As someone who is not a writer I just want to say that I still get a lot of value from your videos and often implement the way that you make me think about things into my life. Starting over is okay, and it's good, and it doesn't mean you're starting from nothing - it just means you want to make it better. I needed to hear this, and I needed to be thinking about it, so thank you!
Ahhhh, I'm so glad!! :) :) :) With these kinds of videos, I sometimes wonder if they're worth putting up or if anyone else will get something out of them, so this put a huge smile on my face.
This came at such the right time. I’ve been struggling. I was pushing really hard to write a “crappy” first draft so it would be done and I could revise it. I got 35k words into it and completely hit a wall. I wasn’t enjoying it because I could see the flaws as I was writing. I thought I could just fix them in the next draft but I was wasting my time by continuing writing. My instincts were right. So first I took a much needed break and second, I stopped counting my words and now I’m working on a “living document” I’m allowed to write anywhere in the document and I’m not counting words so if I spend a whole writing session reading, deleting, and thinking, I won’t feel like I’m not making progress. I also started again from the begging, well from the scenes Im excited about and then the beginning.
I hate the idea of a story being a project of mediocrity, I read an article the other day that said “if you post everyday your drowning your readers in mediocrity” and it made me really uncomfortable to think of something anyone wrote as mediocre. Like I would never say that someone else wrote is Mediocre. Its either something that interests me or doesn’t, regardless of my interest in the article or book or anything I refuse to believe that anyone’s work is mediocre. Sometimes it just takes you as long as it takes you and the end result is either something you are proud of or you not, but either way it doesn’t make it mediocre.
The notion of a "draft" always felt a bit strange to me because I'm the kind of person who plots everything and then starts writing and edits later as much as I need, all at once. BUT I love the idea of versions, because that's something I'm familiar with - every time I have to change something MAJOR, that's a new version for me. Last year I had to get surgery done out of the blue, and I had started a project just a couple of weeks before. When I returned from the hospital I discovered that version of the story I had worked on disappeared forever because my laptop decided to be a drama queen; so it was starting all over for me, and that's a new version. But now that I have this version finished and I'm editing it, I count it as one story and make edits based on that. Sometimes details, sometimes big things, but in my head it is still the same version (does it make sense?) Starting over is a blessing, in my humble opinion, because you realized something had to change and are willing to put in the work to... make it work. When you find something that works for you, that's magic. Follow your gut and it'll take you to beautiful places.
As someone who works in the trad pub industry, the sheer number of drafts after it reaches us would make people dizzy! Never feel guilty for spending time on a project you love. Drafts are inevitable!!
Your rewriting sounds more like editing in "my" writer language. I think all us writers kind of have our own names for our processes. :) I think it's pretty normal to go through several drafts to polish up your story. Don't let anyone make you feel bad about having multiple drafts. It just means your final product will be awesome.
A draft is like doing a sketch. It doesn't matter how many sketches I make as long as I'm happy with the finished product. That's how I like to look at things. I've done so many sketches of my NaNo project I can't even count anymore but the idea is getting closer to completion. Sometimes and idea might need to be "abandoned" but sometimes that same idea can be adopted in some other way. I'm not too precious with my ideas because they're always within my "sketchbook".
I love a multi-draft process. If you're refining it each time, then you're only getting better both at writing this project and writing in general. You learn more by revisiting your work than grinding through a single draft. Neither are bad but if you want to learn a lot about yourself, your project, and writing in general, multiple drafts is a great way to do that
When I have a book that needs to be edited and the plot won't have crazy drastic changes then I call it draft 1, 2, ect. But when the entire story needs to be rewritten, and changed from the ground up, then that's when I call them versions. So far there's only one book that I'm working on that is going to be labeled as versions, and I'm glad I took the time to realize the whole story needed to be trashed and rewritten. I'm so much happier with this new version of my story, it's already looking so much better and I'm happy that I'm changing it instead of trying to edit a book that can't be saved.
This is such a fun conversation! Personally, anything with rewriting or big piece changes, for me, is a draft. Anything that is changing minor details or 'combing over' the piece is an edit. I don't write novels/books, but I write essays both for school and publications, and short stories for fun. The terms I use for myself are: Outline/Baby zero draft - really just a big, messy plan. Dot points, question marks, some messy paragraphs that may or may not be relevant later. Sometimes links to research things. Zero draft - Really bad writing, but the ideas are put down in some comprehensible order. Very verbose, but full sentences and paragraphs (no dot points) Draft one - Rewrite zero draft from scratch. The piece is now somewhat decent. Draft two - I usually write this in long hand. The main goal is to cut unnecessary words Draft three - Typing up draft 2. The focus here is usually on the words themselves, and on making sentences sound better. Draft four - if I am writing against criteria, this is my biggest checking point for ensuring I have included everything to the right amount. This is also where big restructuring happens. Draft five - I don't always have a draft five. This is my last 'rewrite'. After that comes 5 - 10 rounds of edits. This is combing through for anything I missed, fixing up clunky sentences, checking over spelling/grammar and other such details.
i've been working on some version of my wip for over 10 years (in tandem with other projects as well). I started when I was 15, & i fully recognize that i could not have written the current version of this story that i'm working on at that age. this has been the wip that has allowed me to work out what my writing process is & how it has evolved over time. i jump around a lot within my draft whenever i'm writing, so the distinction between drafts is usually when i am making major changes & opt to start over in a new document. with my current draft i'm really leaning into outlining/skeleton drafting & it has been enlightening to realize that i'm much more of a plotter than i originally thought
I loved this topic for a chat! I personally don't focus on draft vs. version because it would get too muddled in my head. I write a first draft, then let it sit for at least a month before printing it out to read/mark up, then I sit down to retype the whole thing (usually with major structural changes) into a draft two. I mark each successive draft by that pattern of writing/resting/rewriting, though after a few drafts the rewriting part turns into editing in my mind. I'm so intrigued by how other writers use different processes or words; it's honestly so cool to hear!
Thank you for this. It came at the perfect time. I’m considering doing the next version of my novel from scratch, hand writing it. I started it over 20 years ago and my style and knowledge of the craft has definitely changed and I think it’s time to see where I can go now. I’m afraid, but I know I can always fall back I prior drafts if I need too. It will be interesting to see where the new road leads. Thank you again.❤
Starting over for me is definitely scrapping it and restarting. I've actually done this multiple times with a fantasy series that I keep working on. It's been years that I keep restarting because dynamics end up not working and to make them work I have to completely rebuild the world. Here's hoping it may eventually come together! Otherwise, I usually go through 3 to 5 drafts!
