It’s a Start: What Not to Worry About in a First Draft

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Let’s continue with first drafts with an updated look at what not to worry about in a first draft.

Writing a novel is a lot of work. There are plots to weave, subplots to finagle, characters to grow, conflicts to craft, and that’s before you get to the actual writing part. With so much to worry about, it might be good to know there are some things you don’t have to worry about until after your first draft is complete (such as spelling and grammar).

Every Last Detail

You don’t need to have every detail in the draft planned in advance. It’s okay if you’re not sure exactly what something looks like or how something works.

I’ve found it quite useful to simply make a note to return to that detail what I’ve figured out more, such as [research] or [describe].

For example, I once hit a point in a first draft where my protagonist needed to describe a character to someone to learn her name. I needed a visual tag for him to do this (something that made this girl stand out), but since she was a minor character until I needed her to do more, I never bothered to give her more than a name. I wrote the scene, but added [add tag] to remind myself to add in this character trait later.

The note allowed me to keep writing and didn’t halt my momentum by having to stop, decide on her trait, then go back to where I first introduced this girl and add in the tag I’d need for this scene.

What makes this even more useful (and fun), is that the girl herself was a throwaway detail I wasn’t sure I’d need again, but I named her anyway because you never know where the story will lead. And after this scene, I thought of another way in which she’d be useful, so this throwaway character grew into a bigger and more important role. Not bad for someone who was named just because my other protagonist needed to be able to talk to someone at a dinner table and not using her name was implausible and awkward.

Some other ways notes are useful:

• The characters need to eat, but you’re not sure what they might have that fits your world.
• The character’s meet a priest, but you don’t want to use the word “priest” because it doesn’t fit your story.
• Your protagonist suddenly has a phobia that works perfectly for the story, but hasn’t exhibited it before that moment.

Things come to us as we write. As we sprinkle in random details, some of those details start connecting later in ways we never imagined. Even better, since random details came up naturally in the text, by the time you’re done polishing (usually a few drafts later), it all reads as if you’d planned it all along.

When you’re writing that first draft, don’t worry so much about the little things if you’re not sure about them. You can always mark it to remind yourself to fix it later.

(Here’s more on leaving yourself notes)

More Things You Can Ignore While Writing a First Draft

Too Many Minor (and Major) Characters

Having too many characters is a problem for a final draft because your poor reader won’t know who to remember and who is never showing up again. But in that first draft? Use whomever you want, and even name them if you feel like it.

Toss in random people in the hall, a friendly waitress, a casual acquaintance. You never know when you might need a character later—one of these throwaways might be the perfect person to bring back. Random details can stir around in your subconscious and pop out when you least expect them in some very unpredictable and interesting ways.

In fact, the character Danello in The Shifter was such a throwaway detail. I needed someone in chapter four to do something for the plot, and it suddenly made total sense that the nameless guard from the first scene would be the same guy. A minor, nameless character became one of the core characters in the series.

Post First Draft: Once the draft is done and you see how the story plays out, then go back and get rid of , or combine, unnecessary characters.

(Here’s more on determining if you have too many characters)

Wild and Inconsistent Emotional States of the Characters

It’s okay for the characters’ emotions to be all over the place while you’re still figuring out how they feel about everything. Realizing they’ve reached a certain point emotionally can even force you to work a little harder to get them there, and you might create a character arc you wouldn’t have had otherwise.

For example, if you discover you really need your protagonist to be freaked out for a scene when they’ve always been calm as a cucumber, let them freak out, but make a note to go back and lay the groundwork later so their emotions are consistent and lead up to that freak out.

Post First Draft: Remember to check the emotional consistency of your characters. If they suddenly act out of character or inappropriate, find out why and fix it.

(Here’s more on the importance of matching actions to feelings)

World Building Details and Mechanics

You’re bound to have some of these in place before you start writing, but often you’ll discover you need the world to work in a certain way for the plot to work. A detail, a belief, a ritual, a location, whatever it is, you don’t have it already established so it comes out of the blue.

Don’t worry about it. Do what needs to be done and lay the groundwork after. If you discover a nasty secret about your world halfway through chapter twelve, just think about all the interesting things you can do in chapters one through eleven to build up to that secret. You might even find a subplot or complication for your protagonist.

Post First Draft: After the story is down, make sure the world feels fleshed out and all those details and mechanics make sense. If something you planned didn’t work out, yank that out of there so it doesn’t confuse readers.

(Here’s more on building a world from the ground up)

First drafts are usually messy, bad, and scattered. Don’t worry if yours follows suit, and don’t worry if you don’t have everything worked out from the start. A lot of times we don’t know all the answers until we start asking the right questions, and we won’t know what to ask until we see our protagonist in action.

Throw in what you need when you need it, and decide later how much of it stays, what can go, and what needs a little more polish to make it work.

What do you worry about in a first draft? What do you ignore?

For more help on plotting or writing a novel check out my Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure.

Go step-by-step through plotting and writing a novel. Learn how to find and develop ideas, brainstorm stories from that first spark of inspiration, develop the right characters, setting, plots and subplots, as well as teach you how to identify where your novel fits in the market, and if your idea has what it takes to be a series.

With clear and easy-to-understand examples, Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure offers ten self-guided workshops with more than 100 different exercises to help you craft a solid novel. Learn how to:

• Create compelling characters readers will love
• Choose the right point of view for your story
• Determine the conflicts that will drive your plot (and hook readers!)
• Find the best writing process for your writing style
• Create a solid plot from the spark of your idea

Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure also helps you develop the critical elements for submitting and selling your novel once it’s finished. You’ll find exercises on how to:

• Craft your one-sentence pitch
• Create your summary hook blurb
• Develop a solid working synopsis And so much more!

Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure is an easy-to-follow guide to writing your novel or fixing a novel that isn’t quite working. 

Available in paperback and ebook formats.

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book.

She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing novels, she's teaching other writers how to improve their craft. She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing.

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