cover.
Hello! When fast forward drafting, you don't really need to worry about specifics unless you get a flash of dialogue that you just HAVE to write down before you forget. You can also put stuff in brackets like so: [She storms out of the room after a final cutting line.] or leave a note to yourself or something. You can include character dialogue if you know what it will cover, but don't concern yourself with exact dialogue words or tags. The main thing is to not lose your momentum and just keep going; don't stress out over specifics if they don't occur to you at the moment! The purpose of fast-forward drafting is to help you breeze through the overarching story and allow you to put everything in your brain down on paper. Hope this helped; good luck!
Malin Leventea, you provided a thorough description of the process, far beyond what I expected and exactly what I need to accelerate to the finish. My motivation and enthusiasm have sparked. I will hold a signed copy for you. Stay Safe. Kind Regards.
I have a very scant outline. I know the major beats and that's it. And I have a good idea of the main characters; the secondary characters pop into the picture as needed. Tho' sometimes those secondary characters have a life of their own and turn into attention hogs...
That’s true for me too. I plan my main characters and story line then figure out my secondary characters as I go along and find that I love them so much.
I'm not a fast drafter but I did take the fast draft workshop for Candace Havens earlier this year and it improved my momentum significantly. Aside from that, I'm a pantser, but I use vague scene checklists, placeholders (heaven sent), an accountability partner, comic sans hack, writing scenes by hand when I get stuck (then typing/editing it) and writing sprints. 20-min comic sans writing sprints are *chefs kiss*
The zero draft is perfect for work. I pull up a word document and in between tasks at my job I can type out conversations and very basic details of a scene--then go home and layer on style and clean up.
Hi Alexa! In one of your videos (maybe Draft Zero) you briefly mentioned having to scrap you first manuscript to quickly write another story. I am currently in the query trenches and would love to hear more about that time in your life when you had to question that first manuscript. Have you posted a video about this already? If so could you please send me the link? Thanks a bunch!
I zero draft often. I consider it like outlining I. Draft form. There are times when I write the same scene from several points of view just to get a feel for it, or I take time to just interview a character to figure out motivation or how a particular event changed them. I never figure out my ending until second draft.
I made a video on zero drafts...but your definition is a little different than mine, but That is what is amazing about writers...we are all different! We all have different steps and drafting processes. Great video.
I just completed my first fast draft over camp nano last month. I did most of these things just to get it done. I found that writing third person and telling myself the story was the only way to get it all out. I also gave myself Saturdays off from writing. I had only planned on writing 20k, and ended up with a finished fast draft at 50k. I am taking this week and next week off to recharge before I go in and write the nice draft.
The same time every day thing doesn't work for me well as I dont have a consistant schedule. Instead I do 8-10 10 minute sprints each weekday and then go through and edit/add or just write more on weekends
Alexa, if you don't mind me asking............ how long were you out on sub for each of your books? Especially the IVIES? I've been on sub for a year and I don't think it's supposed to take this LONG!!!
7 months in 2016/2017 with revision between round one and two for Brightly Burning. Approximately 4 weeks for The Ivies to interest, 5 to an offer, in 2019. The Ivies went usually fast but it was hyper commercial. I have friends who have gone on sub w/ thrillers who were out for nearly a year before selling, multiple rounds. Generally I've heard sub takes longer now. That said... a year is a long time, but not "you will never sell" long--some books take over a year to sell. However, if you're feeling unsure, talk to your agent. If you have a new book, it might be worth putting new material on submission in case it's the market.
Alexa Donne thanks Alexa 🙂 It’s insanely hard out there...... I think with covid things are slower than usual too. It’s just a bad time for everyone...it’s how my luck always is lol
These concepts are interesting. I completely understand. My first time participating in Nanowrimo, I believe I produced a zero draft. That thing is a mess, and I'm still trying to figure it out.😆 Thanks.
My word sprints are all through 4thewords its changed how I write and my productivity overall I even love it shows me how many words I need daily to hit my year end goal. I'll fast draft before I start which is close to those couple of sentences per chapter i was surprised to see someone else uses that method. But now I'm going to try save the cat!
My zero draft is usually just a chapter outline that summarizes each chapter in 1-3 lines. My first drafts are usually really clean and ready for beta readers.
@@maverikfamily I combine all beta feedback and list them in order of "most commented on" to "reader preference" then look closely at whatever most said was a problem area. I will look at reader preferences but don't always make a lot of changes. My outline keeps plot holes to a minimum and most comments are on finer details.
