Some writers I know bask in the writing process, savoring the time spent crafting a novel as the seconds turn into minutes turn into weeks (and months…and years). For them, writing is a drawn-out love affair.
I’m not one of those people. When I have an idea, I want to get it written as quickly as possible. Why? Because I’ve got a ton of other ideas, lining up on my brain’s tarmac waiting to take flight.
Here are some tips for writing your first drafts (note: first drafts) as quickly as possible.
Give yourself permission to stink. (Put your head out the window and take a deep breath. That odor you smell? I just started a new project.) Don’t worry so much about your grammar and sentence construction. Don’t try to describe your setting to the finest detail. Dialogue a bit wooden? Don’t fret about it now. All these boo-boos can be fixed during the revision process. Why waste time perfecting a certain passage when it might end up on the discard heap?
Don’t revise as you go along. Start writing and don’t look back. Plow ahead. Odds are, when you finish your draft, there will be tons of stuff (tons!) you’ll have to change anyway. Decide to change a character’s name? Fine. Highlight the new name and keep on trucking. You can go back and clean things up when you’re finished with the draft. Why waste time and effort?
Set a quota and stick to it. Use either the “words-per-day” method or set aside a certain amount of time every day to write. Don’t get up from your desk (or bench or bed or hammock or wherever you write) until you’ve satisfied your quota. It’s that easy (insert diabolical laugh here). To get even more done, “fiddle” with your quotas. For instance, you could start out the week with a thousand word daily quota, then increase it by 200 words per day throughout the week. Or you could pick one day a week to “double-dip,” where you write twice your daily quota.
Research? You don’t need so much stinkin’ research! Do only the barest of bare minimums of research. Some writers I know use “doing research” as a procrastination device (I know, can you believe it?). If you come upon something you don’t know—a fact, a name, the capital of Justrevoltedstan—just type XXX and keep on writing. You can go back and fill it in during the revision stage. Again, why waste time researching something that might not even make it into the final draft?
Stay away from that durn Internet and other shiny, distracting things. As my blog host Elizabeth recommends, set a timer for checking email and blogs and Facebook and Twitter. Then, when it goes off, your break is over and it’s time to get back to…ding!
Hey, gotta run!
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The first book in Alan Orloff’s Last Laff Mystery series, KILLER ROUTINE, is now available, at your favorite booksellers and on-line. His debut mystery, DIAMONDS FOR THE DEAD, came out last April and was nominated for the Best First Novel Agatha Award. For more information about Alan and his books, please visit www.alanorloff.com
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Thanks for inviting me to your blog today, Elizabeth! I always enjoy my visits here (You have such nice blog readers!)
Thanks for coming by, Alan! Congratulations on your Agatha nomination and your new release!
Great ideas! I usually spend far too long researching and never thought of doing it during the revisions.
I also never thought of using a timer to remind me to GET OFF of facebook, etc….ding! lol
Sharon :)
Cheering for each of those points! Excellent tips. We’re bookmarking this for the next time we need motivation. Thanks!
Elizabeth – Thanks for hosting Alan; isn’t he a great guest!??
Alan – Thanks for helping put that first draft into perspective. You’re quite right that the first draft is for just gettin’ ‘er done, as Larry the Cable Guy says…
All work for me but #2. I read each day’s output at bedtime, make notes about stuff that needs help, and although I might not correct major stuff, I find that fixing things that popped out at me jump starts the writing for the next day. Plus, when I get to ‘the end’ of my stinky first draft, it’s not as daunting a task to revise and edit.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Thanks so much for coming by today, Alan! I loved “Diamonds for the Dead,” and am looking forward to reading “Killer Routine.”
Sharon – Thanks! Credit goes to blog host Elizabeth for the timer idea!
Critique Sistahs – We can use all the motivation we can get, right?
Elizabeth – Thanks! Hope to see you on my blog when your upcoming book comes out!
Margot – I feel a joke coming on: First drafts are like… Oops, lost that train of thought.
Terry – I suppose anything that makes the first draft less daunting (and less stinky) should be encouraged.
Hart – Fast firsts! Sometimes I have the urge to leave out a few chapters, leaving a placemark like, “Put in an excellent, gripping chapter HERE.”
Laura – Thanks! I think the trick is to make your manuscript look shiny!
Helen – Ha, good one! I may steal that joke!
TOS – Thanks! I find I’m giving myself permission to stink a lot more these days. Not a good sign…
Great advice, Alan! I am totally a believer in a fast first draft. I think it has the added bonus for me (of the short memory) of keeping me on track. If I write slowly, i have to keep rereading the darned thing to see where I was… PLUS, it sends me off on tangents (as does research, by the way–I have a very hard time NOT using cool facts I find, but often they really don’t help the story. I leave spots like (cool detail about XYZ) and look for those after the first draft is written.
Timely advice. Thanks
Elizabeth- This is a fun and helpful guest post today!
Wonderful tips, Alan! I use an alarm clock to limit my time checking these shiny, distracting things. It works!
Alan, you clearly are organized and efficient. I’m proud of you. I wish I were you. I’m working to become more organized. This post made me smile with hope. I just have to be dedicated and committed. Okay, forget the committed part; my family already tried that.
Excellent advice. Thanks for sharing, both of you. I get away from the internet when I have serious writing time to get done, for sure. Too tempting and addictiong. And the permisssion to stink, lol – love it!
Hey Liz – I often click on your name from my blog to bop over here, but all morning when I did so, it took me to some Bible school website kind of thingy. The url in the browser would be exactly the same, http://mysterywritingismurder.blogpsot.com/, but definitely not your blog!
Anyhoo, good post, and good book, Alan!
Congrats on your new book, Alan! Love your tips on getting through the first draft. I was feeling guilty about not knowing something in my last chapter, but I’m now officially giving myself permission to research it later…
Oooo, shiny…
I wrote my first two books in record time because I wasn’t on any social sites or anything, so there’s wisdom in the those words.
LeRoy – Thanks! (“Timely” advice.)
Meredith – Thanks! Guilt doesn’t belong anywhere near a first draft.
LDW – Ah, the good old days. Pre-Facebook.
Belle – Thanks! I might frame it myself :)
Stephen – You have my permission…as long as you keep your distance.
Elizabeth – Thanks so much for the invitation. I love blogging here–you have such an interesting and supportive group of blog readers!
Love this post so much – kind of feel like I should frame it and hang it above my computer!
I hereby give myself permission to smell up the place LOL! Now if I can stay away from shiny things and other distractions I can … look … a squirrel with a fluffy tail!
Great reminders of what we need to do to finish our books. I need to do better about organizing my time and putting the writing first.
Thanks so much again for guest blogging, Alan! And thanks to everyone who came by to comment. Marvin–that’s too odd about the Bible School! Nope, no Bible school on this blog..just murder. :)
Great post! I use Freedom for the mac to keep myself off the internet when I’m drafting. It’s invaluable!
This is great! I’ve printed it out. Thanks, Elizabeth and Alan. As someone who has procrastinated by taking flying lessons (for research, of course), I can tell you that as much fun as it was, it was not worth putting off the writing for a year!