I always define rewriting an opposition to editing. Rewriting means literally opening a blank doc and retyping the whole thing (usually from the beginning but there are exceptions to every rule) versus editing, which doesn't require a "new draft" label because it's just going in and making a few changes (even if that includes a couple of scene re-writes or leads to a partial rewrite from a certain point onward). I've never considered calling them different versions of the story, since each draft can be so different from the one before. Like, in my second novel (Merry Arlan: Finding The Heir) I literally put in the acknowledgements a thank you to my wife for not divorcing me over the draft where [it's not really spoilers because it doesn't happen] Merry & Kalik break up in act one -- I have no doubt that other's would define that kind of a difference as a different version but to me it's just another draft. I did go looking for my 2019 Camp NaNo pirate project the other day (because I finished a 2018 project I had to keep putting aside) and realised just how much work that needs before it can be useable. It's so much fun (and pirates!) but it's also really messy, like my teenage writing, it doesn't know where its going and then it just stops. I'm glad this video appeared when it did because I have been sad about the potential to never be able to share my pirates with the world but you're right, there is no shame or harm in starting over so I might just do that with Pirates (at some point, probably not right now)
The version thing helps so much! Whenever someone (a few people!) ask what draft I’m on… I never know what to say… because I’ve had many “iterations” of the same story. Personally I find definitions hugely interesting. What’s a draft/editing/revising/rewriting/polishing?
I read a writer (can't remember who) saying that what they start with is never (or hardly ever) what they end up with. Start with the idea and go from there.
After the first draft, there are some scenes that are fine as is... Some scenes need a full rewrite... Some scenes need to be deleted or combined. And sometimes there are scenes that are just flat out missing. It's so hard to determine where draft 1 ends and draft 2 begins, so I don't bother counting. When there are no words, I'm drafting. Other than that, I call it edits, and I might need to flip back and forth from the first scene to the last one, but it's all just editing to me.
This is more uplifting than I thought it would be. It's so liberating to see that my novel isn't too long in the making, particularly since I have a very demanding day job. Thank you, Kate!
I tend not to worry about the label of the word - rewriting, starting over, drafts vs revision, etc - but I've done bits of all of them and it changes per story. I had one that I forged ahead with a story after the first 13k words even though it took a turn down another path and ended up writing another 40k that eventually was cut. But I needed to go down that path to know that I didn't want to have that as part of the story. Cutting that 40k felt like starting over, but it was starting over with 13k in the bank. Others - I've set aside after the first 1-2k, and written several beginnings before settling on the one that I felt could get there.
I wrote 90000 words of my first draft and have started over completely. I kept the old draft just in case. Even though I’m starting over, it doesn’t feel like I’m starting from scratch. It feels like the story is already in me.
I described it to a writing buddy as, I was “starting over” from my nano project. I wasn’t necessarily scrapping the original idea but it definitely became an..AU of the original like, I just had to change so much not because the original was bad but because the idea didn’t work for the vibes that I wanted.
I found this video fascinating, especially in regards to my own process. I tend to have false starts when I start a story where I get like 5k in and need to rewrite it before going forward because I messed up somewhere, but I tend to edit as I go instead of doing clearly delineated drafts. I will start a writing session by editing what I previously wrote, and when I hit the end of each act, I tend to go back and edit to tidy up my work as well. Once I finish, then I do edits within the text, so no retyping of the whole book. While I don't blow through zero/first drafts (I move more like a snail), I do go quickly through the editing stage because there have been so many micro edits along the way.
Well, the series I´m currently writing is basically me starting over. I finished it in 2021 and started over. I cannot even call it a second draft, because I threw the entire plot of book 1 to the demons and made a different, fully new one, that better connects with where the story is going. I was 13 when I started the original. I´m 21 now. So of course there are some huge changes But some stories are worth fighting for
I've finally come to terms with that fact that rewriting is simply a necessary part of my process. I find I need to rewrite whole scenes and chapters multiple times in order to fully develop and improve the story
I loved this video, I've been working on my debut novel idea for a whole year. I start an outline and then I change it...I start using my laptop to wrote and delete everything from overthrowing. I am the queen of starting over and I feel you .😊😊
This is so great to hear. I finished my book and upon a reread I found that I did not like it as I previously had. Completely redrafted it and now I’m rewriting but I’ve had so much doubt. I’m going to go for it after watching this!
Personally, I don't care draft/revision... Every month I rename the file "title - Mth" and file it in that month's folder. With my Robot murder mystery, I had 60K by 2013, went back to it in 2020 and binned 20K, rewriting from there. I handed my work, of genius, to my CP's who said; one of the main characters just wouldn't do X. Binned the last third. But whatever it takes to improve the project you have come to love. Think it was Oscar Wilde who said; "The only thing to be done with good advice is pass it on."
I'm a big fan of re-writing and starting over, to the point that I have to try and keep that view in check because not every edit needs to be a total start over. Sometimes it's okay to just go back and bring motivations or emotions closer to the surface without needing to alter the bones. I'm re-writing a story I wrote at 18, changing the perspectives, characters, setting, finer details and it is now so much better than the generic chosen hero it was.
The funny thing for me is that in my head, version feels smaller than draft, haha. Like I refer to 'draft 1', 'draft 2' etc, but if I went through one of those drafts and cleaned up a few chapters (often the beginning) I think of that as draft 1.2, ie, draft one, version two? It just goes to show that we're all using terminology in different ways, so it's worth listening to what someone actually means by a version or a draft!
OKAY I DO TOO ACTUALLY. Maybe it’s seeing like, app updates, where it’s all version 1.1 or 2.5 bahaha. I find that in one-to-one conversations, I never have a hard time understanding what someone means regardless of the terminology they use, but in an authortube type setting, it can get very muddled and confusing.
I think different writers probably have different definitions of "done" and maybe that contributes to this unnecessary judgement of each other. i.e. some writers are fine with / are forced to stop at "this is good enough that readers enjoy it" while others are willing to / have time to take it all the way to "this is the very best I can possibly do" and all the shades in between. Our approach is going to differ across projects, across writers, etc etc. All in all, only you know what's best for your project :)
Recently, I've had to go back to the drawing board with my novel had to do a complete overhaul. It was rough but editing over and over again wouldn't have ever made the story good. You gotta have strong bones before you build your house or some kind of metaphor like that. >_
This video could not have come out at a better time!! I realized last night that I wrote about six chapters ‘in the wrong direction’ and it’s been hard to be okay with scrapping and trying again. This made me feel more ok to do so :)
I'm currently wading through an edit (fourth draft, woo!!) that is a lot more comprehensive than I realized. I'm adding or rewriting many scenes because I'm cutting a couple POVs and making sure the remaining ones have a proper character arc and meld together well. "Too many drafts", as far as I'm concerned, happens when they stop getting better. Trying to make a finished product in one draft sounds like it would take all the joy out. My first draft is a sandcastle and not meant to be more. It's inspired by zero drafts, but I call it a discovery draft -- extra scenes, changing direction midbook. I skip important scenes or never quite write the ending. The discovery draft is done when I know what the story looks like and I'm ready to write the first "real" draft.