So I got seriously stuck trying to figure out how to get my characters to the ending after I ended the second act, so I "zero drafted" the ending of my "first draft". Now, after the fact, I finally figured out how to fix the ending and now as I go through my draft I can properly adjust spots I left for foreshadowing.
Can I just say thank you. your channel has been the best help with your tips and tricks and how you explain important topics about writing just clicked with me.❤ I'm forever grateful for the advice I never known I needed 😅
First part of the video is defining zero drafts, and then fast drafting section is: 05:26 Why you might want to fast draft 07:33 Fast drafting tips
This video was very helpful for useful tips! Just great content!
So does messy story notes count as Zero drafts?
I did a quick write yesterday just to see if a new idea I have has enough steam (I can usually tell by how many words I can get in a single scene before I run out of juice and how hard I had to work that scene to get there), and OML... The idea is great; the scene, however, makes my head hurt, and normally I'd get stuck for weeks trying to fix the white room syndrome, the context issues, the places where there are info dumps or not enough information, etc, until I burn myself out before I've even gotten started yet, but then I found this video and it's like it gave me permission to write however horribly I need to in order to get the story on the page - it's not like that first draft is going straight from the computer to the publisher, nobody but you is going to see it, so why should it matter? Perfectionism is for later, when you plan for other people to see the pages. Thank you so, so much for this freedom. I've been so obsessed with listening to my inner editor recently that, over the years, I forgot what my inner writer even sounded like, and I feel so much better.
I write short stories for fun. Sometimes my zero draft is brilliant, and I can't refine it without losing the magic. Then I read Pulp by Bukowski and it helps me fly again. That is the power of having a muse.
I just tell myself "use as many hyphens as you want" and the rest comes naturally... Very badly, but quickly!
Oh my god, YES. I thought I was the only one. I've been told so many times that using a hyphen as a sentence break should be a rare occurrence, once a paragraph at most but I'm just constantly writing hyphens. I would always have to go back, and rewrite the same sentence over and over again trying to get it right--but things go much faster with hyphens for me, and then I just remove them later.
When I began the first draft of my debut novel a couple months ago, I told myself to just let it be bad; I wasn't gonna be able to get all my research into all at once (which I'm still doing), and it's all gonna be revised anyway. All in all, I'm just glad to have a pile of pages stacking up on my desk. Can't wait to have it done, but I'm enjoying the process.
Here I was thinking I was just a really bad writer/drafter (I'm currently writing my first novel). It's so encouraging to know that what I'm doing is ok. Thanks for the confidence boost and extra tips!
I normally write my book within a month. And write anywhere between 1-3k a day as my "goal count." Sometimes write 5k a day. Or have 10k days. But as an online college student with no part-time or full-time makes it easier for me to reach these goals. I am also a pantser so I never plot unless I am writing fantasy or a novella. But with all that being said, this was still helpful. I write "one to three sentences for each chapter as well. " I work in 10-25 minute sprints and use tea and candles to set the writer mood. This was a cool video!
Wow 10k days?! How do you manage that?! Awesome
@@sleepyllama9776 normally it's an all day thing. It can happen anywhere in the book and it takes a lot of focus most of the time. Think about the days you are most excited to write, and try your hardest not to let the feeling go. Also during my 10k days I like to take a half an hour break every 1k to stretch, talk over the next few scenes, (I use a voice recorder, or speak with a friend) and refill my tea if I need to. Then put on music and grind out the words. Hope you find success. Have a glorious day ☺️
Me going into this video: "this doesn't apply to me, but I guess I'll watch it anyway."
Me at everything you said: "it me, it me!"
Turns out I write zero drafts! Who knew?
I'm a hybrid of an outliner and a discovery writer. In the beginning, I'll outline a chapter. Then as I write, if something interesting sparks, I'll jot it down somewhere, hoping it'll build an interesting trait that I never knew my character had-- sort of like letting out a breath that I didn't know I was holding ... except, I'm not sure how I would feel if I typed that last statement in my manuscript.
Anyway, writing sprints can be awesome! It's amazing how much I can get done in a short amount of time. It really doesn't take a lot of effort. In fact, sometimes, I'll just turn off my brain and slap words down, hoping that it'll make sense. If it doesn't make sense, I'm sure I'll remove it or edit in a way so that it does make sense.
