I'm a slow first drafter (~200 words/hour usually). On more than one ocasion I've heard writers advise it is best to generate first drafts as fast as possible, just sling it down and clean it up later.
I'm curious as to what others think about generating first drafts.
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
I think that any technique that you use to get words on paper is valid, but some get more words down on paper over time than others. Is that an enviable goal by itself? I don't think so, but it does serve to give you more of your own work to ponder and mine for later use.
Should you ever decide to try and speed up, and that may not be right for you, then I have just the thing for you.
I am fairly slow as well, because I go for a more final piece than I should at first 'go'. I should loosen up a bit and just sling the words out there until the atmosphere fairly sizzles.
Oh, wait. I already do that, but generally when I stub my toe.
Posted by dee_boncci (Member # 2733) on :
"Should you ever decide to try and speed up, and that may not be right for you, then I have just the thing for you."
Okay, I'll bite.
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
Weekly timed-writing challenges based upon a trigger that you receive via email. You have 90 minutes to receive and digest the email, write and edit to the extent you can, and return your effort to the system for anonymous posting, critiquing and voting. You try to write a complete story in that time. Most people write around 1000 words. Some write as few as 300-500, and others commonly exceed 1000.
But no matter what else they do, they generate a new story every week.
The other day on the radio, I heard someone talking about a study. Students were divided into two groups and told to make pots. One group was told that they'd be judged solely on the *quality* of their pots. The other group was told they'd be judged solely on the *quantity* of their pots.
In the end, the quantity group ended up making better pots. In the process of making so many pots, they learned a lot about how to make pots. Because quantity was all that mattered, they didn't mind screwing up, and they experimented, and they learned.
I like to draft fast and sloppy and clean it up later. But really, the best approach is the one that works for you. Play around with different approaches until you figure out what works.
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :
I draft as fast as I draft. Sometimes that is at 200 words an hour (if I'm working out a lot of plot details as I write). I've also hit a pace of 1000-words per hour with the right combination of well-thought-out plot, focus, and being left alone. I was on that pace for probably four consecutive writing hours. It is exhausting. Interestingly enough, I found the text I write at that fast pace was omong the better text in that novel. I think it was mainly because I knew exactly what I wanted to say.
Posted by tchernabyelo (Member # 2651) on :
When the creative juices are flowing, I write fast; in general, my brain is considerably faster than my method of data entry. I can type fast enough (I can't remember last time I timed myself, but I think it was in the 65-70wpm range); writing longhand is completely hopeless. I have only been a remotely effective writer since I've had a PC and word processing software, and the ability to dump the flow out of my brain for later polishing/rework/revision. I have nothing but admiration for those people who write a novel by starting at the beginning with a pencil and a lot of notepads, and stop when they get to the end. I simply cannot work that way. But clearly, there are some who prefer to get it right in their heads first and then write it down.
Work how you're comfortable working. But I would advise just trying a "brain-dump" sometime - and yes, something like the Flash challenges (which I may have a go at, should I ever have a weekend free) are probably an ideal exercise.
Posted by Rahl22 (Member # 1411) on :
I draft fast and hard. Don't look back. It just turns out that, if I have the story in mind before-hand, I generally get it mostly right.
Posted by Dandelion (Member # 2582) on :
I used to draft very, very slowly - I was trying to get it right the first time and agonizing over every little thing.
Then I started writing on my lunch time, and now that I have a set amount of time to write, I go a whole lot faster. I'm averaging 700 words in a 50 minute session. And the quality is nearly as good. Er, make that "only slightly more awful."
Now, if I can just do the flashes regularly...
Lisa
Posted by Miriel (Member # 2719) on :
I'm also the kind who writes fast on the first draft without ever looking back. For me, the first draft is a learning what the book's going to be about. Things crop up in writing you didn't plan -- especially if you weren't really planning much at all. Then I talk all of that raw draft and outline and pinch and prod and make a slow, structured, deliberate second draft. I know a lot of people don't work that way, but it works for me -- well, for novels...I find short stories I always write slowly, deliberately, with every detail planned in my head...hm. Whatever works.