I always mentally add the phrase "In my opinion" when someone gives super absolutist advice of any sort! They just forgot to say "in my opinion" or "this is what works for me." 😂
I really like the idea of versions vs drafts because I usually need at least one if not two complete versions of the story before I find the actual *story* in all of that mess. The versions are completely ground-up rewrites, taking the nuggets that were good and interesting and putting them into whole new contexts, with all-new words. Then I get to the right *version* and from there on it's drafts... and ooof it is a little painful how long the whole thing can take. But for the MS I'm putting the final-final-FINAL polish on now, it's draft 4 of version 3, which means I've written and thrown out probably close to 200,000 words through the last few years, to get to the 125k that's actually *good*. I kind of hate this process and would love to get the right version the first time I write it... but I'm learning more and more that even when I outline (which I always do!) I'm just a discovery writer and need to get the story wrong in order to see what it ought to be. Frustrating, but not the end of the world. It just requires so...much...patience.
I had two characters that I loved in a historical romance that I wrote a few years ago, but the story I placed them in wasn't quite right, so after a taking some time away from them, doing some more research, because research is fun, I scraped the first 120K story and completely started over with the same cast of characters, moving the era in which they were set back a few years which actually gave me a better frame to build their story in. It still needs some tweaks and I'm three edits in, but I'm letting it sit until July's Camp Nano when I'll pull it back up and do the next rounds of revisions.
This is perfect timing. I'm about 60k out of probably 100k into my first ever first draft and I'm realizing things that need to change in draft 2. It feels a little like...then what did I write this for? But the answer is - to figure that stuff out! It might not be as soon as I'd like but eventually I'll be able to tell this story and tell it well.
really needed to hear this! i'm hoping to partake in camp nano for the first time in years, now that i kind of have a less busy schedule in april, and i'm scaaaaaared.......
I think each story takes as many drafts and revisions as is needed for that project. And starting over, is a good thing. I don't think each version or draft needs be start from the beginning to be its own draft/version. And I normally do start typing from the beginning when I 'start over' because of formatting issues. But that also makes more room for typos!
I had to come to terms with the idea of dropping excess ideas that won't go anywhere. Had many of em for years that I clung to and I had to clean the slate. You get really attached to some ideas but sometimes they have to be dropped. Bits and pieces can be brought into new projects, sure, but sometimes you have to drop a story completely and that can be difficult but sometimes necessary.
I like writing the draft that's most true to my initial vision for it, even if all those moments don't make sense, i get that catharsis, and then I'm fine changing things, because my I know my personal brain version is completed and in the universe.
As someone who started re-writing a book that had already been published, I enjoy the discussion of drafting and never think it’s to late or that there are to many drafts.
I very much lean towards your definition of re-writing Kate, although I used to think that "starting over" was completely scrapping the entire project and doing a brand new idea. I don't know when I switched, but somewhere along the line, I knew that physically re-writing each word just makes me feel better about the next draft because I know my writing will have changed from one draft to the next and I know I'll eventually reach that point where I'm like, "This is it". But on a less serious note, right now (among my many other projects) I am re-writing a fanfiction (that I don't even plan to post) purely because I love the idea and it gives me serotonin. I REALLY want to see it finished and exactly how I see it in my head. Is it a waste of time? Maybe. Do I see it that way and care? Nope. :)
In my opinion 🤠Re-drafting or Layering is the only way to find the story, but planning by Beginning, Middle and End on every level is the key here and always writing toward an End or reverse that process and start at the End's TRD (Disaster). Anotherwards you can even work backwards. etc...... Flash Fiction works best using prompts of Content (Genre tropes) or Structure (Beginning, Middle and End) or Method Writing (Stream of Consciousness journal etc or other books). It all starts with one word or prompt and build that to 100,000 words re-drafting etc.. But the biggest tool for me is understanding Motivation and Reaction Units that build up Plot developments in the Scenes (Situations) that have a min--TRD at the end of them that builds to the Messo TRD at the end of scenes or what is called Disaster. It's the manipulation of M&R units that make great stories and where we put subtext and Author Narrative with in and between them the counts the most in Fiction writing. M&R is the building blocks of Scenes and Scenes the building blocks of Story. Organization Principal is another trick for non-liner scenes (Fragmentation as well) - its so hard to do at once you have to be a re-writer..😎
Re-draft I spelled "Mini - TRD wrong" (Typo) - TRD means Plot Twist or Reversal ((Forward and Backward) or Heightened Danger. and forgot to mention Bookends. Ok we bookend everything - In M&R Units as we use Procedure Beats of either Action or Dialog as its bookends of motivation and response, with Dramatic Beats of interiority modes used between them as an internalization or also called subtext in the POV 's head etc. We then put all Exteriority modes of Author Narrative or Commentary between two different M&R Units, not within them. Image-Moment goes in the internalization as well or can be - it is hard to do all that in one draft - almost impossible☹
My first drafts take the longest because I'm a pantser so I like to take my time getting to know my characters and the world (I write various subgenres of romance but fantasy is my favorite ❤). Since I've been writing seriously since I was 16, I think my first drafts are pretty clean. I'm an underwriter so I'm adding words usually up until the final draft and don't tend to cut out much.
I'm definitely somehow who drafts quickly. If I'm purely dedicated to writing with no worries of school or work, I can do at minimum 100,000 words in three months for a first or any number draft
^w^ answers: 1. starting over obviously can be different from time to time but usually I just start again from the blank page XD 2. In February 2021, I wanted to make my first novel. I pantsed it for six or seven chapters (until June 2021). At one point I got so frustrated with my ideas because I felt like my MC was meandering and I realized I seemed to care more about "the aesthetic" of the story rather than what it actually was. I spent two months (July and August 2021) trying my best to write one more chapter but I put it on the shelf then and simply brewed up the concepts of it in my mind from September to December 2021. In January 2022, I started a document again. This time it was a lore book. Now I've finished the lore book and I have written 23 chapters so far ^w^. It was really sad when I got lost but now I'm happy with my progress. 3. Changes every time, lol. 4. Rewriting is how I define starting over. 5. Ooo for me a version is like an alternate universe where one little decision is different and affects a lot. I like making imaginary chapters like that
Thanks a million for this video, Kate! :-) I so wish I could write a zero draft and then re-write the story as many times as it needs, to bring my vision and the written version as close together as possible. I cannot help being a horrible perfectionist that thinks she has to be able to produce an already well-worded sole draft. It's utterly tedious because, in my heart of hearts, I know that I'd so enjoy letting go and allowing myself to write a crappy, shitty first draft.
Personally, how i write is what most people consider "doing it all in 1 draft." But I can't see it as one draft when there are big changes. So I see as draft 1, 2, 3, ex. Even though I keep it in the same document.
I’ve restarted my story several times, it’s literally changed so much since the original idea. There’s nothing wrong with doing several drafts - that’s what we’ve been told to do since creative writing 101 in high school (or sooner). There is also nothing wrong with starting over completely. Don’t let people make you question your process because guess what, once your finished this book is going to be AMAZING and I 100% believe that.