Same, that's exactly how i write. I'm currently writing my first draft ❤❤
Dirty drafting is my favourite part of the process, I think of it as if I’m producing thumbnail sketches when I’m planning a painting, lots of messy ideas, tons of crossings out, but in the end I have a complete idea of the image I am trying to present to the world.
Omg this is so helpful. I honestly learn more from your videos than I do in English class😂 I’m currently working on a YA fantasy novel and so far only around 13,000 words into it. Wish me luck fellow writers!!!😇😁
how did it go? did u finish
@@cadencev5572 It went...decent. I have a habit of writing something pretty long and then hating it when I reread. I think I’m around 20-25,000 on it now, but haven’t worked on it in a bit.😂👍🏻
Yes, I call it a 0th draft or a bare-bones draft. I just write the components of the scene with little detail and description. Like an overly verbose outline with some dialog. Just get it on the page and then go back and rearrange and flesh out the story.
That actually sounds so helpful, I might try that!
This tip is going to save me so much heartache when I finish my manuscripts. I keep forgetting that knowledge is cross-disciplinary. This is JUST like a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in tech, where you use 5% of the resources to test if something is worth creating in your ideal form.
What I typically do, Is, even though my writing may end up in third person omniscient in the end, my "zero draft" (Where I just jot down notes of what I want, finding my 'voice' so to speak and finding heads and tails on life, the "what's the meaning of life" kind-of-moment as far as the story goes), is in first person where I kind of place myself in the shoes of my main character and try to figure out what the situation is even all about. Is it even an idea that is viable? Once that is out of the way and out of my head and I have a sort of understanding of what the heck I'm trying to do, then I start to tell the story in my first comprehensive draft. Why do I start by telling? Because it's concise, it's to the point. It's a matter of breaking "storytelling" up into smaller tasks. Lord knows my zero draft is anything at all but comprehensive and most people would shiver in fear if they saw it!
I am a programmer and software developer by trade, and focusing on what "you know" is so ingrained in me. Focusing on what you know, getting that out of the way, and then developing things as you move along. Focusing on EVERYTHING all at once is simply the road to complete failure in my world. I've loooong ago learned that it's impossible to.
For me, writing is like a mosaic... there are the really big headlines, the characters, places, key events, and writing for me is about gluing all those pieces, those mini stories, together so that it actually makes a whole and larger picture that carries a complete meaning other than just being scattered ideas.
This is somehow exactly how I feel about writing, with the difference being that I‘m still trying to figure out the process. The fastest draft I‘ve ever written was in first person, so I will absolutely try it just for the purpose of drafting now. Thank you!
I love sprint writing. Sometimes I’ll just sit on my bed and type super duper fast and later just look at it and laugh, but I find things I love within it, ideas and strings that can lead to major twists in the book. It’s super satisfying and relaxing!
I was feeling guilty about dirty drafting until you first mentioned it in another one of your videos.
Within days of realizing a 'dirty draft' was alright, thanks to your video, I finished writing it through to the end.
This comment is a dirty draft
There's nothing wrong with drity drafting. Whatever it takes to get the framework onto the page, do it, just remember to edit later.
Most recently, I have done a detailed outline, a deep character sketch for each main character and an "available names" list for side characters. I did a family tree for my main characters so that I could understand generational history. This helped me with what I think of as place history too. For this project I drew a map of the neighborhood and city where the story is taking place. All this prep took six weeks. After that, I wrote like I was possessed, coming in at about 90,000 words in a month-then I walked away and didn't look at any of it for six months. I'm revising now. The distance helped tremendously. Given that I do so much preparation, I don't think of myself as writing a book in a month so no unicorn here.
Hey! That's utterly relatable. I m right now involved in the process of outlining. I am pretty much doing same stuff 👍
@@saadsiraj3554 90000 a month? Good lord. I thought 40000 a month was big deal
@@skywa7183 I know it's a big deal, I was talking about the way he/she does the character and plot creation.
@@saadsiraj3554 shoot I was replying to the original comment.😅
It helps me sometimes when im stuck to actively write badly, then go back and edit it to be better. I think it actually strengthens my writing because i end up writing directly what I'm thinking, and then more of the emotion gets through.
Eg:
Step 1: Whoever the hell Banksy is, i wish they'd stop painting stuff on my street. Idiot tourists clog up the sidewalk and make me late for my stupid job.
Step 2: (I literally copy and paste step one and go through and change it.) Whoever the hell Banksy is, it would be nice of them to paint some walls on a different street for a change. Every morning, I have to fight my way through crowds of sneakers-and-cargo-shorts tourists who make me late for my stupid job.
