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Every time I go from editing Previous Book to drafting New Book, I have to remind myself that it's OK if it feels like my writing is terrible. It's a FIRST DRAFT.
You may hear this a lot! I suspect it means different things for different writers. Here's what it means for me:
You may hear this a lot! I suspect it means different things for different writers. Here's what it means for me:
* My dialogue doesn't usually come out all that great on the first try. It's mostly in edits that I get the good lines, the snappy exchanges, the unspoken emotional subtext, etc.
* My voice is going to be weaker (both narrative & character voices). I strengthen it in edits.
* My voice is going to be weaker (both narrative & character voices). I strengthen it in edits.
* I'm going to have a bunch of extraneous low-stakes dialogue scenes (planning, briefing, etc) that need to be cut, rolled together, or reimagined with higher stakes. Wow, would I like to stop doing this in my drafts, but so far I do this EVERY DAMN TIME & have to fix them later.
* I'm probably going to not have the level of agency & stakes that I want yet & will have to crank them up in a later pass.
* I probably will have a weak or broken through line & need to fix it.
* I probably will have some irrelevant subplot I ultimately need to cut.
* I probably will have a weak or broken through line & need to fix it.
* I probably will have some irrelevant subplot I ultimately need to cut.
* If I add multiple new characters, I'll probably find some of them aren't doing anything for the story & need to cut or combine them.
* All my transition/travel bits will probably be way too long, though I'm going to try hard to stick mostly to jump cuts where I can.
* All my transition/travel bits will probably be way too long, though I'm going to try hard to stick mostly to jump cuts where I can.
* I won't have enough emotional depth & nuance in my MC's internality. What I start with will be more LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY FEELINGS and need to be edited to be more subtle (& in this case, repressed) & simultaneously more powerful. Sometimes she'll be too absent from scenes.
Part of my brain is like Melissa, if you know all this...if you do this stuff EVERY TIME in your first drafts...maybe you could just NOT? Maybe you could just...write better first drafts, and save us time later in edits? 
That would SURE BE NICE!
That would SURE BE NICE!
But the thing is, I can only focus on so many things when I'm drafting (or editing, for that matter). Some writers are amazing and can multitask and do all the things in one pass! I am not one of these writers.
For me, first drafts are for figuring out the plot.
For me, first drafts are for figuring out the plot.
For you it might be figuring out character & emotion! Or soemthing else. Or all the things. Every writer's process is different.
I seem to need a plot skeleton before I can really build on character muscle, & voice skin & hair, and hmm now this is weird & I'm making a chimera
I seem to need a plot skeleton before I can really build on character muscle, & voice skin & hair, and hmm now this is weird & I'm making a chimera
BUT ANYWAY, for me, this is why my first drafts suck and why it's OK that they suck. This is step one. I'm mixing the batter. I hope it smells good, but it's not a cake yet.
(Many years ago, I would have stopped at batter & been like LOOK A CAKE!)
(Many years ago, I would have stopped at batter & been like LOOK A CAKE!)
And on that note, I should get back to baking! 
