(in defense of) FAST DRAFTING // an exploration into the process of famous authors
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ม.ค. 2020
- Inspired by some famous authors that fast draft, I wanted to talk about why this writing method seems to be more polarizing than ever. So here we go...
0:10 What is fast drafting & examples of famous authors that write their first drafts insanely fast
3:53 ~3 reasons I think we, as a writing community, have seen pushback against fast drafting (specifically focusing on "quality")
☟↓ QUESTIONS FOR YOU BELOOOOOW! ↓☟
D I S C U S S I O N Q U E S T I O N S :
What different writing processes have you tried? What have you heard worked well for someone else so you tried it out and it also worked for you??
Tell me about a time you attempted to write something one way but then that same way didn't work on another book/genre!
What do you think of fast drafting??
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for me, it doesn't matter how it started. its how it finished. i wish more writers/readers understood that.
I personally am jealous of people who can fast draft a book in a month! How do they do this and how do they discipline their self to do it?!? I WANT TO KNOW!! I also think it’s be fun to see you fast draft another novel again in the future, Kate! I think you did it with your Nashville murder book, yeah?? I could be wrong haha.
Waking up a bit before everyone else helps, it makes it your time, not your time to share with the rest of the world or your family or other life demands. Some people do this at night but as a night owl I can say that I was more energetic in the process by scheduling me time in the morning
@@kuraicraft I actually love getting up early to write! It's the best time to have that alone time to write and not have the rest of the world interrupt the writing process :)
@@klawsnomi621 It's just another way of saying "speaking for myself only". Love your username.
It doesn’t matter if your first draft is good- that’s what revision is for. I always fast draft, because otherwise it won’t get written. I’m thinking about ‘slow,’ drafting a book this year though, just to see if I can do it without without procrastinating. The way people get so vocal and offended by other people writing differently than them is absolutely ridiculous.
Ian Fleming was also a fast drafter, I'm pretty sure most of the James Bond novels were drafted very quickly. Apparently one of the things he said when giving a talk to students at Oxford was "If you interrupt the writing of fast narrative with too much introspection and self-criticism you will be luck if you write 500 words a day and you will be disgusted with them into the bargain." which is some food for thought! I definitely wouldn't say that's the only way to write, but I would say it clearly works really well for some people.
Also it's such a good point that if people publish books that were fast drafted but not ready to be published, that doesn't mean the technique is bad, it just means whoever published it wasn't able to see that it wasn't ready.
This was a really interesting discussion, and a great insight into another writing technique! 😀
I just discovered my biggest problem as a writer is my inability to connect to my story during the outline process. But when I begin writing, my head is filled with new characters and ideas. For me, fast drafting is part of the discovery process, since I can only get to know my characters when I write them and think like them. Does it also mean that I spend a lot of time editing my draft? Yes, but for me it's rewarding 😊
I wrote my first "masterpiece" in a week (it was a fanfiction). I had a concept I liked, a plot-twist in mind, no outline, and I discovery-wrote the whole thing in a week. I shared it with many of my friends and classmates and everyone liked it. When I improved my english, I translated it, edited it, and published it online and it got quite a lot of readers (in comparison to my other fanfictions).
I remember loving the fast-drafting process because I got to work with the concept I had and explore it while it was still fresh and new, without much of added influence. I feel like the longer it takes me to write a story nowadays, the more different it becomes because I keep gathering so much influence and inspiration from other works of fiction that I'm exposed to, which is sometimes harmful to an unfinished piece of work.
Brandon Sanderson said in one of his lectures that whenever he gets a new idea that he really wants to write, he forces himself to ignore it for the time being so that he doesn't include it in his WIP where it wouldn't fit nor make sense. I think there is quite a lot of truth in that. The reason I've been struggling to be satisfied with my WIP is because it was influenced by different works of fiction and a collection of ideas I gathered over a long period of times, that I'm now struggling to find a satisfying conclusion to it. I keep starting it off from scratch in hopes to make it right.
I think fast-drafting is a great method to counter that, you basically start with an idea and only work with that idea and develop it as needed, without implementing more ideas that might push you off track. You can enrich your original concept and strengthen it that way too, and it adds layers of depth into it all without it being a complication of different unrelated concepts.
I can definitely relate to this. Great point!
I had this mindset of thinking that I couldn't write the way I wanted because i thought it was wrong. I have been writing my own way now and my friend who reads my book (unfinished) from time to time say that the book feels more personal and stuff so I am glad I decided to try to not think and just write and I think fast drafting is something for me.
I just fast drafted a short story in two days & I pantsered it too. Now I’m trying to do a super quick developmental edit with more “proper structure” & I’m 1/3 done and it’s been two days 👍 fast drafting help keep me from over thinking and actually get stuff done.
Did you finish?
I am a big fan of fast drafting, and for me, it’s part of the outlining process. It’s a great way for me to connect plot points, and kind of figure out how everything works together.