I always discover words or turns of phrase that i would not have otherwise liked or thought to include, and it has made my writing much stronger.
I actually like the "bad" example better! It sounds more natural to me and it really sounds like how an annoyed person would describe the situation.
I’m such a slooooooow zero drafter😅 I cant believe you get yours done in 3 months! Here I am 8 months later still working the same draft (I’m not writing everyday though) I’m going to try some of these tips and see if I can cut my time down!
Try 10 years! 😂 This year though I've decided the idea needs to get out of my head and onto paper. If it's stuck with me this long then it deserves a chance! Good luck on your journey!
oh gosh! That moment when you realize your 5th draft is still technically a zero draft :P
Expanding the outline as much as I can. Messy, needs a lot of work, but most of the ideas are down on paper (procesor). That is a 0 draft for me.
Omg this is so helpful. I honestly learn more from your videos than I do in English class😂 I’m currently working on a YA fantasy novel and so far only around 13,000 words into it. Wish me luck fellow writers!!!😇😁
For NaNoWriMo last year, I decided to write one million words in the month (not my wisest idea), and functionally I vomited words on the page and then a story happened. For me, Zero Drafting is the tangible experience of the story where I'm there as a stenographer to my ideas and the world, and then subsequent drafts are when the craft gets involved.
I did hit the million words, and since, writing fast and dirty drafts of stories has gotten significantly easier, cause I'm writing a normal volume.
I also recommend a freewrite, alphasmart, or any dedicated digital typewriter for anyone who gets distracted by their computers. It's how I write the instinctual draft.
Great video, as usual.
_How._ How did you do that?
@@ferrin6326 Willpower, patience, a willingness for spelling errors and total freedom to write whatever came to mind. I also planned my days around 33k word goals. I had been writing 4k-12k a day for months prior because I was zero drafting a series I started a decade ago (I finished it on January 10th this year at 2.4 million words). I also had days where I exceeded the goal (at a max of 73k), and some where I was way below (
@@Nemo37K wow. I am surprised your brain is still forming sentences. Did you take a lot of naps after all of that?
@@kaylajames9334 Lots of naps, and a week long break afterward. My brain, mercifully still functions.
@@Nemo37K lol. Glad you have survived.
Can I just say that word sprints (13:00) have revolutionized my writing? It has been the single most helpful way I've found to get actual progress.
Great video!
Same here :)
@@HolziWolziWooo Do you sprint with a group or just solo?
@@SethRingWrites With a writing buddy, sometimes solo. Usually go for 15 mins at a time. You?
@@HolziWolziWooo I really like 30 min, because I feel like I can get in a groove.
Recently I've been sprinting solo, but that is getting harder so I need to get back into a group.
Never heard of it before Natnowrimo a few years ago. It's amazingly helpful.
I love you so much, this is what I needed the most right now.
The whole concept of dirty drafting is new to me... I used to show my chapters to my little sister (she writes exceptional fanfics) as I wrote them but it kinda stuck me on writing, because I couldn't dirty draft... Really thank you for the video, I didn't even heard about the concept of zero draft and writing sprints before see it xD
Thanks Alexa! I now realise that I've been zero drafting and this makes so much sense! I had "told myself the story" but then went back to write it in a different way (different POV/tense etc). I'm going forward now feeling much more confident that I didn't make a "mistake" with that zero draft, but that it was simply my process. I'm likely to fast draft a zero draft with my current WIP too - it's just how I get it all down! Thanks again for a great video!
Dirty drafting? Hmm...filter words, adjectives, crutch words, info dump, jumbled tenses - let’s go!
I'm a zero drafter because I'm an underwriter. There is so much less story the first iteration that it always feels unfair to call it a first draft.
Alexa, you are just churning video after video out right now and I am living for it 👌
Do you ever take requests? If you do, could you please give us a tour of what type of books you read, that’s on your bookcase? I mainly ask because I am always curious as to the books I can not see.
I am such a dirty drafter!! LOL I did not realize this until I had my first draft printed and handed to my closest writing friend. It has sooo many holes in it but I have particular scenes in my head. Those scenes are why I'm so motivated to write. When I see those on the page it inspires me to write more so that other can fully feel the emotions of those scenes like I do. Thanks for posting about the writing process!
I can draft a book in 4 weeks but it takes 6 months + to do all the revising and then editing. I'm slow at revising and that's the part that scares me.
