Did you know that over 80% of adults want to write a book but only 3% ever get to 'The End' of a draft? That means that 97% of people who want to write a book never finish.
That was the opening line of Savannah Gilbo’s 2021 article on the main reasons why aspiring authors don’t finish their drafts. Those reasons are attributed to perfectionism, lack of motivation and overall sheer commitment, self-discipline and routine a novel draft takes. This is especially true if you can’t dedicate all your available time to it.
As someone who can proudly say I stand in that 3% who went in and came out the other side with a finished first draft of my book idea (plus half a month of revising said draft), I thought I’d reminisce over the past year I’ve dedicated to chipping this project away bit by bit. I’ll discuss some common challenges I encountered and the challenges I faced upon completing this draft. This will not discuss the specifics or details of my story, merely the outside factors and the process of writing itself.
Overwriting has been a double-edged sword for me. I feel like a lot of authors tend to get caught up in this, in that we want to share all our ideas, so when we write, we tend to write everything. Initially, I was happy to overwrite as much as possible, because then after my first draft, I can cut things out and reshape it into something usable. This is good advice and I recommend following it, but to an extent, because when you write that final sentence and realise you’ve hit over triple your genre’s standard word count… you begin to see the problems that come up and potential darlings you’ll have to kill.
Routine and pre-planning have been essential, without them, this draft would not be done. If I had not built up the routine to sit down and write for an hour minimum every night, then on those days when I had no ideas, no creativity, no imagination, nothing would have gone on the page. But because I forced myself to write regardless, I got something down. Because I had a plan in place, even if the writing is stilted and impossible to read, I will have something plot-related there to use and refine when I feel better. This draft is not meant to be perfect, as long as words ended up on the page, I was happy.
You will hate your first draft. If I read one more line of someone smiling warmly I will punt them in the face. You will finish your draft and you will hate it but do not focus on that, focus on the fact that you finished. That of the 80% of people who wish to, you’re part of the 3% who did it. And it will be scary, everyone talks about how to start, how to get that first draft done, but the second you’re done, all those articles on help, on guidance, those torches in the dark, they all disappear. Because again, only 3% of their audience will get to the point you’ve reached. So take a deep breath, step back from your work, and use this month of rest to refresh yourself to research and build your own plan on what the next step is, (tip: it’s rereading your draft and marking changes you want to make).
I wish I could offer a free checklist, step-by-step plan, or something, but I’m navigating this fog myself, and I’m afraid I have about as much idea of what I’m doing as you do. This blog was created for that reason, to show you the mistakes I make and the successes I have in real-time. But at the moment, all I can do is cling to the reassuring fact that I beat the odds and made it to this point and not let it get me down if I stumble down the wrong path. And I urge you to do the same, and perhaps we’ll make it to the publishing stage. We won’t know until we try.
Being an author isn’t easy. There’s a reason some people write one book and no more, and why even accomplished authors like George R.R. Martin procrastinate and take years to do their work. But especially for those writing the first draft of their first book, and especially those who are self-taught (hello, there!), writing that draft and finishing it will bestow so many lessons, so even if you fall in that 97% failure state, you’ll walk away with more than what you brought to the challenge. This isn’t the first first draft I’ve written (overall), and it definitely won’t be my last, but each try, success or failure, will make you a better writer in the long term and will help you be more equipped to succeed the next time or complete the draft even faster.
Good luck to all you aspiring writers out there, and remember: the best thing you can do to finish a draft is start.
Keep learning and keep sharing stories.
-Reyes Raine
Reference:
Gilbo, S. (2021, February 16). Why So Many Novels Go Unfinished (and What to Do Instead). Savannahgilbo.com. https://www.savannahgilbo.com/blog/unfinished
Please keep comments civil and free from hate speech or unrelated topics. Those who insult, dehumanise, preach or post spam/malware will be deleted.
Comments
Post a Comment