I’d love to have the luxury of thoughtfully mulling over each word and getting wrapped up in the art of my writing—I just don’t have the time.
Between publisher deadlines, working for more than one imprint and editor, and trying to do my own independent projects, writing quickly has become mandatory for me.
If you’re in the same boat, or if you’re thinking of participating in NaNoWriMo next month, I thought I’d share what works for me. (Your mileage may vary.) :)
Tips for speeding through a first draft:
Have at least an idea where you’re heading with a story.
Write sequels and series—you’ll have an already-established setting and a core group of characters to write several books around.
Don’t worry about chapter breaks during a first draft. Or even a second draft.
Don’t stop to research or find the perfect word choice. Type in **** and come back to it later.
Learn to write anywhere and with any noise level . The ability to adapt to any environment makes the writing go faster.
Don’t obsess over the perfect character name. The name can easily be changed later after we’ve gotten to know the character better.
When you realize you’re not happy with the direction your story is taking, flag the point where you’re changing the plot line and just pick up with the new direction at that point.
Put random ideas and out of place scenes in a special Word file.
If you get stuck at some point in your book, consider writing a different part of the book until you’re ready to tackle the part that stumped you.
Make a short list of what you want to accomplish with your writing for the next day and where you plan on picking up with your story.
What works for you? Do you experiment with your process? And…are you participating in NaNoWriMo?
I’ve started self-publishing, and speed is of the essence if you’re going to build a readership. I’m definitely taking part in Nanowrimo – the camaraderie in the forums helps motivate me :)
I’m not participating in NaNo but I’ll be cheering on those who are and using the energy to power through my edits. I know exactly what you mean, once you have work out there the pressure increases!
This will be my 6th year of NaNoWriMo – every time I panic in case I will run out of words or won’t be able to wrestle my story into some sort of shape, and every year I find it wanders off in a better direction than the one I thought it was going! I think there’s something about writing without pausing to edit that boosts the crestivity.
I suppose my key advice is just to keep writing the words and trust they will build up into a story. I find it’s really important to keep to the word count for each day – if you can write more, then that’s fine, but I always stop myself when I find it’s getting to be a chore, probably after about 2,000 words at most.
Elizabeth – I’m not doing NaNo, but you have some terrific ideas for just getting that first draft out there. I think it’s too easy to forget that the first draft is for ideas – for the basic story. The rest comes later. And there is such a sense of accomplishment that comes from finishing the first draft that it spurs you on to do the revising and editing. You can’t edit what you haven’t written, though…
I tried NaNo once and crashed and burned early on.
I try my best to power through my first drafts. Giving myself permission for my first draft to be crap if it needs to is one of the hardest parts. In the ms I’m working on at the moment, I just ended a chapter at only 1300 words because I needed to get past what was becoming a lull in the story and get back to something exciting.
Christine–I think you’re so right about epubbing and writing fast. And NaNo is really known for being friendly. :)
Heather–It *is* a lot of pressure. I try not to think about the big picture of what I’m doing…just my daily goal.
Sheila–6th year! That’s amazing! Good advice about moving forward until we hit our word goal.
Paul–First drafts are usually awful, aren’t they? At least they can be fixed! Can’t fix something that’s not on the page.
That’s true, Elizabeth. This is one of the reasons I’m grateful for supportive crit partners; they can see what I’m aiming for and help me to get there.
I can see why this is important and when I’m doing Nano, I really do these steps. However, I can’t be this way with my mystery novels. I have too many plot lines going on and if I leave something without writing it down, I get muddled and eventually with enough muddling, I can’t write. I get blocked. So I work slowly through my manuscript keeping copious amounts of notes. But, that’s just me. I have a three month schedule for the first draft of each of my mystery novels.
I can’t skip NaNo – not even Camp NaNo this summer, when I signed up for both months and spent the second one revising, logging a grand 0 words.
I’ll be doing NaNo, even if it’s as a rebel the entire time.
E, I love your list. I use ??? when I’m struggling over the right word. And I rarely have the name right the first time.
All very good tips – some of which I already try to follow.
Me! Me! I’m doing nanowrimo! First time! I may just be an enthusiastic idiot at this point, but I think this will be a good exercise for me. Trying to get a couple writerly friends to join me. Being able to tackle the dreaded first draft with ease and speed would be a boon.
Great tips! I’m in for NaNo again this year. It’s always a challenge to juggle the full time freelance gig and deadlines with the frantic fiction writing, but if I didn’t I’d probably never make time to tackle novel-length works. My advice is to write, write, and then write some more. After all, you can’t edit a blank page. ;)
I’ve done Nanowrimo for five years now. I love it. I agree with Christine, there really is something about having to move fast that sparks creativity.
I personally love Nano, wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Thanks for the advice Elizabeth
Paul–You’re very fortunate!
Clarissa–That’s still fast–especially for mysteries. And your mysteries have forensics and police procedure, right? That’s definitely something to need to keep track of.
Sophia–I heard about NaNo camp late…sounds like it was fun!
Pat–Thanks! And it sounds like you’re a fast writer, too.
Betty–I think it goes faster as we get into the rhythm of it, too. I’m running a post tomorrow on NaNo. :)
Danica–I think moving fast also means that we’re more forgiving of ourselves and of making mistakes. Which means we’re ultimately more productive, too.
Thanks for the tips. I’m working through a new rough draft right now!
I did NaNo last year. No chapter breaks for me – I was just full speed ahead!
Love the advice and I really, really, am going to start using it, perhaps tomorrow ;)
I sketched out a plot for a project the other day and called my MC (boy) Harper Collins – do you think I’ll need to change this in revisions? :D
No Nanos for me, but i admire the folks who do it!
This will be my second attempt at Nano and hopefully I’ll finally win! I’m all planned out, so I don’t see why not.
Your advice makes perfect sense – My problem is the fact that I’m not good at concentrating with noise going on around me. I might have to set up in a starbucks and try to break through it!
I won’t be nanoing – still untangling a mystery I started two years ago! But your tips are great. I have two revisions to get through and the last third of that nano mystery – then I can leap into something new…oh it sounds delish!
Blind typing works for me. When I can’t see what I’ve written, I won’t concentrate on the mistakes.
When the Ghost Intervenes
No NaNo for me–again. I’m 35K into a manuscript and don’t want to get sidetracked.
I use a lot of placeholders in my WIP; symbols that are easy to find, or XXX to avoid obsessing about a metaphor, a name, or what kind of car the character drives. Those are easy to fix.
But I DO edit as I go. Right now, I’ve found I need to change the overall design of the heroine’s building, and add another character. I can’t make a notation about that, because I need to make sure the continuity is intact, and I’d rater do it over 14 chapters than 34.
I might not finish the book as quickly as others, but when it’s done, it’s only going to need minor revisions and polishing (at least, that’s the way they’ve come back from my editors)
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Hi, Elizabeth –
Thanks so much for this! I really need it now, because my first draft is bogging me down something awful. It’s a sequel, and a historical mystery, so I get what Clarissa was saying about plotting it out. Wow, I wish I could work as fast as you guys! I’m going to put these tips to work and see how I do! Good luck to you NaNo writers next month!
~~Kathy
Thanks for the tips! I’m doing NaNo for the first time this year and I’m hyper-excited about it!
The thing with not obsessing over the name for a character doesn’t work for me though. The name has to be just right to make him/her come alive in my head. But all the rest I’ll keep in mind during November!
I also like Enid’s idea about blind typing!