How do I write the draft in a month? Once I get an idea, I'll write a narrative account of what happens. It's typically 8-12 pages long. All telling with the odd line of dialogue that seems to fit. Then I leave the idea alone for months and work on something completely different. When I come back to the idea, I'll break it up into chapters, mark off stuff from John Truby's book "The 22 Steps of Storytelling" to make sure the importnat stuff is there. I'll go through the major character(s) and sort out who they are and what their conflicts are. Then, while the iron is hot and my enthusiasm is high, I strike and tackle the damn thing, with my printed summary taped over my desk.
Then comes the revision. Yeah, this is where I suck big time. I've followed Susan Dennard's process and it has been immensely helpful, but despite all the above, I still find my 1st draft to be messy and in need of much revising. I figured my brain is just super chaotic. Finding videos like this and others really help because I walk away thinking, "I may have a messy process, but it's okay. I'm not alone."
"use the word 'just' 150 times" I actually laughed out loud because of how called out I feel hahaha
I love your videos! I always feel like I've learned something by the end and can apply it to what I'm doing! Keep it up! No one teaches, explains, or clears writing confusion like you do!
I write most of my books in about 1 month to 1½ months, and 2 things changed the game for me:
1: rewarding myself with star stickers every 500 words
2: outlining like my life depends on it
I'm a very reward-oriented person. I want to be rewarded for my accomplishments no matter how small they are, and writing a whole book can take a long time which means it'll take a long time for me to get a reward. But 500 words? On a good day where I'm really in the flow, I can dish out 500 words in 15 minutes. Maybe I actually wrote 600 words, that means I only have 400 words until the next star! and BOOM! suddenly I have written 5-7000 words in a day.
Outlining I do to save myself from getting stuck during the drafting stage. There are still some gaps in my outline, but nothing major. I used to hate outlining, but I realised that I hate getting stuck more and now, honestly, outlining is one of my favourite parts of the process.
That star reward thing is super smart. I'm gonna do that!
This gives me more confidence on just writing and worrying later
I consider a Zero Draft as this nebulous entity existing somewhere between solid [Outline] versus completed [First Draft]. So for me the process is like this:
Idea Vomit
Loose Plot
Solid Outline
Zero Draft
First Draft
*** Edited to add that my crutch words are "literally" and "totally" and "entirely" and HOLY WOW do I annoy myself LOLOL
This is very useful on an issue to issue basis, such as a comic/graphic novel!
Thanks, Alexa! 💜
How did you know I needed this right now!? I wrote 5k words in about 3 hours yesterday and I'm excited to keep that going since I've been putting this off for 5 years.
Edit: Lol that didn't last. Here I am yet again.
My advice is write awkward and fun first drafts. Get the story out in its most creative form, and this is usually found on a sentence by sentence format, a certain creativity plotting may struggle to materialise. Once you have the dirty first draft rewrite the entre thing, sentence by sentence. Now you are plotting a novel, or writing to a plot, because you are rewriting your first draft without the bad stuff and filling it with good stuff. Then what? Rewrite the entire thing again a third time. No need to refer to notes or stick to a plan, no need to feel nervous; you know this story by now. Once you finish this, contemplate if it is ready for line editing. If so, proceed. If not, do a forth draft. Once a draft has been completed that conveys your original idea and as been boosted by subsequent drafting, proceed with line edit. What does that involve? Rewrite each sentence of your story, sentence by sentence, so that each sentence is absolutely beautiful. Rule: rewrite each sentence once only or you'll forever be thinking you can do better. Do better in other books. Get this book done. Once you have rewritten each sentence, edit it for grammar, syntax, spelling ect, but cut cut cut at this stage. Rewriting each sentence prob caused word count to rise, but now you will lower it again. Done? Proced with copy edit. Done? Popceed with manuscript assessmebt, sit back, and wait to be torn apart. That's horrible, you say. That's beauty, I say. Thanks for vid 😉
I used to rely a lot on my friends approval to whom I sent my first chapters and then I would spend months ignoring the story and not writing anything. Even if they liked it I just neglected the story. I think this bad habit, at least for me, comes from writing fanfiction and getting attention and validation from readers right away. Fortunately I've been able to stop doing this, mostly because one of your advice. As an aspiring author, no one cares about your book as much as you do. You may be really happy that you achieved a certain goal and you can share with someone and they don't care. I used to get really sad because no one got happy with me. But I just embraced it and I'm now halfway through my first draft.
Thank you so much for your honesty and good advice and sorry for any English mistakes, I'm a not a native speaker.
