Then it occurred to me that the first draft isn’t supposed to be fun. It’s the work part of writing a novel. The fun starts after you finish that first draft. The beauty of creating revisions, the excitement of perfecting your story, and the sheer joy of finishing your book … all these things are what makes writing so much fun for me. The first draft is only the beginning of the process.
And that beginning can be a painful one. Getting started and mastering the basics of fiction writing is no small thing. Putting those ideas on paper and getting them to take on a form that makes a certain degree of sense is not always easy, and many people have asked me where I start when tackling the maze that is the first draft. The answer isn’t necessarily what you’d expect.
I start by reading. I read something in the genre I’m attempting to write. There is endless inspiration to be found by reading the work of respected authors in your own genre. I’m a fantasy writer, so I read Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, Lord Dunsany, JRR Tolkien, and even Mercedes Lackey. These authors, along with many others, never fail to inspire me to write.
I also keep a journal of my thoughts for a few days. I think carefully about what type of plot I might like to pursue and write everything down. Usually, somewhere in those scribbled notes I can find the basics of a novel outline. And from this outline, my first draft can emerge. And though my first draft bears little resemblance to the finished product, I can rest a little easier knowing the hardest part is done.
So how do you go about completing your own first draft? I don’t know. Everyone is different. All I can tell you is that if you don’t get through that first draft, you’ll never finish that novel.