OOOH KATE’S GOT THE RECEIPTS! 📝
I’m a fast drafter. 😂 And there are sooooo many haters when it comes to fast drafting, regardless if first drafts don’t ever get published. Edits take much longer.
I’ve just finished an in-depth study of Jekyll and Hyde for my GCSEs at school and to learn that it was
fast-drafted in only three days is surprising! Thank you for the great video!💞
When someone speaking on writing begins with "the only way," I just stop listening.
After writing for several years, I've found that the drinks consumed by writers are far more standardized than the techniques they use to push out that first draft--if they believe in "drafts" at all. Coffee, tea, water, or bourbon (which I assume makes up 90% of the scribe sauces out there) makes a much shorter list than the diverse ways we fill a page. For the record, I'm a Peruvian medium roast in a French press kinda guy.
Love this advice!
*sips tea*
*feels attacked*
Leech please don’t, I’m just one silly writer 😁 my opinion probably has all sorts of holes in it, I’m sure!!
guywittamic No worries! *feels attacked* is just something you say when someone says something very accurate and relatable
My take on the "How good can it possibly be?" argument? It doesn't matter how long the author takes to write. A first draft will be done when it's done. When it's done, it's then time for the author to move on to the second draft.
The best advice I can give to people who say there is only one way is to ignore them. There is never one way to do anything, even if you think there is, someone in the world does it different than you.
I tried your zero draft method Kate and couldn’t do it lol. I couldn’t get it to click with my brain for some reason, but it was fun trying it!
My writing process is strange. I can safely say that I do a fast draft depending on the story. I can’t seem to do it with fantasy or mystery stuff, I have to have some outline for those, but even then majority of the time I fast draft a lot of it. Recently I’ve been fast drafting and outlining at the same time. I’ll be 25,000 words in, and then all of a sudden everything will just come to me. Plot, plot twist, little clues I didn’t know I left for myself, it’s crazy. However, I never show anyone these drafts. I always rewrite first, because that’s when the story really come to life. :)
i truly believe fast drafting is my way of brainstorming. vomiting the soul out benefits from speed. and then you beat it into shape in first draft, taking elements which are strongest, shedding what is meh and if it is something like mystery or thriller make sure pacing works just right. I wonder if plotters see it differently.
After years of being told I am a “fast writer” (something I always wished were true), I have come to realize that those really fast drafts in less than a month are what I would consider an “outline” or skeleton for the book. Legend has it that Isaac Asimov could sit down at a typewriter and create a story from beginning to end. He is legendary because most people realize how difficult that would be (and on a typewriter????). The finished product is what counts, and if some folks can do a first draft in 9 days (!!!!)? Well, first of all, my envy is unbounded. Secondly, we all work differently. Do we count the weeks spent (by me) before writing the first chapter? Let’s keep the IDIC in mind, shall we?
I like the Hemmingway quote: "The first draft of everything is shit." So, why not just blurt it out and get on with editing if that works for you? That's the caveat though: if that works for you. One of my closest friends finds that fast drafting does not work for her at all and creates a level of stress and anxiety that just shuts down her creative process entirely. I find that time pressure gets me to spit it all out and frequently helps me write my way out of dead ends and plot holes (and also, if I don't have a deadline, however artificial it may be, I'll never get anything done). Like anything, I think, it just comes down to what works. So far, fast drafting is what works best for me regardless of genre, though I suppose I'm technically writing the same genre, just original fiction instead of fanfic. But no, even when I've written something in a non-magical AU that basically made it contemporary romance rather than contemporary fantasy, fast drafting was still what worked. So, back to what I said in the first place: it works for me across genres. Time to stop babbling.
The fact that something can be completely that fast is beyond me. The novel first completed took me two years but that's probably because I was trying to solve ever question that could be had. I just wanted to avoid having to many elements that didnt connect or make sense to my novel. Not to mention I'm in the middle of two right now that have been ongoing about 6 months now. But again my brain is trying to fill in all the gaps and connections that sometimes it makes it hard to just push on and just get the words out.
Really, whatever works. The product is what matters, not the process.
I began the first draft of my current work in progress during last NanoWriMo, and I still haven't finished it yet. If some people can write a whole draft in one week, then that's good for them (I'm really jealous!). But if it takes you several months or even years, that's fine, too. They say for writing that quantity is actually better than quality because you'll have more to work with and it helps you know more about your story, but that doesn't mean that you can't achieve that at your own pace.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be over here moving at the speed of molasses in January as I work more on my draft XD
I LOVE that you brought up time not necessarily being equal to good/better drafts. We often jump to the idea that things that take longer are better, but that's not always true. Someone who has a natural talent for science fiction might be faster at world-building than someone who is trying it for the first time, so the fast draft might be significantly better simply due to the writer's skills, not the length of time it took to pen it.
But we often forget that entirely! Art is not a straight line and everyone works at a different pace.