Acountabilabuddy
wow that's a fun word
Great video! It's so true that sometimes you just need to use those crutches and get the words on the page. My zero draft was a lean 30K, and now I've doubled that.
I don't rely on my alpha-reader, but if I know we will meet to read the story furtherm it always gives me an extra push. ^_^ And I need to write it all out wordy - if I try to reduce it while draftingI don't write anything at all, LOL! I've come to see it as first creating the abundance from which I can later pick the best. ;-)
I like the idea of jumping around between the most emotionally and visually compelling or consistently recurring imagery or scenes first and then connecting them up with logical minimal transitions. I fear it will turn out very "slide show" in draft 0 especially and maybe also even draft 1 (if I get there). I will go for the sufficient description and anti-passive language edits as part of draft1. I plan to use the excuse of "illustrating" when I hit writer's block ...
Or who knows, maybe I will be too stressed out with the tumultuous times and resort to self-soothing gaming ...
Wow! Okay, I have been hitting that 80-90% wall and abandoning the work because I guess I was convinced that I had to write the entire first draft, do or die, and if I didn't the story wasn't going to work. This is a game-changer for me. Whole frame of reference for this just flipped. Thank you!
One tip I've heard a lot is to draft at first in Comic Sans. Presumably because you _expect_ something written in Comic Sans to be bad lol.
I love your channel so much!
Do you got a video on publishing your book under a fake name? Like Jelly pup, or something like that? And what can you do with a fake name?
Zero drafting is my specialty! I'm hoping to get my story developed eventually. I kinda suffer from overwhelm if i try to take on too much at once. Hopefully i'll figure it out somehow! Have a great day!
Do you have any tips for revising a zero draft? I have a NaNoWriMo project that fits more into the zero draft category than the first draft category but I have no idea how to approach revising it.
My struggle is always against my inner editor when trying to draft fast. The best way I combat her is to either write wordsprints on my AlphaSmart neo in "timed typing" mode, which prevents the use of the backspace, or on my computer in either Wingdings/Webdings font or plain white. The objective, of course, is not to see what I'm typing so I resist the urge to correct it.
How on Earth do people draft a novel in a month? Can you share the magic?
A lot of the people have also shared that they do word sprints, which are essentially writing as much as you can in a specified timeframe. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm thinking it might be a good idea!
I'm zero drafting my first novel. I am literally putting a string of scenes together so that I can show it to my CP/alpha readers to help me find the story and write more well rounded characters. Then, I'll do the rewrite for my rough draft and really get down to business.
I was skeptical of the zero draft idea, but then realized I go back to chapters and rework and rework without any forward momentum. I decided to just give the zero draft thing a go, and it’s been amazing. I am a zero drafter and I really recommend it!
I discovered something about this on accident. When I started, it would take me 1-2 hours to get 200 words down. Then I took my laptop to work and sometimes would have just a half hour or so and get down a lot more words. I started setting a timer on my phone in 30 minute increments even when I had more time, then one hour increments.
.
I went from spending 6 hours or so of my Saturday writing to get 500-700 total words on a *good* day to getting about 1000 in an hour, sometimes for multiple hours. I'm in the middle between pantser and plotter, I'll have like a paragraph of notes on chapters in something resembling an outline, then I deviate from it a lot. External pressure helps A LOT for me.
This is me. I'll spend like six hours on a Sunday and get maybe 1000 words. 😓 I'm gonna try your idea. 🤔 Thanks for the tip. 👍
@@el4242 Hope it works well for you. :)
I was learning how to plot adn realised that I plot pretty badly since I can't stick to the plan. But it turns out that I am a natural zero drafter...that was fun to discover. That helped me feel like less of an imposter and I got my zero draft completed! whoohoo! On to self edits!
I hate writing sprints. I need thinking time to visualize my scene before I write it. I find I start with stronger verb choices if I avoid sprints just to get word counts.
For me a a Zero draft is outlining until I get a feel for the story and characters and just going from there and then I'll work it into first draft.
Need to submit a book that isn't written yet to a publisher who requested it and currently freaking out so this was much needed!
Well, sounds like an outlining of some sort.
It surely took me a lot of time to write my current (studies, and let's be real, I don't have any commitment to publish anything), and sorry to tell... there was no zero drafting. It was most discovery writing as it can be: I had no damn idea where I'm going, changed the ending (and what leads to it) more than 3 times... And I had (not the best) ending. I didn't change much of it after two edits (no beta readers). Does it mean I'm another kind of unicorn (not having any first draft)?
