Why Are First Novel Drafts Always Bad?

WHY ARE FIRST NOVEL DRAFTS ALWAYS BAD?

Do you know what feels weird when you sit down with some exciting ideas running inside your head and you tend to write a few paragraphs on it; and then suddenly when you read them, all your excitement vanishes?

The dialogues you wrote for the characters don’t seem to be as great as it ought to be. Your descriptions are flat and the pacing is awkward. The entire plot has become less interesting on paper than it was when it was inside your head.

“Am I not good enough to write this story?”

You begin to question yourself. You cry over the first drafts which are often messy, inconsistent, and sometimes downright terrible. But trust me, it’s not a sign of your failure as a writer. Your first draft is not your finished novel. It is the raw material from which your finished novel will eventually emerge. Here are a few things every writer should remember:

1. First drafts discover the story

You may have an outline. You may know your protagonist, antagonist, setting, conflict and ending. But there are things you cannot discover until you start putting words on the pages.

• Your protagonist might behave differently from what you expected.

• A minor character might suddenly become important.

• A scene you thought would be powerful might feel completely unnecessary.

• A conversation might reveal a new conflict.

• Even your ending may begin to change.

Think about a novelist planning a mystery. They may know that the murderer will eventually be revealed, but while writing the investigation, they discover a better motive, a more interesting clue or a stronger relationship between two characters. The first draft gives you hidden information that planning alone cannot provide.

2. You cannot edit a blank page

A blank page gives you nothing to work with. This is why perfectionism can become dangerous during writing the first draft. If you stop after every sentence to make it perfect, you may spend an hour polishing a paragraph that you might delete later. You must remember that:

• A terrible paragraph can be rewritten.

• A weak scene can be removed.

• An unnecessary character can be deleted.

• A boring chapter can be reconstructed.

• An awkward sentence can be transformed.

But all that happens when there are words on the blank pages to begin with. You can fix almost anything during the revision phase, but you cannot revise what you haven't written. So, don't be afraid of writing something imperfect. Let the story take shape, even if it looks messy in the beginning.

3. Your first draft will expose problems you couldn't see in the outline

Your ideas may sound fantastic in your head, but when you write the scenes, you realise you have found multiple problems before finalising the manuscript. A few things start to wreak havoc inside you:

• You need to shift the clues earlier.

• Another character should reveal certain mysteries.

• Maybe you now want the protagonist to reveal certain mysteries accidentally.

• Or maybe the mysteries aren’t interesting enough.

Your first draft always becomes your testing ground. It allows you to discover your story’s weaknesses while there's still time to fix them. It gives you the freedom to experiment with your story. You can shift scenes, change characters, rewrite conversations, strengthen conflicts, or even remove whole chapters.

4. Your characters may surprise you

One of the most enjoyable things about writing fiction is discovering that your characters don't always behave according to your original plan. You may have imagined your protagonist to be confident and fearless, but then you place them in a difficult situation and realise they are actually hesitating to take the first step. Or you may have planned for a character to forgive someone, but while writing a confrontation scene, you realise forgiveness feels unnatural to them.

• Don't force your character to follow your outline.

• Pay attention to their reactions along the way.

• Let their flaws influence the major plots.

• Allow your characters to change your story.

These minor changes can actually make your characters feel more human. Who knows, you might just discover a better story than the one you had originally planned!

5. Your prose will probably change dramatically

Your first draft may contain sentences that make you cringe.

• You may use the same word repeatedly.

• Your descriptions may be excessive.

• Your dialogue may sound unnatural.

• Your metaphors may not work.

• Your transitions may be clumsy.

• Your paragraphs may be too long.

During editing phase, you can always improve:

• · Your word choices

• · The sentence structures

• · The dialogues

• · The descriptions

• · The pacing

• · The tone

• · The imagery

• · The transitions

• · The emotional depth

6. Don't confuse a bad first draft with bad writing ability

This distinction is crucial. Be proud that you have produced a version of the story which needs improvement, not discouragement. Even experienced writers have to revise their draft multiple times. A published novel may look effortless when you hold it in your hands, but it is actually the result of countless changes, rewrites, cuts, additions and corrections.

Final Thought

Your first draft is not supposed to impress your readers. It is supposed to help you understand your story. It is where you discover your characters, test your plot, uncover major problems, find unexpected ideas and create the foundation for your final manuscript.

• Write badly.

• Write freely.

• Write completely.

• Revise.

• Rewrite.

• Polish.

Don't judge your novel while you're still building it. Finish the messy version first, because you can't edit a blank page, but you can always transform a rough draft into a story worth reading.