The first draft takes as long as the first draft takes... Fast or slow as long as you are working on it at a steady pace then get that story out and onto paper! Editing, now that I think needs TIME. As much time as it takes to make what you wrote good.
It’s funny to hear people say fast drafting isn’t the way to do it when many of us have made it through high school and college fast drafting papers. It may not work for everyone and that’s alright, but it doesn’t make the process wrong. Creative processes aren’t universal, but they are unique to each creator and that’s what makes it beautiful. ❤️
I didn't realize there was a lot of hate against fast drafting. I just hate when people publish things that aren't ready to be published. I don't care the reason... and people may say that "ready" is a subjective term, but I'm talking about publishing a book that is OBJECTIVELY not ready. As in, it is full of grammar mistakes, improper formatting, typos, tense changes, and POV shifts... I don't think that's a fast drafting problem, but I do think it's a cutting corners problem.
I gave Nano a go but I found the time constraints were too much for me and limited my ability to think creatively. I think it's the spirit of fast drafting, writing because you have great ideas and want to get them out onto paper and not worrying about which part of the story you're starting at and if it reads chronologically or if you've changed point of view 3 times that is important. At the end of the day, if you're hopelessly forcing your story to fit within strict time constraints whatever the cost, then is that really any better than forcing it to come out perfect on the first draft? In my view, this was always what the end goal of Nano was supposed to be about. It made me more open-minded, gave me confidence as a writer and made me feel proud of what I had accomplished. It's just like another skill in your writer toolkit- the 'being able to write an absurd number of words in a month' skill.
Honestly, it depends on so many factors how you draft a novel and what works for you. Maybe you only have two weeks of annual leave that need to be used to the max to get that draft down. Depends on the story as well. A research intensive historical novel is bound to take longer. I also notice that the definitions that people have of fast drafting really differ in terms of how much research is done beforehand and what constitutes a draft (20k vs 100k, use of placeholders...), so comparisons are flawed.
You have this wonderful way of reminding me that I’m human and I appreciate it so much 🙏♥️
I think the other side of the spectrum should be getting just as much criticism as fast drafting; taking years or even a decade to write something has “just as many problems” as writing too fast does, in my opinion. You & your writing is constantly evolving and improving and if you take a long time to write one thing, the beginning and the end are going to be vastly different in quality and style and even character voice if you’re writing in first person. That’s a problem I find that I have: if I spend months away from a project, it’s a struggle to get the new words I add sounding cohesive and not like it’s written by and entirely new person (even though in some ways it is). Does anyone else experience this problem? Any advice?
Do what gets your book done. Doesn't matter what you call the process... doesn't matter how many steps are in the process... doesn't even matter how long or short the process takes. Whatever you need to do to finish that book, just do it. A lot of the people complaining about other peoples' process is just an attempt at expressing frustration with their own process.
It depends on the project for me. With one project I knew a lot about it so I fast drafter whereas another it took me months to finish the first draft as I was learning the story
I never understood coming after someone for how they write. Our brains all work differently so it makes sense we write differently. Frankly, the only difference I've made to my writing process is to outline and try to write more consistently. It made a huge difference not in how long it takes me to write because that still takes ages, but in knowing what I'm doing. I like the idea of fast drafting, but I don't think my writing style really lends to it. I live for writing all the inconsequential stuff that will get edited out later just so I can just get it out of my head. It almost seems like that doesn't lend itself to fast drafting although I can see how in the publishing world where you have deadlines, how fast drafting could be useful.
Not much of a confession, but I am totally a fast drafter. Part of it really comes from the fact that I think as fast as I can type and once I get on a roll I easily can get 3k in an hour. If I just do 3k a day, I'm normally done with my novel in about a month. Right now I'm working on a big fantasy series I started on the 6th and I'm halfway through with 60k. For me it's fun, it's like marathoning a miniseries for a month. But I'm really fortunate, writing fills the same place in my brain as video games, movies, and reading. It's relaxing and fun.
I used to be a slow drafter. The first novel I ever finished (way back in high school when I didn't understand a lick about writing) was written by hand. I would get in three pages of longhand a day between classes and after three years I had a finished book. But I've changed. I would get too impatient to do that now. My mind moves too quickly for me to write things out. Also, I find if I don't finish a novel in two months I lose interest in it. Fast drafting gives my novels a shot at life... now it's time for me to figure out editing.
I've been writing the manuscript for my debut novel for about two or three months now, and I'm about 140-150 pages in; not including insert pages. I'm so excited to actually be writing again.
I love how researched and diplomatic you are on these topics. I'm somewhere in the middle. I'm a big believer in getting words on paper fast, just to have the skeleton done. That said, I hate doing it myself (although I am still comparatively fast) because I feel like I'm wasting time by having to rewrite almost everything. I'm working on finding my best happy place with all this. Thanks for sharing!
