My Version of a First Draft

What is a first draft? This can be different for many people. For me I just want to get Ideas out of my head. But I may take it just a step further. I’ll explain …

First my nots.
I am not going to worry about spelling, grammar or punctuation.
Nor finding the right words.
I’m not going to worry about word count.
I’m not going to worry about for which age group I am writing.
I will not worry if it should be a PB or early reader or for a magazine.
I will not worry if everything makes sense. Plot holes? Whatever.
These will not be my worries. This will all come with rewrites and edits.

I write by hand. I am a pencil and paper kind of guy. Officially the first draft is done when I finish scribbling and set down the pencil. For 52 First Drafts I want to get them all typed into the computer to be complete – for these reasons: 1) 52 first drafts on scraps of different paper will be impossible to keep organized. 2) I’m traveling with one carry-on sized bag, so no room. 3) It will be easier for me to continue to work on the ones I like and share them with my critique group.

In my process of getting the stories onto the computer I will surely edit a bit, taking care of any minor problems that are easy fixes.

I will worry about being complete; beginning, middle and end, and most of the bits in between. It needs to be something I might let my husband or critique group read, something I can work on later if I want. If items need minor research, I will do the research. I will not leave parts unwritten. Sometimes when writing, I will leave a space with a note (figure out dialogue), (Think of name for this character), (describe the scene here). I will complete all of these notes.

If I start a story and work on it for a while, but find it’s not really going anywhere (no ending), It doesn’t count. I don’t expect I will like everything I write, but by the end of the year, I will have 52 stories.

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