1st. When I saw the video title, my first thought was What did I miss on Friday's stream? And 2nd: Who in the world would be confused in March about what they meant in November, bahaha!
I only call the first two ‘drafts’ and then when I go in to address certain things they become ‘edits’. I don’t know why, it’s just the way my brain labelled it 😂
A new draft to me is if I'm opening a new document. I start with a loose outline then rough draft, then 1st draft and so on. I like to keep it to 5 after the rough, so 6 drafts before sending it to a professional I'm sceptical if the one draft idea because won't editors have something to say? Also, we are creative people, not machines, it takes time to craft the story you want.
Rewriting/starting over for me means: I’ll write one chapter then a few days I’ll just redo most of that chapter because it missed a lot of descriptions of things or was missing a few stuff that it needed…or it was just one of those were I just wrote it down just so it’s down and it looks like a mess so I’ll have to restart it
Yes, I have felt like I'm not going fast enough but I tend to take my time on first drafts and type ups. It really helps to not need so many corrections later if I pay closer attention the first time. I write everything by hand first then type it all up later. Sometimes changes occur. Would that under your process count as a rewrite or a revision?
My book is being published very soon and I still dont feel like I deservevthe title😅 For me rewriting was, when I finished the first draft, I then red it 5 times and corrected stuff along the way 🤷♀️
I don't understand the concept of draft, actually, I never know the draft I'm actually in. I just write some chapter here and there, start over again so many times is hard to count.
I have never finished an idea of mine... I have too many stories that are half baked. Ive tried outlining and plotting much to my dismay. The first story I tried writing I would have finished but I literally lost it. It was on notebook paper. It's discouraging that I'm unable to finish something. I have so many characters and OCS for that matter and my OCS are more developed and well rounded than my original idea characters. I have Interesting ideas and concepts. However I can't finish it. It sucks. Idk whether anyone has an idea for what to do. I just feel stuck. Cause nothing works the way I want it to.
First! I think the comments you mentioned are a bit aggressive (based on what you said), but I’d personally be interested in trying that system myself so could you say what a video and username it’s on so I can find it?
They never actually gave me a specific system OR video to reference! Only th e person's channel. (And I've "hidden" them from mine now.) But if they make a new account and start commenting again, I'll ask and let you know. 😂
When people find out that I am an author, they ask me to "teach" them how to write a book and what's my process. Impossible. In fact, my way has changed over the last 20 + years. Everyone is different. I can tell them how I do it, but I always follow up with "you have to find what works for you". Great video!
Writing books is like raising kids. You go in with some preconceived notions of what it’ll be like, but in the end, you need to raise the “kid” you got. Each book needs different processes, in my opinion.
Oooh yes! Definitely can't speak to the kid part (I trust you, it sounds legit bahaha), but each book needing its own process is something I've learned for sure! I'm only now learning not to be frustrated by that fact bahaha.
I'm writing my story for reader me, and it would be great if I manage to finish it in a way that it flows and is good. It will be amazing if my friend likes it, and more so if others like it too, but I'm honest with myself I'm writing a story I would like to read
Yesssss! Do it and let me know how it works for you! I thought it was really interesting (and love when articles come with pictures of the process they describe bahaha).
Thank you for this video. The snake-oil salesmen out there trying to convince people they've somehow discovered the "secret" to writing a publishable book in a single draft, is super harmful I feel like. I would not be able to motivate myself to write every day if I was putting that kind of pressure on myself. The thing that keeps me going is knowing I have as many drafts/rewrites as I need, to turn a bad book into a good book. Shaming people for this because it's not "efficient enough" sounds like a scam or at least bs hustle-culture garbage.
Kate I wanted to know if you were going to do a video on ChatGPT as it has been marketed to writers and talk about it as a tool vs AI writing becoming more common?
I've really enjoyed reading Haruki Murakami's book on writing "Novelist as a Vocation." (you should totally read it!) In it there's a passage where he quotes Raymond Carver having a conversation with another writer who said "[the story] would have been better if I'd taken the time." Raymond was dumbfounded, thinking "if the writing can't be as good as it is within us to make it, then why do it? I wanted to say to my friend, for heaven's sake, go do something else. There have to be easier and more honest ways to make a living." There are a lot of pressures to go fast in our * modern world * in general, and I see it a lot in self publishing, but like other creative communities we should embrace #slowmaking! That's the whole point of writing, like other art - to make it as good as it can be, and develop our skills over time. Rewrite as much as you want!! Some of my favorite books took over ten years to write.
Okay forgive me, I'm only 1:46 in and I already have thoughts about whoever left the comment suggesting that you can get everything "just right" in one draft. Like, is that even a thing? Who's getting everything right in one draft? Please let me know what that secret is... Okay back to the rest of the video, I may be back lol
Too many drafts? Lmaooo, look at how many drafts many famous authors wrote. Look at Tolkien and Kawabata and understand that not everyone can write out their draft perfectly on the first go. To put it in music, not many of us can be Mozart, making not a single mistake on perfectly pristine drafts of high quality music. Most of us are more like Beethoven, where much is scribbled out and it's a mess for a very long time. Does that make Beethoven's music any less good than Mozart's. I think having too many drafts is a BS thing to critique. Writing is personal and requires personal satisfaction, as well as an element of objectivity with which to make sure the draft makes sense logically. It's difficult work. I have like twelve drafts of everything I do.
imo if someone says they finish their stories in "one draft" they're either grossly overestimating their ability to write or they're too lazy to learn how to revise. Both instances result in a mediocre book at best. Then to repeatedly comment on someone's writing process insisting that they just need to do it in one draft is just cringe
The finished product as a gift to yourself is easily the single best thing I've heard all week.
❤
Yes. Indeed
As someone who is not a writer I just want to say that I still get a lot of value from your videos and often implement the way that you make me think about things into my life. Starting over is okay, and it's good, and it doesn't mean you're starting from nothing - it just means you want to make it better. I needed to hear this, and I needed to be thinking about it, so thank you!
Ahhhh, I'm so glad!! :) :) :) With these kinds of videos, I sometimes wonder if they're worth putting up or if anyone else will get something out of them, so this put a huge smile on my face.
This came at such the right time. I’ve been struggling. I was pushing really hard to write a “crappy” first draft so it would be done and I could revise it. I got 35k words into it and completely hit a wall. I wasn’t enjoying it because I could see the flaws as I was writing. I thought I could just fix them in the next draft but I was wasting my time by continuing writing. My instincts were right. So first I took a much needed break and second, I stopped counting my words and now I’m working on a “living document” I’m allowed to write anywhere in the document and I’m not counting words so if I spend a whole writing session reading, deleting, and thinking, I won’t feel like I’m not making progress. I also started again from the begging, well from the scenes Im excited about and then the beginning.
