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How to Write a Finished First Draft
From authors who write a million publishable words a year
Writing is fun, editing…not so much. Going back and looking at those words you forced out while trying to get through your first draft can make you feel terrible at your craft. I can’t think of a more demotivating, soul-crushing activity for a writer to experience.
What if you could write a clean and finished first draft? No need to go back and spend weeks or months editing. One and done. It’s not only possible; it’s essential if you self-publish your work or if you write for pure enjoyment.
I love writing stories. Giving my characters room to exist is one of the most exciting things I do. But I once wrote a book — a shitty first draft — that I hated going back to edit. I hated it so much that I put it off for two years. Writing the first draft was great fun because I didn’t have to care about the quality of my writing.
The following two years felt like a slog as I worked through edits of my 50k word draft.
Then I learned that there are authors, like Dean Wesley Smith, who write over a million finished words a year. A million. Finished, meaning edited and publishable. That’s twenty novels in a year!
