#drafting

[charactervsplot]

Sometimes when drafting you just have to drop a

[FIGURE OUT THIS PART LATER]

and move on.

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Hi there, longtime follower whose loved your tips. I have an issue: Every attempt so far of mine to pen down one of my larger story ideas (ie lots of worldbuilding) has stranded at the first few chapters. By the time I come back to the draft, I've already changed my mind about so many things again that the draft isn't usable anymore. I start over again and the cycle repeats - it's been like this for years now. Do you have any tips or resources to lock my story down properly and stop tweaking it? I've tried writing a story bible but even that effort failed halfway through.

I'm likely going to say some stuff that you've heard before, so forgive me if it comes off as condescending, but it sounds like you're diving deep into the really fun world-building aspect without having a guideline on how to turn that into a story.

First, you need an outline. I've no doubt you've heard this before, but an outline is the perfect place to figure out why you keep petering out after a few chapters. If you put it in an outline, you can easily see why one plot point won't carry through over another one.

It doesn't really matter how you outline. Could be on flashcards, could be in an Excel file, could be following The Hero's Journey, Freytag's Pyramid, the Save The Cat Beat Sheet, or your basic Three Act Structure. The point is you want to outline with a beginning, middle, and end as your goals, and any method that gets you there is grand.

The second reason I want you to do an outline first is to follow a piece of excellent advice I picked up in a screenwriting class, which is to make a choice, stick with it, and move onto the next one.

Let's say you're at an story wall. Your characters can drop everything they're doing and a) pursue an alleged murderer, b) stick around and try to solve the murder, or c) shrug their shoulders and move on toward defeating the wizard. None of these choices are bad, but one may work better to move your story forward better than the others. In an outline, you can commit to choice A and carry it forward until it's very clear that's not what is suited for your story. Then you can go back to where your plot went off the rails and find a better path forward. A couple of pages of discarded outline is way better than cutting five chapters, and those tweaks you want to make will be easier to do to your outline.

Second, and this is the hard part, you need to finish the first draft. Many authors end up with something vastly different than their first draft. I just attended a book signing with Martha Wells where she said that she often writes 10k words before finding the story she really wants to write. There are no wasted words, but you must finish the thing before you can make it into the story you want.

If you have a complete outline, and you're in the middle of the draft and suddenly get a great idea to do things completely differently, don't spin off and rewrite the first few chapters over and over. Outline those other ideas, or find ways to incorporate those ideas into your current outline. You can absolutely leave yourself a note that says "instead of a blond guy from London he's now a shapechanging fae with a tragic past" in the middle of the story and then continue to write to the end of the story with that change in mind. You can and will go back to fix those changes in post. What you can't do is fix something that isn't written.

[writerpolls]

Writers: are you more of an architect or a gardener?*

More architect

More gardener

Equal in both tendencies

Depends entirely on the specific piece I’m working on

See results / not a writer / bald

Voting ended onFeb 16, 2025

*In writing terms, an architect is someone who plots out, plans, and outlines things before drafting. A gardener is someone who takes an initial idea and then just writes, seeing how the idea grows without specific plans.

Some people use the terms “plotter” and “pantser” (as in, going by the seat of their pants) for these writing styles, but I prefer architect and gardener.

[xi-xi-chen]

[todays-xkcd]

A 5% efficiency gain at the cost of a 99% efficiency loss

Drafting [Explained]

Transcript Under the Cut

[A rocket with two boosters is launching going towards the top right corner. It has a two-stage core and two boosters, and they produce three flames from their exhaust and beneath these flames is a large exhaust plume fanning out behind the rocket most of the way towards the bottom of the panel. A smaller rocket is following the first rocket. It is very close to the first rocket, so most of the smaller rocket is inside the exhaust plume from the larger rocket. The smaller rocket does not have boosters, but still produces three smaller flames from its exhaust. Beneath these flames the smaller rocket also leaves a large but slimmer exhaust plume that exits the panel at the bottom left corner.]

[Caption below the panel:] Aerospace tip: Although the technique reduces atmospheric drag for many types of vehicles, you should never try to improve rocket launch efficiency through drafting.

[waywardsou2]

I'm sure all the Bucky stans know this but there are a lot of us who don't so I need to say this and then shout it from the roof tops for the rest of you

During World War 2 in America the enlisted troops serial number started with 12 and the drafted troops started with 32

Bucky's serial number is 32557038 (yes I do know that off by heart)

His number starts with 32...

32.

Our boy was drafted, he didn't enlist and juding by the year he was probably drafted due to the Service and Enlistment Act

But did not choose to go to war, he was forced.

Just let that sink in

Because I cannot get over the fact that James Barnes never wanted to go to war, and Steve Rogers desperately wanted to be fit enough to enlist had swapped places

That parallel is insane

And I cannot believe that Marvel has never adressed the fact that Bucky went through all the shit he did because he was drafted. He didn't go in knowing the risks because he didn't choose to become a soldier, that choice was made for him, and thanks to the choice his life was a living hell since then

[suprgalwrites]

the draft-by-draft guide to not losing your mind (aka: when is this thing ready to post?)

One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is that good stories just happen the first time we type them out. they don't. writing is just fancy editing. If you’re staring at a blank page (or a messy one) and wondering "is this enough?", here is a breakdown of the three-draft method for your chapters.

Draft one: the skeleton draft (the what)

the goal: get the story out of your head and onto the screen. that’s it.

the vibe: it’s messy. it’s ugly. there are probably notes in brackets like [insert brilliant argument here] or [add some narrative about so and so].

what to ignore: grammar, repetitive words, and whether or not the pacing is perfect.

when it’s done: when you’ve reached the end of the chapter or scene. even if the ending is just a sentence saying "and then they left."

Draft two: the muscle draft (the how)

the goal: make it look like a story.

the vibe: this is where you go back and fill in those brackets. you add the sensory details we talked about; the smell of the library, the itch of the wool, the way the light hits the floor. You add the narrative you missed or the world building details you think could enhance the story.

the focus: check your dialogue. does it sound like them? if you’re writing dramione, is draco being sufficiently posh or cruel? is hermione’s brilliant, chaotic energy coming through?

what to fix: pacing. if a conversation is dragging on for three pages and nothing is happening, chop it.

Draft three: the polish draft (the shine)

the goal: make it readable.

the vibe: word-level editing. you’re looking for filter words (like he saw, she felt, he realized) and trying to cut them.

the tool: read it out loud. if you trip over a sentence, your reader will too.

the clash check: look at your descriptions. did you use "blue" five times? change one to cobalt or the color of a bruised sky, make it pop, make it flow.

How do I know it's ready to post?

This is the hardest part. The truth? It’s ready when you’re bored of looking at it, but if you want a checklist:

does the scene accomplish its goal? (did they get the info? did they have the fight? did the tension increase?)

is the formatting clean? (if you're posting to AO3 or tumblr, check your paragraph breaks!)

have you done a vibe check? read the last paragraph. if it makes you want to read the next chapter, it’s ready.

A final reminder: Especially in fanfic, your readers aren't looking for a pulitzer-winning masterpiece. they are looking for your voice and the characters they love. A good enough chapter that actually gets posted is 100% better than a perfect chapter that stays in your docs forever.

Now go forth and edit! (but not forever.)