Currently in the process of scraping 90,000 mediocre words in order to create a better version and I really appreciate the timing of this!
I hate the idea of a story being a project of mediocrity, I read an article the other day that said “if you post everyday your drowning your readers in mediocrity” and it made me really uncomfortable to think of something anyone wrote as mediocre. Like I would never say that someone else wrote is Mediocre. Its either something that interests me or doesn’t, regardless of my interest in the article or book or anything I refuse to believe that anyone’s work is mediocre. Sometimes it just takes you as long as it takes you and the end result is either something you are proud of or you not, but either way it doesn’t make it mediocre.
Wow I’ve been trying to have the guts to scrap 27k words you’re amazing!
The notion of a "draft" always felt a bit strange to me because I'm the kind of person who plots everything and then starts writing and edits later as much as I need, all at once. BUT I love the idea of versions, because that's something I'm familiar with - every time I have to change something MAJOR, that's a new version for me. Last year I had to get surgery done out of the blue, and I had started a project just a couple of weeks before. When I returned from the hospital I discovered that version of the story I had worked on disappeared forever because my laptop decided to be a drama queen; so it was starting all over for me, and that's a new version. But now that I have this version finished and I'm editing it, I count it as one story and make edits based on that. Sometimes details, sometimes big things, but in my head it is still the same version (does it make sense?) Starting over is a blessing, in my humble opinion, because you realized something had to change and are willing to put in the work to... make it work. When you find something that works for you, that's magic. Follow your gut and it'll take you to beautiful places.
As someone who works in the trad pub industry, the sheer number of drafts after it reaches us would make people dizzy! Never feel guilty for spending time on a project you love. Drafts are inevitable!!
Your rewriting sounds more like editing in "my" writer language. I think all us writers kind of have our own names for our processes. :) I think it's pretty normal to go through several drafts to polish up your story. Don't let anyone make you feel bad about having multiple drafts. It just means your final product will be awesome.
A draft is like doing a sketch. It doesn't matter how many sketches I make as long as I'm happy with the finished product. That's how I like to look at things. I've done so many sketches of my NaNo project I can't even count anymore but the idea is getting closer to completion. Sometimes and idea might need to be "abandoned" but sometimes that same idea can be adopted in some other way. I'm not too precious with my ideas because they're always within my "sketchbook".
I love a multi-draft process. If you're refining it each time, then you're only getting better both at writing this project and writing in general. You learn more by revisiting your work than grinding through a single draft. Neither are bad but if you want to learn a lot about yourself, your project, and writing in general, multiple drafts is a great way to do that
When I have a book that needs to be edited and the plot won't have crazy drastic changes then I call it draft 1, 2, ect. But when the entire story needs to be rewritten, and changed from the ground up, then that's when I call them versions. So far there's only one book that I'm working on that is going to be labeled as versions, and I'm glad I took the time to realize the whole story needed to be trashed and rewritten. I'm so much happier with this new version of my story, it's already looking so much better and I'm happy that I'm changing it instead of trying to edit a book that can't be saved.
This is such a fun conversation! Personally, anything with rewriting or big piece changes, for me, is a draft. Anything that is changing minor details or 'combing over' the piece is an edit.
I don't write novels/books, but I write essays both for school and publications, and short stories for fun. The terms I use for myself are:
Outline/Baby zero draft - really just a big, messy plan. Dot points, question marks, some messy paragraphs that may or may not be relevant later. Sometimes links to research things.
Zero draft - Really bad writing, but the ideas are put down in some comprehensible order. Very verbose, but full sentences and paragraphs (no dot points)
Draft one - Rewrite zero draft from scratch. The piece is now somewhat decent.
Draft two - I usually write this in long hand. The main goal is to cut unnecessary words
Draft three - Typing up draft 2. The focus here is usually on the words themselves, and on making sentences sound better.
Draft four - if I am writing against criteria, this is my biggest checking point for ensuring I have included everything to the right amount. This is also where big restructuring happens.
Draft five - I don't always have a draft five. This is my last 'rewrite'.
After that comes 5 - 10 rounds of edits. This is combing through for anything I missed, fixing up clunky sentences, checking over spelling/grammar and other such details.
i've been working on some version of my wip for over 10 years (in tandem with other projects as well). I started when I was 15, & i fully recognize that i could not have written the current version of this story that i'm working on at that age. this has been the wip that has allowed me to work out what my writing process is & how it has evolved over time. i jump around a lot within my draft whenever i'm writing, so the distinction between drafts is usually when i am making major changes & opt to start over in a new document. with my current draft i'm really leaning into outlining/skeleton drafting & it has been enlightening to realize that i'm much more of a plotter than i originally thought
I loved this topic for a chat! I personally don't focus on draft vs. version because it would get too muddled in my head. I write a first draft, then let it sit for at least a month before printing it out to read/mark up, then I sit down to retype the whole thing (usually with major structural changes) into a draft two. I mark each successive draft by that pattern of writing/resting/rewriting, though after a few drafts the rewriting part turns into editing in my mind. I'm so intrigued by how other writers use different processes or words; it's honestly so cool to hear!
Thank you for this. It came at the perfect time. I’m considering doing the next version of my novel from scratch, hand writing it. I started it over 20 years ago and my style and knowledge of the craft has definitely changed and I think it’s time to see where I can go now. I’m afraid, but I know I can always fall back I prior drafts if I need too. It will be interesting to see where the new road leads. Thank you again.❤
Starting over for me is definitely scrapping it and restarting. I've actually done this multiple times with a fantasy series that I keep working on. It's been years that I keep restarting because dynamics end up not working and to make them work I have to completely rebuild the world. Here's hoping it may eventually come together! Otherwise, I usually go through 3 to 5 drafts!
I always define rewriting an opposition to editing. Rewriting means literally opening a blank doc and retyping the whole thing (usually from the beginning but there are exceptions to every rule) versus editing, which doesn't require a "new draft" label because it's just going in and making a few changes (even if that includes a couple of scene re-writes or leads to a partial rewrite from a certain point onward).
I've never considered calling them different versions of the story, since each draft can be so different from the one before. Like, in my second novel (Merry Arlan: Finding The Heir) I literally put in the acknowledgements a thank you to my wife for not divorcing me over the draft where [it's not really spoilers because it doesn't happen] Merry & Kalik break up in act one -- I have no doubt that other's would define that kind of a difference as a different version but to me it's just another draft.
I did go looking for my 2019 Camp NaNo pirate project the other day (because I finished a 2018 project I had to keep putting aside) and realised just how much work that needs before it can be useable. It's so much fun (and pirates!) but it's also really messy, like my teenage writing, it doesn't know where its going and then it just stops. I'm glad this video appeared when it did because I have been sad about the potential to never be able to share my pirates with the world but you're right, there is no shame or harm in starting over so I might just do that with Pirates (at some point, probably not right now)
The version thing helps so much! Whenever someone (a few people!) ask what draft I’m on… I never know what to say… because I’ve had many “iterations” of the same story. Personally I find definitions hugely interesting. What’s a draft/editing/revising/rewriting/polishing?
