The moment I realized my first drafts weren't supposed to be good

I spent three years rewriting my first chapter over and over, trying to make it perfect before moving on. Then last month I forced myself to write a messy 50 page draft in one week without looking back. What I ended up with was garbage, but there were actually a few solid scenes buried in there I could work with. That's when it clicked that a first draft is just you telling the story to yourself, not to anyone else. Has anyone else hit that wall where you just let yourself write badly on purpose?

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2 Comments

samjohnson3mo ago

Three YEARS rewriting one chapter? That's insane.

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ellis.mia3mo ago

Three years is a lot but it depends on the book. Some writers are more careful than others and that timeline makes sense if you're trying to fix something that's not working. The hard part is knowing when to stop and move on. If that one chapter is what makes the whole story click then maybe it was worth it. But honestly most readers won't notice the difference between a polished chapter and one that was good enough.

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