Now I thought of an idea and started working on the most abstract first draft. Let's say me and proper planning don't get along :(
I have done both discovery writing and outlining before. I find that 10% discovery writing and 90% outlining works for me: get most of the heavy lifting done first but allowing myself room to input something that comes to mind that works for a scene. I'm attempting to be a zero drafter but honestly, I'm a 0.5 drafter because I have a tendency to condense multiple steps into one lol, which makes writing h a r d for me. The one true tip I have for anyone zero drafting is to write down everything. This can be ideas for the story or the worldbuilding, plot points, character traits, wants and needs, the actual story etc. It's better to get it all out before you forget and so you can maintain momentum.
I haven’t watched this yet. I just wanted to say that if this video mentions comic sans then I will flatline.
It doesn't but I should have included it! It works haha.
If you’re going to do a zero draft you might as well just write a super-outline with bullet points of every action and piece of dialogue in the scene. Without having to write elaborate descriptions and flowy sentences, you can just flesh the idea out in order (and fix plot holes/make the structure cohesive)
Alexa Donne? Posted an hour ago? CLICK
EYE OPENING!
I blew through a couple of stories no problem, but the one that I am doing now, has slowed me down quite a bit. Not because of the block, but because I don't like this one much. I am close to the end, but I need to be careful anyway.
Yes! I zero draft too! Only one CP reads my zero draft. Even they have a limit of how often I can subject them to it. 😂
Thank you for this video! I've been interested in fast drafting for awhile now but wasn't sure where to start. It's hard not to be page perfect writer. This really helped me realize how beneficial a "dirty" draft can be. I feel liberated!!!! 💜💜💜
Thank you so much for your videos, your tips are so useful! 💜
This has been invaluable to me this month. I'm writing my first ever first draft, and as a perfectionist with an anxiety problem, I quickly learned that I had to jus let go of it being any good on the first go, or I would never finish. So I know that everything I have right now - even if the plot elements are decent - the prose is just terrible, but I needed to have it down first or I would obsess. Thank you so much Alexa!
thank you for this!! it turns out I've written a zero draft!! I'm very proud of what I've done but I've been frustrated that I can't write the ending because of my "list of things I want to fix" from the beginning; I have a more specific title, theme, arc(s) than I did when I started but was beating myself up for not being able to "finish"
this encourages me that I don't have to, I can go back and rewrite with more intention, and reach the end next time!! :)
Hello, when Fast Forward Drafting, should I include character dialogue? And, if so, then I should or should I not concern myself with the exact dialogue words and only focus on what the conversation suppose to cover.
Hello! When fast forward drafting, you don't really need to worry about specifics unless you get a flash of dialogue that you just HAVE to write down before you forget. You can also put stuff in brackets like so: [She storms out of the room after a final cutting line.] or leave a note to yourself or something. You can include character dialogue if you know what it will cover, but don't concern yourself with exact dialogue words or tags. The main thing is to not lose your momentum and just keep going; don't stress out over specifics if they don't occur to you at the moment! The purpose of fast-forward drafting is to help you breeze through the overarching story and allow you to put everything in your brain down on paper. Hope this helped; good luck!
Malin Leventea, you provided a thorough description of the process, far beyond what I expected and exactly what I need to accelerate to the finish. My motivation and enthusiasm have sparked. I will hold a signed copy for you. Stay Safe.
Kind Regards.
I zero draft using dictation :) It helps get the structure down -- and stops me from getting too fancy (and screwing things up) my first time around.
What program or app do you use? Would really appreciate a suggestion!
@@macybautista9719 Dragon Professional Individual 15! :) It's pricey but by far the best!
Are you still doing a first page livestream?
Great post! First novel was a very dirty fast draft. Second novel was a very clean zero draft. Both are in the revision and editing phases 😄
I have you to thank for completing my first ever zero draft (a bit below 90000 words atm) so thank you! 😊
I have a very scant outline. I know the major beats and that's it. And I have a good idea of the main characters; the secondary characters pop into the picture as needed. Tho' sometimes those secondary characters have a life of their own and turn into attention hogs...
That’s true for me too. I plan my main characters and story line then figure out my secondary characters as I go along and find that I love them so much.
Oh yeah, definitely. I introduced a secondary character with a really strong personality and they changed the course of the entire plot.