I read a writer (can't remember who) saying that what they start with is never (or hardly ever) what they end up with. Start with the idea and go from there.
After the first draft, there are some scenes that are fine as is... Some scenes need a full rewrite... Some scenes need to be deleted or combined. And sometimes there are scenes that are just flat out missing.
It's so hard to determine where draft 1 ends and draft 2 begins, so I don't bother counting. When there are no words, I'm drafting. Other than that, I call it edits, and I might need to flip back and forth from the first scene to the last one, but it's all just editing to me.
Ooooh that's an interesting point about it all just being edits, so what does it matter! Bahaha.
This is more uplifting than I thought it would be. It's so liberating to see that my novel isn't too long in the making, particularly since I have a very demanding day job. Thank you, Kate!
I tend not to worry about the label of the word - rewriting, starting over, drafts vs revision, etc - but I've done bits of all of them and it changes per story. I had one that I forged ahead with a story after the first 13k words even though it took a turn down another path and ended up writing another 40k that eventually was cut. But I needed to go down that path to know that I didn't want to have that as part of the story. Cutting that 40k felt like starting over, but it was starting over with 13k in the bank. Others - I've set aside after the first 1-2k, and written several beginnings before settling on the one that I felt could get there.
I wrote 90000 words of my first draft and have started over completely. I kept the old draft just in case. Even though I’m starting over, it doesn’t feel like I’m starting from scratch. It feels like the story is already in me.
I described it to a writing buddy as, I was “starting over” from my nano project. I wasn’t necessarily scrapping the original idea but it definitely became an..AU of the original like, I just had to change so much not because the original was bad but because the idea didn’t work for the vibes that I wanted.
I found this video fascinating, especially in regards to my own process. I tend to have false starts when I start a story where I get like 5k in and need to rewrite it before going forward because I messed up somewhere, but I tend to edit as I go instead of doing clearly delineated drafts. I will start a writing session by editing what I previously wrote, and when I hit the end of each act, I tend to go back and edit to tidy up my work as well. Once I finish, then I do edits within the text, so no retyping of the whole book. While I don't blow through zero/first drafts (I move more like a snail), I do go quickly through the editing stage because there have been so many micro edits along the way.
Well, the series I´m currently writing is basically me starting over. I finished it in 2021 and started over. I cannot even call it a second draft, because I threw the entire plot of book 1 to the demons and made a different, fully new one, that better connects with where the story is going. I was 13 when I started the original. I´m 21 now. So of course there are some huge changes
But some stories are worth fighting for
I've finally come to terms with that fact that rewriting is simply a necessary part of my process. I find I need to rewrite whole scenes and chapters multiple times in order to fully develop and improve the story
I loved this video, I've been working on my debut novel idea for a whole year. I start an outline and then I change it...I start using my laptop to wrote and delete everything from overthrowing. I am the queen of starting over and I feel you .😊😊
I've definitely started over many projects. I've changed just about "everything" about a book and then returned to it.
I’m currently starting over in my vampire romance. I feel a bit more hopeful now. Thank you.
This is so great to hear. I finished my book and upon a reread I found that I did not like it as I previously had. Completely redrafted it and now I’m rewriting but I’ve had so much doubt. I’m going to go for it after watching this!
Personally, I don't care draft/revision... Every month I rename the file "title - Mth" and file it in that month's folder.
With my Robot murder mystery, I had 60K by 2013, went back to it in 2020 and binned 20K, rewriting from there. I handed my work, of genius, to my CP's who said; one of the main characters just wouldn't do X. Binned the last third. But whatever it takes to improve the project you have come to love. Think it was Oscar Wilde who said; "The only thing to be done with good advice is pass it on."
I'm a big fan of re-writing and starting over, to the point that I have to try and keep that view in check because not every edit needs to be a total start over. Sometimes it's okay to just go back and bring motivations or emotions closer to the surface without needing to alter the bones.
I'm re-writing a story I wrote at 18, changing the perspectives, characters, setting, finer details and it is now so much better than the generic chosen hero it was.
A version for me is changing POV or tense. So agree with versions 😊
The funny thing for me is that in my head, version feels smaller than draft, haha. Like I refer to 'draft 1', 'draft 2' etc, but if I went through one of those drafts and cleaned up a few chapters (often the beginning) I think of that as draft 1.2, ie, draft one, version two? It just goes to show that we're all using terminology in different ways, so it's worth listening to what someone actually means by a version or a draft!
OKAY I DO TOO ACTUALLY. Maybe it’s seeing like, app updates, where it’s all version 1.1 or 2.5 bahaha.
I find that in one-to-one conversations, I never have a hard time understanding what someone means regardless of the terminology they use, but in an authortube type setting, it can get very muddled and confusing.
@@KateCavanaugh Yes, you're right! I think it's an idea I've got from the world of software too.
I think different writers probably have different definitions of "done" and maybe that contributes to this unnecessary judgement of each other. i.e. some writers are fine with / are forced to stop at "this is good enough that readers enjoy it" while others are willing to / have time to take it all the way to "this is the very best I can possibly do" and all the shades in between. Our approach is going to differ across projects, across writers, etc etc. All in all, only you know what's best for your project :)
Recently, I've had to go back to the drawing board with my novel had to do a complete overhaul. It was rough but editing over and over again wouldn't have ever made the story good. You gotta have strong bones before you build your house or some kind of metaphor like that. >_
This video could not have come out at a better time!! I realized last night that I wrote about six chapters ‘in the wrong direction’ and it’s been hard to be okay with scrapping and trying again. This made me feel more ok to do so :)
I'm currently wading through an edit (fourth draft, woo!!) that is a lot more comprehensive than I realized. I'm adding or rewriting many scenes because I'm cutting a couple POVs and making sure the remaining ones have a proper character arc and meld together well. "Too many drafts", as far as I'm concerned, happens when they stop getting better.
Trying to make a finished product in one draft sounds like it would take all the joy out. My first draft is a sandcastle and not meant to be more. It's inspired by zero drafts, but I call it a discovery draft -- extra scenes, changing direction midbook. I skip important scenes or never quite write the ending. The discovery draft is done when I know what the story looks like and I'm ready to write the first "real" draft.
I always mentally add the phrase "In my opinion" when someone gives super absolutist advice of any sort! They just forgot to say "in my opinion" or "this is what works for me." 😂
YESSSSS. That's so true. I'm just gonna start mentally adding it for them too and maybe it will annoy me less lololol.
Thank you for this reminder hack bahah.