I sort of... fast draft and slow draft at the same time? (despite the fact that my current project is kinda 6 years old, its bcs of reasons). More usually when i sit down, I will sprint what I'm doing for a solid week or so, yeah, almost from sunrise to sundown, but then when I run out of juice, I take a longer pause, I reflect on what is done, readjust my outline, do some editing, I better understand what works and what doesn't and then I go back to hella fast writing. The things that hit me out of that speedrun usually is some other duties that take more than a few days, just fatigue or I get stuck because I know something is not working properly (and it's hard to jump forwards, because it is essential to know, what happened before).
I think writing quickly gives you more of a feel for the story as a whole, you can feel its interconnectedness. When you write slowly, you focus on just a few specific details and then it is for the second draft to deal with the choppiness, if it arises. Fast drafting is a river, a flow. You ain't got time to see whats on the shore or under the water, but that is why you start from the beginning again. You would still do it even in slow drafts regardless.
Seems that those people are not understanding the meaning of 'draft'.... Fast or slow is irrelevant.
I agree that there are as many ways to write a book as there are book ideas (at least a gazillion)!
I think a lot of people put a lot of stress (and criticism) on first drafts, when for 99% of us the first draft is a terrible mess anyway. Revisions are when a story becomes “good”. Drafting is step 1 of like 50, it’s a huge and important step but there are still so many more to go before the book is ready anyway. So I don’t care how rough the rough draft is, it’s just a place to start.
I just came back from school! so wxxited to watch it! ♥♥♥
personally, i like doing the first draft really fast. i find editing so much easier than writing something the first time, and much more enjoyable. it takes me an average of 2 weeks, depending on plot holes or trying to move passed scenes i don't know what to do with, to write a first draft of about 40,000 words. and then the second draft is where i spend all the time connecting things, adding descriptions and foreshadowing and just making better cus the first is just a "get it done" type quality.
Frankly, the best advice I ever heard about writing was: "first drafts always suck, which is why they always need to be edited/revised plenty of times before they are ever worthy of being published." Some writers don't seem to look at a first draft as a first draft. In book stores, as I browsed around I would often think, "wow, how did the author write their novel in one get-go?" I have to remind myself that the book on the shelf is not the first draft, because as readers we don't see the first draft and the second and so on, we don't see the comments/criticisms that several editors made, not to mention from publishers and beta readers. All we see is the finished product, so why does it matter how perfect the first draft is? People write at different speeds, they do things differently, and quite frankly it doesn't matter how bad your first draft is because you make it better afterwards! People need to do what works for them and not look down at other people's methods for writing. Don't be so hung up on how perfect your first draft is that it prevents you from finishing your novel, which to me finishing the first draft is way more important than how perfect it is.
Hey Kate, I was totally skeptical of the fast draft thing before thinking it doesn’t work. But your video totally convinced me! I think I’m just going to try to blurt out a story and see where it goes from there....
Your braids are so PRETTY
I started zero drafting/fast drafting last year and I found it really valuable in killing my need for perfectionism. When I write fast I'm not able to get in my head and stop myself to make it "perfect"; I find myself remembering the biggest errors I made while fast drafting so that when I circle back, it's easier to pinpoint and rewrite and correct.
Also, rewriting is gonna happen, no matter how good that first draft is. It's easier to correct known problems than figure out where to go. Seeing the first draft as the stepping stone to subsequent drafts makes fast drafting preferable por moi.
I have so so much respect for people who are able to fast draft! Didn’t you say you finished the zero draft of Murder Mystery Tennessee in about a month last year? Even if the result is unreadable, the most important thing is to have words on the page.
That being said, I know my fast drafting is not something I can personally do, but that is also okay. I’m working on the second draft of a manuscript that took me about 6 months to write right now, and there are only a few parts that need major work and getting the second draft done is taking me a little more than a month. Everyone should just do what works for them!
Taking 2-3 months to draft a 65-100k YA fantasy novel is as fast as I’m comfortable drafting. It gives me enough time to step back, assess, and think things through as needed. I can’t imagine going any faster unless it was a much shorter project, like a light MG contemporary. But I’m a pantser. A thorough outline could make drafting faster for some writers... but that would take time, too.
As writers, we should just do what works for us! If fast drafting works for you, keep at it! If you want to try fast drafting, go for it! I feel like policing how people write can feel very stifling. Especially for new writers, it can feel very confusing as well. Looking on the internet and seeing 10 different writers say 10 different things about the way you should be writing can actually make the act of actually doing it seem like too much pressure. Just try everything you want until you find what works best! Personally, for the novel I'm currently working on, I'm trying out your zero drafting technique. I've been a pantser and also tried working with a detailed outline and I like that zero drafting seems to be kind of in the middle so I don't feel so much pressure to fit x event into this chapter and y event into this chapter. All that being said though, just write however you want! Creating something should be a fun journey!
