Messy First Drafts are the Best First Drafts
- Sara Lilienfeld
- 39 minutes ago
- 3 min read
I'm currently working on the second draft of The Arcane Codex Book 3. The title is still alluding me, but overall I now have a firm grasp of the story (mostly). As I was reading my first draft in order to take notes on it, I realized three things in quick succession: 1) the first draft was a mess, 2) it had a lot of potential, and 3) I couldn't be more excited to start Draft 2. Because, for me, there's nothing better than a messy first draft.
Let me explain.
Perfectionism was a big struggle for me. I couldn't tell you how many projects I've started and abandoned over the years because I felt this unbelievable pressure to write the perfect first draft. It took me years to accept that first drafts were supposed to be a messy and imperfect, and that I wasn't a bad writer for not having a publish-worthy manuscript right away. So, for me, writing a messy rough draft and allowing it to be messy was a sign that I've started to outgrow that "it has to be perfect right away or I'm wasting my time" mentality. I can polish up the idea later, all I need to do now is get it written down.
In the case of my current project, the draft was chaotic because I had a lot of Big Ideas I wanted to tackle in this book. Some plot threads got abandoned as I got further into the draft, others I wound up honing in on to build my story. Having a lot of big ideas, or too many ideas might sound like a nightmare, but for me it brought a sense of relief. By seeing what plot lines I focused on, and which ones I dropped, I figured out what direction I want the story to go in, and which storylines don't quite fit. (It also means I can use some of the orphaned plots elsewhere!).
When writing my first two books, I wound up removing a subplot or two at a later stage in each one. Each time, it was because the subplot distracted from the main story, and while I liked what I'd written, they weren't as vital to each book. For Book 3, I'm hoping that identifying the unnecessary plotlines this early means I'll have less "clean up" to do once I start developmental editing the manuscript.
Plot aside, another reason for my excitement was that this book allows me to play with the world in a new way. Without giving too much away, the end of Death & Destiny in the Mountains shakes up both Adeline's life and the world as a whole. Book 3 is where the ramifications of those changes start to become apparent, and I hadn't fully realized that when I started working on the first draft. The change opens up a lot of possibility not only for Adeline's story, but others within the world. In some ways, a messy draft was to be expected after such a drastic shift in-universe. It's almost a whole new world, and I need to shape it.
I can't speak for other writers, but as I was reading the first draft, I became really excited for the story I know it's going to become. I could see the potential in the idea, and rereading filled me with new ideas for how to achieve the ideas I'm pursuing. Not new stories themselves, but a different way to answer 'how can I/the characters fix this problem?' Some of the excitement and new ideas might be the results of me taking a longer break between drafts, but I don't think it was the only reason.
I often hear writers who are struggling with writers block talk about how intimidating a blank page can be, how it has unlimited potential. I think first drafts represent an adjacent idea. If a blank page represents unlimited potential of all your ideas, then a finished first draft is the underrealized potential of a specific idea.
As a writer, I'm more of a gardener than an architect. I've planted the plot seeds for my next book, now I need to help them grow. The process starts out a little messy, but creation always is.
Until next time!
Magic & Murder in the Holler is available at most book retailers. I'm also selling signed copies directly on my Ko-Fi shop. Death & Destiny in the Mountains is available for pre-order now.