I really like the idea of versions vs drafts because I usually need at least one if not two complete versions of the story before I find the actual *story* in all of that mess. The versions are completely ground-up rewrites, taking the nuggets that were good and interesting and putting them into whole new contexts, with all-new words. Then I get to the right *version* and from there on it's drafts... and ooof it is a little painful how long the whole thing can take. But for the MS I'm putting the final-final-FINAL polish on now, it's draft 4 of version 3, which means I've written and thrown out probably close to 200,000 words through the last few years, to get to the 125k that's actually *good*.
I kind of hate this process and would love to get the right version the first time I write it... but I'm learning more and more that even when I outline (which I always do!) I'm just a discovery writer and need to get the story wrong in order to see what it ought to be. Frustrating, but not the end of the world. It just requires so...much...patience.
I had two characters that I loved in a historical romance that I wrote a few years ago, but the story I placed them in wasn't quite right, so after a taking some time away from them, doing some more research, because research is fun, I scraped the first 120K story and completely started over with the same cast of characters, moving the era in which they were set back a few years which actually gave me a better frame to build their story in. It still needs some tweaks and I'm three edits in, but I'm letting it sit until July's Camp Nano when I'll pull it back up and do the next rounds of revisions.
This is perfect timing. I'm about 60k out of probably 100k into my first ever first draft and I'm realizing things that need to change in draft 2. It feels a little like...then what did I write this for? But the answer is - to figure that stuff out! It might not be as soon as I'd like but eventually I'll be able to tell this story and tell it well.
really needed to hear this! i'm hoping to partake in camp nano for the first time in years, now that i kind of have a less busy schedule in april, and i'm scaaaaaared.......
I feel like there is a difference between rewriting and editing, but idk. ❤❤❤❤ happy writing/rewriting/editing/revising/making stories and things!!!
I think each story takes as many drafts and revisions as is needed for that project. And starting over, is a good thing. I don't think each version or draft needs be start from the beginning to be its own draft/version. And I normally do start typing from the beginning when I 'start over' because of formatting issues. But that also makes more room for typos!
I had to come to terms with the idea of dropping excess ideas that won't go anywhere. Had many of em for years that I clung to and I had to clean the slate. You get really attached to some ideas but sometimes they have to be dropped. Bits and pieces can be brought into new projects, sure, but sometimes you have to drop a story completely and that can be difficult but sometimes necessary.
I like writing the draft that's most true to my initial vision for it, even if all those moments don't make sense, i get that catharsis, and then I'm fine changing things, because my I know my personal brain version is completed and in the universe.
Draft as much as you need to tell the story you want. I’m on draft 3.
As someone who started re-writing a book that had already been published, I enjoy the discussion of drafting and never think it’s to late or that there are to many drafts.
Yesssss, I've heard a lot of authors recently going back to already published novels and re-writing them! You're in good company!
I very much lean towards your definition of re-writing Kate, although I used to think that "starting over" was completely scrapping the entire project and doing a brand new idea. I don't know when I switched, but somewhere along the line, I knew that physically re-writing each word just makes me feel better about the next draft because I know my writing will have changed from one draft to the next and I know I'll eventually reach that point where I'm like, "This is it".
But on a less serious note, right now (among my many other projects) I am re-writing a fanfiction (that I don't even plan to post) purely because I love the idea and it gives me serotonin. I REALLY want to see it finished and exactly how I see it in my head. Is it a waste of time? Maybe. Do I see it that way and care? Nope. :)
In my opinion 🤠Re-drafting or Layering is the only way to find the story, but planning by Beginning, Middle and End on every level is the key here and always writing toward an End or reverse that process and start at the End's TRD (Disaster). Anotherwards you can even work backwards. etc...... Flash Fiction works best using prompts of Content (Genre tropes) or Structure (Beginning, Middle and End) or Method Writing (Stream of Consciousness journal etc or other books). It all starts with one word or prompt and build that to 100,000 words re-drafting etc.. But the biggest tool for me is understanding Motivation and Reaction Units that build up Plot developments in the Scenes (Situations) that have a min--TRD at the end of them that builds to the Messo TRD at the end of scenes or what is called Disaster. It's the manipulation of M&R units that make great stories and where we put subtext and Author Narrative with in and between them the counts the most in Fiction writing. M&R is the building blocks of Scenes and Scenes the building blocks of Story. Organization Principal is another trick for non-liner scenes (Fragmentation as well) - its so hard to do at once you have to be a re-writer..😎
Re-draft I spelled "Mini - TRD wrong" (Typo) - TRD means Plot Twist or Reversal ((Forward and Backward) or Heightened Danger. and forgot to mention Bookends. Ok we bookend everything - In M&R Units as we use Procedure Beats of either Action or Dialog as its bookends of motivation and response, with Dramatic Beats of interiority modes used between them as an internalization or also called subtext in the POV 's head etc. We then put all Exteriority modes of Author Narrative or Commentary between two different M&R Units, not within them. Image-Moment goes in the internalization as well or can be - it is hard to do all that in one draft - almost impossible☹
I learnt retyping in drafts 2+ from you. I only do that now, it's way better for me than just using the same text as before.
My first drafts take the longest because I'm a pantser so I like to take my time getting to know my characters and the world (I write various subgenres of romance but fantasy is my favorite ❤). Since I've been writing seriously since I was 16, I think my first drafts are pretty clean. I'm an underwriter so I'm adding words usually up until the final draft and don't tend to cut out much.
I'm definitely somehow who drafts quickly. If I'm purely dedicated to writing with no worries of school or work, I can do at minimum 100,000 words in three months for a first or any number draft
^w^ answers:
1. starting over obviously can be different from time to time but usually I just start again from the blank page XD
2. In February 2021, I wanted to make my first novel. I pantsed it for six or seven chapters (until June 2021). At one point I got so frustrated with my ideas because I felt like my MC was meandering and I realized I seemed to care more about "the aesthetic" of the story rather than what it actually was. I spent two months (July and August 2021) trying my best to write one more chapter but I put it on the shelf then and simply brewed up the concepts of it in my mind from September to December 2021. In January 2022, I started a document again. This time it was a lore book. Now I've finished the lore book and I have written 23 chapters so far ^w^. It was really sad when I got lost but now I'm happy with my progress.
3. Changes every time, lol.
4. Rewriting is how I define starting over.
5. Ooo for me a version is like an alternate universe where one little decision is different and affects a lot. I like making imaginary chapters like that
Thanks a million for this video, Kate! :-) I so wish I could write a zero draft and then re-write the story as many times as it needs, to bring my vision and the written version as close together as possible. I cannot help being a horrible perfectionist that thinks she has to be able to produce an already well-worded sole draft. It's utterly tedious because, in my heart of hearts, I know that I'd so enjoy letting go and allowing myself to write a crappy, shitty first draft.
You can give that method a try. I don't think that there is an approach that works for everyone and you should just do it the way it works for you.
Personally, how i write is what most people consider "doing it all in 1 draft." But I can't see it as one draft when there are big changes. So I see as draft 1, 2, 3, ex. Even though I keep it in the same document.
Starting over and false starts are my jam.
Wow I needed this, thanks Kate!