This is great information! I would love to fast draft, but I don't think it's possible until I have a few books under my belt.
Currently, I follow the save the cat method and it's helped immensely.
This is so interesting, I wish to know more about it. Have you ever consider doing some "Writing like" these type of fastwriting people? Like "a novel in a week" just to see what you could accomplish?
My method for writing used to be scribbling bits of my story onto the margins of my notebook when I should have been paying attention in class and then somehow fitting it all together when I typed it up 😂 I like fast drafting and that’s when I think I’ve been able to actually get the most motivation to write and ultimately get the most writing done. I’m the type who wants to just get the story out of my heads on onto paper and then work on editing and revising and rewriting and all that from there.
The first draft of often the most painful draft for me haha so I like to get it done and then be able to pick it apart and make it better :D
I can't tell you how encouraging this video is to me! I've been feeling so lost with my first drafts because I feel like I have to edit, have all the details, research ect. all NOW, rather than just getting the story out and going back. I had never heard of fast drafting (at least in that term) and now I'm glad I have because I feel relieved and inspired to just write and worry about the editing and other drafts later!
Totally a fan of fast drafting. It took me 7 years to write the first book in this series. For the second book, I have written nearly as many words in 3 months (since Nano)...and the first draft of the fast drafted book is better than the first draft of the first book, but I've also grown a lot as a writer in the last 2 years.
I’ve tried fast drafting but it hasn’t worked for me. However, I think it’s a great way to get started when working in a novel. Of course there’s everything that comes after, but getting the idea out of your head and on the page is what’s important no matter how you do it. I have to agree with you there.
Thanks for this. I've watched both this and your video on zero-drafting, and it's really helpful for me to deal with my tendency to want to write both good wording and a good story right from the start of the process. I'm definitely going to try zero drafting my way through a story now, even though it will be a very itchy experience for my perfectionist side. It's gonna be an adventure in itself to just pull through.
Your authentic and open sharing about how you write is helping me debunk some writing myths that sometimes have kept me from just doing it! Thanks a ton!
I love fast drafting - it seems to be what works best for me to get words down on the page - but honestly to each their own - i love these ranty discussions with yourself🙌🏼
I am going to try and fast draft in the new year just to see what works for me BUUUUT: in the past I've struggled with it because my outlines tend to be very loose and open. Meaning I don't have like 90% of my plot down, only the intro, climax, and ending. Everything in between just slowly forms and even then it is very basic like: "go to town to see proof that so-and-so is bad", a lot more will happen but I don't know that until I sit down and start writing and expanding it. Light outline and just expanding while writing has worked for me in the past, like the drafts were not perfect but I was overall satisfied with them for a first draft. I just struggle with making an outline chunky with details
I'm also a fast drafter. And I only write one draft and edit within that draft. But that's a whole different argument. Bottom line is, as you said in here and what I've been shouting for a while now is that everyone is different! If you can knock out a book in a week, you do you! If it takes years, take all the time you need! Nothing is wrong with your style and you know you better than anyone else.
That's the beauty of writing isn't it, the uniqueness of every story? Sometimes it's funny to think that writers are so strict with what they accept or don't accept (for example, who can call themself "author"). As you said, I don't think fast drafting is a bad thing. Sometimes it can be beneficial to not think and just write, especially when some people tend to overthink a story for years (But then again, if they enjoy it?) I would very much like to know how many of those authors were pantsing and how many were plotting...? That might be another interesting factor. Because I would love to be able to outline every scene in detail and then just write 10.000 words a day! :D But well, I finish my stories with 500 words a day, might take me longer but finished is finished :D
You should turn that into a TH-cam video. I guess I am a slow pantser writer, too.
I fast drafted the last book I wrote. To me fast drafting is making a book within 1 month. My last book I wrote was 80,000 words in one month (a little less than a month) I was inspired almost everyday and motivated to write it. I think that it all depends on your level of experience or your want to flush out your story that makes writer write fast. My fast draft was definitely not ready to just be published just because all the words were there. But it was done and that makes you feel good. Especially when you go back ready to revise, and you get to think I made this. Now is fast drafting the best method for everyone??? Nope. But can it work. Yes. I think what matter like you said, is following whatever method works for you.
While I don’t push myself to fast draft, I also don’t force myself to slow down. I enjoy the drafting process a lot more when I get sucked into the story and the words start to flow, it’s the whole reason I write. I couldn’t imagine spending a year (or two) on drafting a single book. Not when I have so many other ideas that I want to write and explore. The only thing that I think is wrong with fast drafting is when, like you said, the time needed to revise it isn’t put into the story. No one, whether they took two days, two weeks, or two years, is going to have a perfect first draft.
My latest fast draft novel was last summer. Three months draft, two months editing. Completed and released. My fastest book ever. :)
Loved this! As someone who finds first drafts pretty painful, I really appreciate fast drafting (although idk if I’m technically fast enough for it to count). I don’t want to write the thing, I want to fix the thing.
