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My Story is Terrible!
With the onset of NaNoWriMo just around the corner, I thought it might be good to talk about first drafts. What are your expectations for a first draft? We all have to begin somewhere...there is always a first draft. No matter how hard we might try, it is impossible to write out something perfect on the first try.
So, what should we expect? Some people have called it the "vomit draft", where everything spills out onto the page and splashes out in a big mess to be sorted out later. Everything in the writer's mind is purged to paper with no thought to edit. Others start with an outline and write in bursts, like throwing water balloons in a parking lot.
Some writers start with a character or two, and let the characters decide the story. They're merely the transcriptionist of events occurring to the characters and their lives. The first draft is the first telling of their story, with the writer filling in gaps later in edit.
However the process occurs, it's important to get as much written as possible and it's okay if it is terrible. There are too many distractions in life; the phone, the internet, the family.  We write when we can, then take our time in the edit process, refining and revising our work. I think understanding what type of draft you write can help with you with the edit process. If you feel your plot is solid, then focus on grammar and syntax. If your characters are vivid but wandering, give them direction.
Accepting that a first draft is going to be terrible can be cathartic. It allows you to freely write and not worry about future aches and pains of editing. Now, to think of what to write....
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Excerpt: Disrupting the stillness of the night was a lone figure, walking evenly along the river of pavement that slashed its way through the still wood. He was tall and strong, with inky, flowing black hair, and black eyes that seemed to absorb the light around them and gave him an almost otherworldly quality. He had a surprisingly light step for one as large and muscular as himself, but he had been a woodsman for quite a long time, and it showed in his every motion. Fluidity and grace were unconscious parts of his gait, so much so that when he moved, it was like watching a deer lope or a bird swoop.
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Excerpt: Was it real? I think so, but sometimes I’m not sure. Have you ever had a nightmare so vivid and horrifying that you could swear it really happened? On the other hand, have you ever experienced terror so oppressive that you knew for sure you were dreaming? Well, I have. Nightmare or dream, it matters not which, my life was permanently imprinted by the experience. I am only now beginning to believe it really happened.
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Excerpt: I was never one for drinking on duty. In my day a police officer was still a respected individual and had to keep up a certain front. Until the tourist invasion started up after the war this village was a tiny, conservative place with nowhere to drink except the old Rose and Crown, where every pint that went down the throat of the village bobby would be noted and commented on after he'd gone. Even so, I still made a point of visiting the pub at least once an evening just to remind the rowdier elements I was keeping an eye on them.
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First Place Winner in "Invalid Item"
Excerpt: The painting entitled “The Fountain of Youth” wasn’t very old, perhaps seventy years or so. It looked older though, just as the artist had intended. Painted to recreate the romantic masters, the colors were shadowed, but still retained their vibrancy. The image was one of fantasy. An elderly woman in a flowing blue gown sat on the edge of a large three tiered stone fountain overgrown with ivy and wildflowers.
Excerpt: Visits to Grandmom's and Grandpop's were always exciting. There was no telling what would happen when we visited. I liked the good food and the treats Grandmom would have for us. She said that we were special. And they would take us places and do things that made us happy. But we loved just being with them. Mom and Dad said that Grandmom and Grandpop were the best And we really loved when Grandpop took us fishing. He taught us how to fish and always had a good story to tell. But this time we were the story!
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Excerpt: Let me start by just getting it out there. I can move into the past; easily, in fact, and my method is touching a person’s hand while looking into their eyes. That’s right, I need to go into their past. Can’t just do it by clicking my heels together, and I don’t own a DeLorean tricked out by Christopher Lloyd. I’m also aware of how this sounds. Like the premise of a really crappy, made for TV, Sci Fi movie (one that I would watch, by the way), but none of that matters. At least it shouldn’t by the time you finish reading this.
Excerpt: "Mayday, mayday, mayday!” Hearing those words in his headset, Paul Carmichael was out of his seat like gunshot out of a barrel. “Dispatch, AngelHawk Three, mayday, mayday, mayday!” As he tried to flag down the supervisor, Paul tapped the shoulder of the man sitting next to him.
Excerpt: Luke hugged the fishbowl to his chest, indifferent to the water sloshing out and seeping into his sweatshirt. Natalie sighed in exasperation and lunged for the dishtowel dangling from a hook next to the sink.
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This month's question: What are your expectations of your first drafts? Do you get bogged down trying to edit during the draft?
Last month's question: What do you do to keep your story moving along?
sarahreed replied: To keep my story moving along, I find its best to have written an outline first. If it's a really short story, I may only write a few sentences to remind me of what I want to happen. For longer short stories, I write out a few sentences for each scene or major moment. I also jot down notes about the characters. I usually keep these notes at the beginning of the story so that each time I open the document, I am reminded of my goals. I find I get lost the most when I don't have some kind of road map to guide me.
April Desiree-I'm back!  answered: I cut scenes and/or entire characters. When I find myself not wanting to write a certain scene, I ask myself why. If it's not going to make or break the story, it can go.
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Short Stories: September 30, 2009 Issue [#3300]
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