So glad it was helpful!! :)
I’ve restarted my story several times, it’s literally changed so much since the original idea. There’s nothing wrong with doing several drafts - that’s what we’ve been told to do since creative writing 101 in high school (or sooner). There is also nothing wrong with starting over completely. Don’t let people make you question your process because guess what, once your finished this book is going to be AMAZING and I 100% believe that.
1st. When I saw the video title, my first thought was What did I miss on Friday's stream? And 2nd: Who in the world would be confused in March about what they meant in November, bahaha!
Loool, totally didn't have anyone in particular in mind with that one.....👀👀👀👀
I only call the first two ‘drafts’ and then when I go in to address certain things they become ‘edits’. I don’t know why, it’s just the way my brain labelled it 😂
A new draft to me is if I'm opening a new document. I start with a loose outline then rough draft, then 1st draft and so on. I like to keep it to 5 after the rough, so 6 drafts before sending it to a professional
I'm sceptical if the one draft idea because won't editors have something to say? Also, we are creative people, not machines, it takes time to craft the story you want.
Rewriting/starting over for me means: I’ll write one chapter then a few days I’ll just redo most of that chapter because it missed a lot of descriptions of things or was missing a few stuff that it needed…or it was just one of those were I just wrote it down just so it’s down and it looks like a mess so I’ll have to restart it
Yes, I have felt like I'm not going fast enough but I tend to take my time on first drafts and type ups. It really helps to not need so many corrections later if I pay closer attention the first time.
I write everything by hand first then type it all up later. Sometimes changes occur. Would that under your process count as a rewrite or a revision?
My book is being published very soon and I still dont feel like I deservevthe title😅
For me rewriting was, when I finished the first draft, I then red it 5 times and corrected stuff along the way 🤷♀️
I don't understand the concept of draft, actually, I never know the draft I'm actually in. I just write some chapter here and there, start over again so many times is hard to count.
I scrapped 65K words. I'm starting over because I'm stuck and have been for about 6 months.
I wish they have you had a story that you could see a person doing with their own version
i count line and copy edits as their own separate drafts. RIP me on draft 9 rn
I have never finished an idea of mine... I have too many stories that are half baked. Ive tried outlining and plotting much to my dismay. The first story I tried writing I would have finished but I literally lost it. It was on notebook paper. It's discouraging that I'm unable to finish something. I have so many characters and OCS for that matter and my OCS are more developed and well rounded than my original idea characters. I have Interesting ideas and concepts. However I can't finish it. It sucks. Idk whether anyone has an idea for what to do. I just feel stuck. Cause nothing works the way I want it to.
First! I think the comments you mentioned are a bit aggressive (based on what you said), but I’d personally be interested in trying that system myself so could you say what a video and username it’s on so I can find it?
They never actually gave me a specific system OR video to reference! Only th e person's channel. (And I've "hidden" them from mine now.) But if they make a new account and start commenting again, I'll ask and let you know. 😂
I'm slowly writing on my own I don't know if I could be like Ernest Hemingway
When people find out that I am an author, they ask me to "teach" them how to write a book and what's my process. Impossible. In fact, my way has changed over the last 20 + years. Everyone is different. I can tell them how I do it, but I always follow up with "you have to find what works for you". Great video!
Writing books is like raising kids. You go in with some preconceived notions of what it’ll be like, but in the end, you need to raise the “kid” you got. Each book needs different processes, in my opinion.
Oooh yes! Definitely can't speak to the kid part (I trust you, it sounds legit bahaha), but each book needing its own process is something I've learned for sure! I'm only now learning not to be frustrated by that fact bahaha.
I'm writing my story for reader me, and it would be great if I manage to finish it in a way that it flows and is good. It will be amazing if my friend likes it, and more so if others like it too, but I'm honest with myself I'm writing a story I would like to read
11:40 honestly I’ll have to try out that picture of the novel drafts…😮
Yesssss! Do it and let me know how it works for you! I thought it was really interesting (and love when articles come with pictures of the process they describe bahaha).
when does a draft become a draft, and not just a batch of edits?
When you said “everything finished in a single draft” I shrivelled in on myself. When does that EVER end well
They need to have you at a coffee place selling caffeine
Thank you for this video. The snake-oil salesmen out there trying to convince people they've somehow discovered the "secret" to writing a publishable book in a single draft, is super harmful I feel like. I would not be able to motivate myself to write every day if I was putting that kind of pressure on myself. The thing that keeps me going is knowing I have as many drafts/rewrites as I need, to turn a bad book into a good book. Shaming people for this because it's not "efficient enough" sounds like a scam or at least bs hustle-culture garbage.
Kate I wanted to know if you were going to do a video on ChatGPT as it has been marketed to writers and talk about it as a tool vs AI writing becoming more common?
I'm beyond starting over, wanna quit writing.
I've really enjoyed reading Haruki Murakami's book on writing "Novelist as a Vocation." (you should totally read it!) In it there's a passage where he quotes Raymond Carver having a conversation with another writer who said "[the story] would have been better if I'd taken the time." Raymond was dumbfounded, thinking "if the writing can't be as good as it is within us to make it, then why do it? I wanted to say to my friend, for heaven's sake, go do something else. There have to be easier and more honest ways to make a living." There are a lot of pressures to go fast in our * modern world * in general, and I see it a lot in self publishing, but like other creative communities we should embrace #slowmaking! That's the whole point of writing, like other art - to make it as good as it can be, and develop our skills over time. Rewrite as much as you want!! Some of my favorite books took over ten years to write.
Wow
You actually own an espresso machine
Lucky you
How much was it?
Do you use the machine often?
How is your latte art?
Okay forgive me, I'm only 1:46 in and I already have thoughts about whoever left the comment suggesting that you can get everything "just right" in one draft. Like, is that even a thing? Who's getting everything right in one draft? Please let me know what that secret is... Okay back to the rest of the video, I may be back lol
Too many drafts? Lmaooo, look at how many drafts many famous authors wrote. Look at Tolkien and Kawabata and understand that not everyone can write out their draft perfectly on the first go. To put it in music, not many of us can be Mozart, making not a single mistake on perfectly pristine drafts of high quality music. Most of us are more like Beethoven, where much is scribbled out and it's a mess for a very long time. Does that make Beethoven's music any less good than Mozart's. I think having too many drafts is a BS thing to critique. Writing is personal and requires personal satisfaction, as well as an element of objectivity with which to make sure the draft makes sense logically. It's difficult work. I have like twelve drafts of everything I do.
imo if someone says they finish their stories in "one draft" they're either grossly overestimating their ability to write or they're too lazy to learn how to revise. Both instances result in a mediocre book at best. Then to repeatedly comment on someone's writing process insisting that they just need to do it in one draft is just cringe
Why is her nose red?
It's always been like that! Worse if I touch it at all. Nothing I can do other than live my best life like Rudolph and let it guide the way.