/lit/ - Literature

>>11185867
Idk Ive never gotten passed the first draft but it's pretty bad desu. Although my first draft essays in college did okay, wasn't proud of them

>>11185867
The whole point of the first draft is to just get words on the page so you have something to work with. The first draft of everything will be dog shit terrible. It's the following drafts are where you start thinking about how to actually make it good.

>>11185867
Shitty by my standards
Better than your final drafts though

My first drafts are fucking horrid, except that every now and then, there is a section where I cannot change a word

>>11186068
>>11186096
These two bassically got it down I think

If the feelings you have about your writing could be a post on r/writing then read ten books before writing another fucking word honestly

>>11185867
Very bad. A first draft usually reads like a poor fanfiction, with slim transitions between actions and heaps of dialogue without description, because, as another anon said, it's all about getting something down, so that your focus isn't on finishing the story, it's on fixing it.
Everyone is different, but I can explain my personal habit. A first draft is done in about a week, usually is around 40k words (sometimes as low as 30) then I fucking hate myself and the story and I get depressed and abandon it for about two months, sometimes almost half a year.

By that point - because I wrote so feverishly and then immediately dropped it - I've forgotten most details, and in my mind begin envisioning it as I originally intended it to be; how it is in my head, not how it is on paper.

I briefly skim the manuscript. If it's making me cringe and I'm still hating it, I'll close it and rewrite it from scratch/memory. I already know the story, I just need to write it as it is in my mind, focusing on the core of the story (which frequently shifts around in a first draft.) If it's just bad, but not absolutely terrible, I'll rewrite it scene for scene, usually expanding (again, just me, because I write short by nature, others may be trimming scenes down at this point.)

The rewriting process takes far longer, usually a handful of months. My novels average 70k so they sometimes double in length during the rewrite process, with scenes being added and crucial descriptions and explanations I'd forgotten in my initial haste being squeezed in.

Then the second draft is done. Depending on the quality, I might rewrite it again, or sometimes only certain chapters need to be redone. Then I send the manuscript out to people who read it and give me their peasant general impressions: "It was good. I lieked the character who dide the thing :D" If there is anything that gets mentioned by multiple people, I'll address it, otherwise, then it's time to spend another few months polishing

>>11185867
>a thread on /lit/ about writing has survived over 12 hours without being bombarded with belligerent insults

how did this happen? and yes OP quite normal. i'd be more worried if you weren't planning on rewriting

>>11185867
The first draft is always shitty and that's Ok. Make sure the key structure points and thematic development points are in place on the first draft because they'll be a nightmare to rearrange on later drafts if you don't do it now.

Proof read after every draft and look for typos and grammatical errors. You'll gradually find things that'll need tweaking but wait until you've proof read or you'll not finish reading it. I usually make a list of areas I know I need to improve. If you get stuck on what to improve, no harm in paying a professional reader or asking online writing communities for feedback (not /lit/).