I think you make a good point! I tried NaNoWriMo last November, and something that really threw me off was getting from 0-50,000 words instead of just from start to finish. I think, in the same way that ray bradbury wrote his first draft in only 25,000, I would rather focus my time this year just trying to write the story from start to finish. Even if that ends up being less than 50,000 words.
I dunno about going ham on the whole fast-drafting, 100%, but since I want to be more prolific and get more books out ... I would certainly like to get to the "chapter complete a day" goalpost after I graduate uni in December. Since my coauthors and I revise each other's zero drafts, that also helps bump up the quality even on our solo work much faster than it would be otherwise.
Hey Kate, love your channel. I'm a primary school teacher (elementary school) in Australia and my school wants our students to all have a writers notebook. Would you please do a video on how to use a notebook as a writer and why they are useful?
I will admit that I used to look down on fast drafting, but I have basically done a complete 180 X) Not in the way that I think fast drafting is the only way to write a first draft, but that I think that should be the way *I* do it. Because it's like you said, you have to get the first version of a story down on paper before you can edit it, and I have found that I like the editing more than I like writing the first draft. (I like outlining and worldbuilding the most, but that's beside the point). Once I have my worldbuilding and outline in place, I'm pretty sure I should fast draft, and then spend way more time editing and rewriting than I used to think I should. So I think the reason I used to think that fast drafting was a bad idea, was simply because I thought it wouldn't be any good if written that fast. And then at some point I realized that it doesn't matter if it's good or not - and of course it's not gonna be good enough to be published, no first draft is - as long as it's something that you can then work to make better.
As someone who tends to fast draft, you have my thanks. I have to fast draft or I... One: lose interest in the story or Two: change my mind about what I want to happen because this idea would be sooo much cooler annnd... The story never gets finished... I have a fantasy I've been working on for 15+ years for this exact reason. If I wasn't focusing this year on editing already-written works, I'd be tackling that project. As it stands it will simmer on the backburner a bit longer, and I'll tackle it early next year. This time, with fast drafting in mind.
It depends on the project, but I tend to aim for "write it good, fast, clean, and complete in the first draft" like Mercedes Lackey or Dean Wesley Smith... and then sometimes, 'cause I've written like hundreds of fewer books than those two, editing is where I fix where things fell down. I do find that the better the writing is, the faster it goes. So I can see how the authors I grew up reading are now at a point where it's one-and-done and out to their publisher. It feels like every piece of writing advice related to speed is about keeping in that zone where the writing comes fast, easy, fun, and inspired, right?
But my first two novels spent forever in editing. I just had a lot to learn. (I think writers are always learning, but the lessons are like a brick wall for the first two books.) I'd have been discouraged if that was forever, but with the major lessons out of the way, writing the first draft is getting faster and so are edits. I feel like people who can fast draft and turn a book in are just 'better' (have more practice and skills developed) than I am.
But everyone's writing process is different =] And authors are notorious for lying about how long books take them, either to make readers feel better (I struggled for two years over this book!) or because they're tired of being asked questions (I wrote As I Lay Dying while drunk one weekend and never edited it! Please don't mind the 7 months and twelve drafts my editor has on file).
I love this!! There are so many ways to finish a writing project! Sometimes I think it’s a defensive mechanism that kicks in with writers who are vehemently against fast drafting. Maybe they feel pressure when they see others do it, so instead of just letting it go they justify why they think it’s bad and make sure they tell others lol. I’m all over the place when it comes to finishing anything! I definitely have fast-drafted more screenplays than books, but I’ve done it with books as well. And sometimes writing projects take years. (I have a book I’d like to finish one day that I started 15 years ago lol!) No way is the right way. Honestly, writing is hard enough without other writers telling us ‘we’re doing it wrong’. For me, I just trust my process and trust my instincts. (And trust my betas and editors when it’s time hahahaha!!)
I've never heard of fast drafting, idk how but I haven't. And I really want to try it, I feel like it could work well for me. I always get stuck on making a single sentence perfect and I think that if I try to just sprint through what the story feels like to me, as apposed to trying to make it as perfect as possible then I'll actually get a full draft done.. which I've never been able to do because of perfectionism 🙃 worth a try anyway, even if it doesn't work 100% for me
Lovely video as always! Is that a little hippo on your bookshelf? It looks just like the hippo souvenirs my husband and I got at Disney a few years back! Probably at Animal Kingdom?
In my mind, any way you can finish a draft is a good one. I just need to find MY way to finish a draft. :) Finishing is hard! Whatever road gets you there is the right one, in my opinion.
Yes, they are!! All the little animals on my shelves are from Animal Kingdom. :) I love them so much!
