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The Second Step in the Writing Process is Drafting
The first draft is just you telling yourself the story. ― Terry Pratchett
What is drafting?
The second step of the writing process is drafting. This step is where you write, or type, the rough draft of your story or paper. It’s as simple as that. There isn’t much else I can say here…Actually, I do have one thing I want to say, one piece of advice to give. Don’t edit your draft as you write it. What I’m trying to say is, just write. You’re going to make mistakes. It’s bound to happen. It’s rare to do something perfectly the first time. I learned this the hard way when I started writing my novel.
Lessons learned:
- Write a complete rough draft — don’t try to fix it as you write, you won’t finish otherwise.
- Take risks — don’t try to make it perfect. Use this step to see where the story can go (even if you have an outline).
- Things don’t always go as planned.
- Don’t worry about the word count. Words can always be added at a later point in the writing process.
- Don’t give up, keep writing.
- There will be more than one draft of the story.
How I draft my story
I type my stories in Word. It allows me to keep track and save my writing. I used to obsess about perfecting my draft before I completed it. Whenever I sat down to write, I always reread what I wrote (sometimes I’d read from the beginning). Rereading my work didn’t help me. It took a chunk of my writing time. The writing I produced after reading was small. At some point, I was moving backward instead of forward.
A professor of mine suggested I not look back at my previous chapters. Instead, he suggested I focus on the chapters that haven’t been written yet. I listened to his advice and worked on the…