I'm not a fast drafter but I did take the fast draft workshop for Candace Havens earlier this year and it improved my momentum significantly. Aside from that, I'm a pantser, but I use vague scene checklists, placeholders (heaven sent), an accountability partner, comic sans hack, writing scenes by hand when I get stuck (then typing/editing it) and writing sprints. 20-min comic sans writing sprints are *chefs kiss*
The zero draft is perfect for work. I pull up a word document and in between tasks at my job I can type out conversations and very basic details of a scene--then go home and layer on style and clean up.
What happened to the term Rough Draft. I've never heard of Zero Draft before this video.
Start before you're ready. - Steven Pressfield
Hi Alexa! In one of your videos (maybe Draft Zero) you briefly mentioned having to scrap you first manuscript to quickly write another story. I am currently in the query trenches and would love to hear more about that time in your life when you had to question that first manuscript. Have you posted a video about this already? If so could you please send me the link? Thanks a bunch!
I zero draft often. I consider it like outlining I. Draft form. There are times when I write the same scene from several points of view just to get a feel for it, or I take time to just interview a character to figure out motivation or how a particular event changed them. I never figure out my ending until second draft.
I made a video on zero drafts...but your definition is a little different than mine, but That is what is amazing about writers...we are all different! We all have different steps and drafting processes. Great video.
Now I'm curious if you have a video on writing a series as a discovery writer because I struggle with that.
I just completed my first fast draft over camp nano last month. I did most of these things just to get it done. I found that writing third person and telling myself the story was the only way to get it all out. I also gave myself Saturdays off from writing. I had only planned on writing 20k, and ended up with a finished fast draft at 50k. I am taking this week and next week off to recharge before I go in and write the nice draft.
So helpful!
My deadline is to complete my first draft before I turn fifteen so that if I get it published I can say I beat Christain Paolini lol
Readable 😂 on point
been drafting over five weeks. this tip speaks to my blood. a zero draft. absolutely genius
Cool - keep at it!
Really glad you talked about this. 😊
The same time every day thing doesn't work for me well as I dont have a consistant schedule. Instead I do 8-10 10 minute sprints each weekday and then go through and edit/add or just write more on weekends
To each their own :)
Alexa, if you don't mind me asking............ how long were you out on sub for each of your books? Especially the IVIES? I've been on sub for a year and I don't think it's supposed to take this LONG!!!
7 months in 2016/2017 with revision between round one and two for Brightly Burning. Approximately 4 weeks for The Ivies to interest, 5 to an offer, in 2019. The Ivies went usually fast but it was hyper commercial. I have friends who have gone on sub w/ thrillers who were out for nearly a year before selling, multiple rounds. Generally I've heard sub takes longer now.
That said... a year is a long time, but not "you will never sell" long--some books take over a year to sell. However, if you're feeling unsure, talk to your agent. If you have a new book, it might be worth putting new material on submission in case it's the market.
Alexa Donne thanks Alexa 🙂 It’s insanely hard out there...... I think with covid things are slower than usual too. It’s just a bad time for everyone...it’s how my luck always is lol
These concepts are interesting. I completely understand. My first time participating in Nanowrimo, I believe I produced a zero draft. That thing is a mess, and I'm still trying to figure it out.😆 Thanks.
My word sprints are all through 4thewords its changed how I write and my productivity overall I even love it shows me how many words I need daily to hit my year end goal.
I'll fast draft before I start which is close to those couple of sentences per chapter i was surprised to see someone else uses that method. But now I'm going to try save the cat!
My zero draft is usually just a chapter outline that summarizes each chapter in 1-3 lines. My first drafts are usually really clean and ready for beta readers.
That's a good option! Do you usually make a lot of changes based on beta readers feedback?
@@maverikfamily I combine all beta feedback and list them in order of "most commented on" to "reader preference" then look closely at whatever most said was a problem area. I will look at reader preferences but don't always make a lot of changes. My outline keeps plot holes to a minimum and most comments are on finer details.
So I got seriously stuck trying to figure out how to get my characters to the ending after I ended the second act, so I "zero drafted" the ending of my "first draft". Now, after the fact, I finally figured out how to fix the ending and now as I go through my draft I can properly adjust spots I left for foreshadowing.
Yes! Scheduling breaks is so important! You cannot pour from an empty cup
Yes! Save the Cat terms! Great ideas!
Can I just say thank you. your channel has been the best help with your tips and tricks and how you explain important topics about writing just clicked with me.❤
I'm forever grateful for the advice I never known I needed 😅
First
I've just learned that I zero draft, hahahahaha.