Lol I considered my book (which I finished the rough draft of today!!) a fast draft and it took me 3 years, 6 months, and 8 days to finish... but then again, the rough draft is 260,148 words long. I'm filming my stats video for it now 😂
Nice video ✨🌼
This is a first I'm early. Hi Kate
I love fast drafting only for myself because I tend to think faster than I can type. Lol so the quicker I can get it on the page the better so I don't forget what I wanted to say. Now saying that I tend to over, I mean way over edit and add afterwards to actually get it developed into a readable product. I have friends who are the total opposite and outline and follow a very strict writing style. Whatever gets the words on the page is my moto. Just be aware there is a lot more that goes into it afterwards. :)
I tend to write slowly, slowing myself down even more by writing my zero drafts with pen and paper. I'm hoping, though, to write something a book quickly this year. Annnnd I'll be writing on computer. Caveat: this is a weekend-only project.
That’s usually my dilema, if I’m working on my first draft do I need to care about word count? Do we actually? Sometimes I feel that that’s what holding me back, we are so word count focused that we get apps, we timers, calculators to let us know how much we should write instead of focusing on just getting everything down on the page at first. I get proud of being 25k into my book but then I’m not even half way through the story so I would rather say I’m almost done getting the story out of my head rather than giving a number. Also I feel that now I have to break the mold and reprogram my brain to not obsessed over the amount of words, at the end I won’t really know how long this will be until I finish, revise it and see if it need to have more added.
I have a tendency to overthink when I'm writing. Trying to write as fast as I can and focusing on word count instead of "quality writing" is one way to avoid that trap.
My belief has always been to write however works best for you. I can't fast draft. My OCD gets in the way. That is why it takes a couple of months for me to finish a book. My first book is 75k words and it took me awhile to finish that because I would stop and fix stuff as I went.
Lol why would people hate on a method? They must be applying it wrong
Listen, I wrote a 73k book in six weeks by fast drafting. As a result I know exactly what’s supposed to happen, what I’ll be cutting, what I’ll need to add on round two etc. basically because your first draft changes so much all it needs is well... everything you need :D
I’m now with my busy schedule, able to edit roughly one chapter a week and know I got the rest sorted uwu the lessened decay of inspiration and motivation has been a huge factor in my ability to keep going and hopefully finish it in time for this years nanowrimo for book two :3
I love fast drafting! I tend to struggle knowing what the story is really meant to be until I’ve already written it and know what I definitely DON’T want it to be 😁 so it helps me get through those messy writing and rewriting stages sooner, then I can luxuriate in the editing 😌 the only problem, which I hear talked about in relation to NaNo, and which I’ve experienced for the past two years, is when I spend a month going hardcore with writing fast I burn myself out so much I end up not writing AT ALL afterwards. like, I JUST started writing this week for the first time since NaNo. I love the community and celebration of monthly challenges, but the huge spike in pressure, high intensity work, burn out and then running on fumes messes with my creative flow at the end. also my mental health, like if I ever have an anxiety or OCD relapse it’s always after a high intensity productive month, and it’s never worth it 🤤 now I know this about myself I’m thinking of skipping all monthly goals this year and just going more with a steady grind, which is less exciting but hopefully more balanced in the long run 💖 always learning!
That’s why I can’t do NaNoWriMo and keep my sanity. I need to go at my own pace.
When I have the story, I can write it quickly, not sure if it's 'fast drafting' as it's not garbage, just fast :P I don't like revising, so I make sure my first draft is decent. But I can knock out a draft in 3-5 weeks. Then I go back through for edits (~1-2 weeks), send it off for feedback, and then take 1-2 weeks for further revisions....I enjoy writing drafts quickly so I always have something to work on or have books on the back burner for whenever I get an agent :)
I want to be a fast drafter so, so much!
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I generally fast draft, not necessarily on purpose, but simply because I write quickly. For that reason, NaNoWriMo is perfect for me. But that isn't to say I haven't taken much longer on certain projects. It just sort of depends, I guess. Also, I totally agree: there's no one perfect way. Writers are all different, and different things work for each of us. You just have to find what brings out the best of your writing and not base your process on what other people are doing.
My goal for Nanowrimo 2019 was to finish a draft in a month, because a) I can do 50K in 3 weeks anyway, and b) I really didn't want to come up with the motivation to push through 3 more miserable months of drafting to get to the end, like I had to do after Nanowrimo 2017. IMO, it worked surprisingly well-- I can reuse most of the bones of my first draft, and I learned a lot more about myself by pushing myself to fast-draft. It forced me to face my fears and push past the second act to a halfway satisfying ending.
But yeah, like you said, there's not a singular perfect method that every writer will be able to use to great success. So I think being instantly "anti" any method is kind of backwards, so even if I wasn't a fast-drafter I would agree with you.
Writing is hard. And like all difficult things, we have created many different ways to reach the final result. We all want to make our book a reality. It's like learning. Some learn better by listening, others need visuals, or to write down notes. We all want to learn, so why not do it in the way that's better suited for each of us?
