Take 1. Write Your Messy First Draft. (Step 4)

by Kerry-Ann McDade · December 2, 2024

Take 1. Write Your Messy First Draft. (Step 4) – How To Write the Future podcast, episode 129

“Give yourself an opportunity to be perfectly imperfect.”

This episode is part of a mini-series based on the “Trust Your Creative Heart Roadmap” where Beth Barany discusses the method she developed to help writers go from idea to published science fiction and fantasy novel.

In “Take 1. Write Your Messy First Draft. (Trust Your Creative Heart Roadmap, Step 4)” How To Write The Future podcast host, Beth Barany shares how writing and planning your first draft can be, and usually is, messy and fun, and why you can trust the process and your creative vision.

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About the How To Write the Future podcast

The How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers. This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

Transcript for Take 1. Write Your Messy First Draft. (Trust Your Creative Heart Roadmap, Step 4)

[00:00] Introduction and Welcome

BETH BARANY: Hey everyone. Welcome back. I am Beth Barany of How To Write The Future podcast. I am a writing teacher, science fiction and fantasy novelist, and editor. And I’m here to help you turn your idea into a polished, published science fiction or fantasy novel that you are proud of.

Now, I have been writing for very long time.

[00:29] The Joy of Writing the First Draft

BETH BARANY: And I have to tell you that this step, Step Four of my process of my roadmap called Trust Your Creative Heart Roadmap is one of my absolute favorite.

Here’s where all the preparation work comes to life. And we actually get to sit down and put words on a page. And write that first draft. There’s nothing else like it.

Every other phase of the writing processes is also wonderful and beautiful, but here’s where you go from idea and story development and lots of notes, maybe, to writing the first draft. And from there, you’ll be able to work on editing, work on the marketing work on the joy of seeing your book in the hands of your readers.

[01:15] Embracing Imperfection: Take One

BETH BARANY: So, there are several things to keep in mind as you write your first draft. This is Take One.

Take One, meaning there’s going to be many more takes after this. This is Take One. So have fun with it. I almost think having fun is the most important part of the writing process. If you’re not having fun, if it feels like torture, if it feels agonizing. Then let’s examine why. There could be some very real reasons about that. Who knows what it is. You may need to go deal with those other things.

The writing process, in my opinion, should be fun. And it may be challenging. But the challenge is fun.

And it takes courage. That also is an exercise in stretching your imagination, stretching what you think is possible.

That’s also fun. That’s my take.

[02:09] Trusting the Process

BETH BARANY: So, in this stage, in this step of the Trust your Creative Heart Roadmap, which is Step Four or stage Four. This is writing your messy first draft.

It’s not meant to be perfect. It’s not meant to be clean. Although go ahead and correct your typos as you go. I do. Every day, I will go and reread the work I did before and I will correct typos, grammar, add a word or two, but I am not fixing the material.

Because as you’re writing your first draft, you actually don’t know, unless you’ve meticulously planned it, you actually don’t know what the full story is about. And even if you have planned it, what I’ve seen with people who are meticulous and very detail oriented about their plans is a lot of them still do invent parts of their story and their characters will go off and do unusual things they didn’t predict.

So, give yourself an opportunity to be perfectly imperfect here.

One of the most torturous aspects of writing a first draft is when you think it needs to be like a final draft.

All the books on the shelf that people have published, they normally, they usually have gone through many rounds of edits. And had many people look at them. And the writer has most likely labored over every word.

That’s a finished draft. Maybe they did a hundred revisions, maybe they did three.

But when you’re writing the first draft, this is your opportunity to be experimental, to play, to explore, to have fun. And it’s going to be a mess, especially if you’ve never written a novel before.

Now even me who writes, who’s on- 16th novel, my first drafts are messy. There’s things I don’t know. There’s things I haven’t decided. And even I see in my husband’s work and he’s definitely a plotter. His work is not the final stage. It’s pretty clean. His story is going where he wants it to go. But then I look at it as the editor and I start marking it all up. And I can tell you that it’s not done.

So, when you write your first draft, it may be very messy and that is okay. That is what it absolutely needs to be.

So, trust your heart, trust your vision. And trust your gut about what it is that you want to put on the page. You just may surprise yourself. And hopefully delight yourself.

Trust the process each day when you sit down to write and make little changes as you go, if you need to.

[04:39] Questions to Reflect On

BETH BARANY: So, with that in mind, here are the two questions I’ve been asking of you for every stage.

And the first question is, by now you may be familiar, the first question is: What is working?

As you work on your first draft, notice what is working well about this process? Do you have a good ritual for getting into your writing? Are you really enjoying the flow of working on your story? Does it please you? Is it making you happy?

And then ask yourself: What would you like more of?

You may notice that you really would like more time, or you would like to make sure you have a meal before you sit down to write, so you don’t interrupt yourself with, oh no, I’m hungry. Or do you realize that you need quiet when you thought you could write at the cafe or maybe you’re at home and you yearn for the busy-ness of a cafe that actually makes it easier for you to write.

So, listen to yourself day after day and notice what you would like more of as you work on your first draft and tweak and make changes as you go.

[05:41] Workbook

BETH BARANY: And just so you know, there is a little workbook that comes with the series.

So be sure to check that out in the link, or go ahead and put into the comments, if you’re listening to this on YouTube and say, “Send me the workbook.” There is a workbook that comes along with this roadmap.

All right.

[05:59] Conclusion and Final Thoughts

BETH BARANY: That’s it for this week for our Take One. Write Your Messy First Draft in the Trust Your Creative Heart Roadmap. That’s it for this week, everyone. Write long and prosper.

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ABOUT BETH BARANY

Beth Barany teaches science fiction and fantasy novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor. She’s an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist and runs the podcast, “How To Write The Future.”

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:

Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

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CREDITS

EDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCA (Refer-a-Friend link)
MUSIC CREDITS : Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/fuzz-buzz License code: UMMKDRL02DFGKJ0L. “Fuzz buzz” by Soundroll. Commercial license: https://musicvine.com/track/soundroll/fuzz-buzz.
DISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1994465 (Refer-a-Friend link)
SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth Barany
SHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade

C 2024 BETH BARANY

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