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :
If you truly think faster than you can type, you can use voice recognition software. It will allow you to enter words considerably faster than typing. BEware that it also has a considerably higher error rate and makes some very strange errors.
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
I've found that I can type considerably faster than voice recognition software (ignoring the accuracy issues).
Posted by autumnmuse (Member # 2136) on :
I believe in writing quickly, but I also don't believe in doing any more revision than I have to. I have written drafts that were messes, and in the end I have found, for me personally, that I lose the spark and soul of the story when doing major revision. The only way to preserve it is to start over from scratch. But I never get that soul to begin with if I am too fussy and picky and slow during the first draft.
So my particular solution is to solve major plot dilemmas and such in my head or through jotting down notes, then pound it out mostly right the first time. If I find it going astray, I'll start over rather than continue, but I usually find that my first drafts are pretty clean.
Posted by dee_boncci (Member # 2733) on :
Well, I'm certainly inspired to experiment with changing my approach to getting down the first draft.
Even though I tend to go slow with a first draft, I never expect to get it right the first time and expect to revise heavily anyway, so I don't see what I have to loose by trying to go all out. I'm going to put this into practice on an idea I've been mulling for a short story, and try to force myself to generate the first draft in 4-5 hours (~2k-2.5k words, I think).
Thanks for all the responses.
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
My first drafts tend to be skeletons with a lot of "Huh?"s. When I'm writing, I get in the flow and just go, but don't necessarily feel that I am moving at great speed. I depend heavily upon comments to give me the objectivity I need for revisions. When I revise, I typically take about the same time as I took to write the initial draft.
I am in two entirely different mindsets when I draft versus when I polish. I think this is necessary to the process.
[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited July 20, 2005).]
Posted by dee_boncci (Member # 2733) on :
I hear you on the two mindsets. When drafting I'm on offense but when revising I'm on defense, looking for holes, mistakes, things that will get me ridiculed, etc.
BTW, I signed up on you site yesterday, But I still owe you an email (if I understand the registration procedure correctly). Looking forward to the weekend.
Posted by MichaelCReed (Member # 2715) on :
I have truly horrible habits.
I draft at about 300 wph, and re-read every word, every line, every paragraph over and over again, trying to establish the flow, pushing myself forward in tiny spurts of over-edited creativity.
The result is a final draft created first. OSC heavily supports this idea, or at least he did while making a speech at a local bookstore. He said, "make the first draft your last. Tinkering is death to a manuscript" (this is slightly paraphrased, but close). It's Kurt Vonnegut's "basher" method of cranking out finished copy. His typing room was a tash heap of crumpled paper that was almost a second carpet, but when he was finished you could send the pages off to the typesetter and be done with it.
A nice thought, but...
Usually I open my final draft up to criticism and do an edit based on what people think, what they disliked, liked, didn't understand, etc. And that's my final copy. I find, though, that I am much more creative if I'm just letting it all out. I am trying to push myself into faster drafting, because the little muse in my brainpan likes to scamper. Doesn't like to be stared at. Likes to toss little bits of literary crap off my fingers with an airy flourish, none of this "bashing" doggerel.
Which is why I entered the Flash challenge at Liberty Hall this week... and created a nice piece of fiction that I'm proud of. It was a great experience, and I'll do it every week because I always work better with deadlines and pressure than with my own lazy inner clock. (And because of the aforementioned capriciousness of my creativity circuits.)
I recommend it to all bashers who are looking for a way out of their bad habits. Just as Doom3 cured me of my obsessive need to have "everything at 100%" when I'm gaming, I'm pretty sure Liberty Hall is going to cure me of my ponderous, ever-tinkering method of writing.
There are also some solid writers and good criticisms to be had, by the way. Thumbs up, etc.
End of commercial. Mike, I'll be expecting that check before the week's out.
My point is that stretching is good and ultimately I think quantity is the thing in writing. The more you do, the better you get. (As supported in the excellent post by Beth above). Just like with everything else.
Let the geniuses run off concentration. Blue collar writing professionals should roll up their sleeves and shovel until they find something other than dog-leavings and topsoil. Get dirty, work for your supper and, maybe, find gold.