*Fastest I've ever drafted a book:* 5 days
*Slowest I've ever drafted a book:* 3 months
Different methods for different books. Certain tricks get implemented more than others but I always change up my process a little and anyone who says they don't is probably lying or just mistaken. We like to pretend we have A process but we all usually have multiple ones.
Are you like God or something? How did you write a book in five days? :O
@@nejdalej I tricked myself into thinking I was writing a novella and then it got out of hand lol. It was a 6 chapter outline so I thought it would be super short but I was deluding myself.
Honestly a part of me envies those who can fast draft. It took me about 3 months to complete the first draft of my WIP, so idk if that would be considered a 'fast draft' or not
I haven't been able to dedicate as much time as I would like to my first novel, but I think for someone like me fast drafting can be really helpful to just get something down on the page and edit from there. Going for a more complicated first draft would prevent me from writing even more and then damn thing would never be finished!! It's just personal preference lets be honest
I've had first drafts (or zero drafts) that I've written in months and I've had drafts I've written in 9 days. They are all equally bad after the first draft. And yet, in both cases, I attain my goal of writing a draft. Different writers may write differently, but different stories by one writer write themselves differently too.
I don't fast draft, but I do a rough draft. My rough draft is a lot like a fast draft, but it take me a lot longer. My current project has a 30k rough draft. It's mostly a narrative, some dialogue, some of what the MCs are thinking. Basically a massive detailed outline with some of the stuff filled in. I'm editing it now, adding and filling out scenes, working on the dialogue, etc. When I'm done I should have a 50k 1st draft. I agree that there isn't a correct way to write. Writing is creative. It's not physics. 👍
The first novel I published was written in 5 weeks. It was published in first draft form.
I think it also has to do with how long you've let the story ruminate.
in 2013, I wrote 120,000 words in 3 weeks on a story I still feel is one of my best works - even if it fanfiction. I'm still trying to figure out how that Anthy did that. xD I would LOVE to fast draft again. I haven't been able to write that much that fast and of that quality ever since. (It wasn't a train wreck, shockingly enough) I think if you love editing as much as I do, then a fast draft is a beautiful way to write. I honestly had no idea people looked down at fast drafting. Where are those people during NaNoWriMo? xD In the end, writing is a personal process that is constantly changing. If you want to write a lot, you have to find what works for you.
I wish I can say something on this topic but i cant wince i only write under the word count and i do nothing to change that since I dont even know what I am writing but i really dont know how people can get a draft in month. I mean how amazing is that! I wish I can do that. But that's not my method i usually write first drafts by hand any way. This is a good video
I think maybe there needs to be more of a conversation about how fast drafting works or doesn't work. Much of the negativity isn't aimed at discrediting the practice so much as acknowledging how it doesn't work for some people. I find that if I write too fast, I tend to get lazy, and my subconscious derails me. For example, I skimp on developing characters and that void creates a trajectory in the plot that leads to a dead end. Fixing such derailments is often more work than just writing more slowly. Having that kind of experience can lead to frustration, which can lead to criticism of the practice. If fast drafting works for people, they shouldn't feel like their writing process is less-than. The same goes for those who can't make it work. It might be productive for those who advocate fast-drafting to acknowledge the pitfalls more often, though, just to prevent disillusionment in those of us who experience them.
Yep -- I've made this observation too. I've seen writer's attack other writers over processes they don't have in common, including fast drafting and plotting V pantsing. This one guy was basically having a go at all the pantsers in a Facebook group, saying they weren't real writers. That's the weirdest one I ever saw because usually, the school of thought is that you aren't being creative if you are sitting down and outlining beforehand, which again, is utter rubbish Lol. When will people learn that writing is no different from any other aspect of life -- we all do it differently. There is no right or wrong way, no definitive guidebook. Just let others be and concentrate on your own writing...you know?
I'm a fast-drafter but it's not by design. I didn't choose to write that way, it just is. A big part of the reason is that if I don't get that first draft down quickly, the story and the characters grow stale -- particularly if there is a significant period of time between writing sessions. That might then mean I spent longer in revisions while I was still a baby writer, but at least that gave me the opportunity to learn how to edit and revise pretty thoroughly.
For those out there who envy fast-drafters, something to bear in mind. Probably every fast-drafter you've ever talked to envies you for your ability to revise and edit pretty cleanly. The grass is always greener, right?
I've focused on writing for children these past several years and only recently began my first novel for adults. My process for each genre is quite different. How you get the job done is unique to each author, but the final proof is in the revised pudding. My beef with NaNo writers is that I encountered quite a few who thought that first draft was going to be publishable. Use whatever process gets words on the page, but respect the craft enough to polish and revise.
Wrote my first draft over a year and a half( 65000 words). I only wish I could write a whole book in a month 😩
So if Fahrenheit 451 was about the same wordcount as the final version, then that means roughly 45 thousand words in 9 days. I did that this past NaNo. Crazy.