Sage's Zero-Drafting Method
You might call this a very rough first draft. You might call it a very detailed outline. You might call it a mess of notes that it takes a miracle to make into a story. You might call it "writing by editing." You'd be right. Personally, I call it a zero draft, when I'm not calling it "that bunch of bolded text I'm going to rewrite until it becomes an actual story."
Using it, I've written as much as 60,000 words per month (NaNo), though my usual rate is closer to ~10,000-20,000 words of first draft monthly. Not bad for a reliable output! In addition to stories, I use this method for nonfiction writing, including emails and this very blog post. It helps me get down all my ideas, then work on organization and phrasing over time.
Here's an example of what this looks like, from where I left off in a current WIP (spoiler warning? In all seriousness, I don't think these few paragraphs give much away):
In short: I write my zero draft in bold text in the world file. When I'm ready to start the first draft, I compose the text of the story above the bolded notes. Often it's just a matter of rephrasing the bolded notes into better sentences and adding connective tissue. Once a line or detail is incorporated into the story (or I decide it won't fit), I delete the bold text.
Some bolded notes also sit at the beginning of the story file - especially my ideas on titles, keywords, story summary, and overall character arcs and narrative questions. But most go in roughly chronological order (or 'story order,' if I use flashbacks).
The bolded notes include:
Lines of description, dialogue, and narrative that I plan/hope/expect to include in that part of the story.
Or the gist of what I want to say, but which I know will need reworking into the actual text of the story (in the screenshot, "a little less dryly" is how I hear Sain saying his dialouge, but probably not the exact way I'll describe it in the first draft).
Guesses at what might go where.
Brainstorming about what events might happen in the story, and if so, what their consequences will be, and how that links to the next planned event...
Links to outside sources for research.
Details I've already established about the characters and worldbuilding and would like to follow up on.
Whatever I think of that relates to the story, really.
If there's a possible line or idea I really like but can't fit into the current draft of the scene, I might make it into a comment on the finished line of text. I also use comments to keep track of continuity details and of subtext that I might not make explicit text, as well as anything that I want to account for but which is out of POV.
The zero draft notes build up little by little over time in the weeks (or months, or years) leading up to the time I start writing the first draft. And they continue building over the days (or weeks, or years) in which I'm writing it. Usually, once I stop writing for the day, my subconscious keeps chewing on the story and I'll have several new ideas for the rest of the scene + next scenes. Often when I sit down the next day to record the thoughts I've had, even more ideas spill out and keep going.
To be honest, it's tricky to find screenshots to share because the writing style of these notes is incredibly messy, full of in-jokes with myself and typos. They need to be coherent enough that I'm able to figure out what I mean. They're very much not for public consumption.
It's not as formal as an outline, and it's more detailed. It includes some lines (especially dialogue, some description) that I hope will make it into the final story. But I wouldn't count it as a "first draft" because it's not really story-shaped yet. Thus: zero draft. Which is a term used differently by everyone who uses it, I think - but this is what I mean by it!
While I rarely write drafts of stories on paper anymore (unless I'm very inspired or very writer's blocked), I make tons of short notes to myself on paper scraps and post-its. Ideas come to me when I'm not at the computer. Like the typed zero draft, these written notes include "What if X happened to this character?" plans, lines of dialogue or description I want to incorporate, speculations on subtextual character motives, and also desiderata - "This story needs a stronger climax. Ideas to put this character through the wringer?" I have a lot of faith in my subconscious. I ask, and eventually the answer will come to me. And then I need to write it down.
I type up these notes where I think they fit within the zero draft. Usually I'll have even more details to add once I type, because details spawn details, actions spawn consequences, dialogue hints at backstory, and soon. Maybe my paper note has the gist of what I mean, and by the time I get to typing, I can phrase it in my character's voice.
This process involves a lot of rewriting. And I like that, because I love editing! It's so much less stressful than working from a blank page. I know what to say, I just need to solve the puzzle of when and how to say it. I can experiment with different versions, too! Sometimes it feels like writing fanfiction of my own story, taking an earlier draft and punching it up into something more intense, dramatic, or thematic.
And I rarely feel like I have to rush to write out a scene before I forget how I want it to unfold. All the details - more than I need - are there in my notes.
The real challenge, then, is working through the notes. For long stories, I try to divide the zero draft into estimated scenes or chapters. That makes the file easier to navigate. ("I think I have that line of dialogue around Chapter 12?") Some notes will migrate from chapter to chapter over the course of the draft until I find their home. And many notes will be deleted unwritten, as I accept that they just don't fit this story.
(I have a giant 'WIPs' file that contains lists of different details, lines of dialogue, events, possible story titles, and more. If a note doesn't fit in a particular story but I don't want to euthanize it, I send it to the WIPs file until it finds a new story. Whenever I find myself wanting to write something but low on details, I look in the WIPs file.)
Often, because there's so much detail available, the first draft I produce from a zero draft runs long. I aim for flash fiction and I get 1,600 or 2,000 words. Then I'll do another draft, this one based on my priorities for the piece and what I really need to include to meet them. I'll take out what isn't needed. Again, stuff that doesn't work in this story but might work elsewhere goes into the WIPs file of lists.
With a zero draft, I know where I'm headed. I usually write toward a particular story ending - but that ending can change. And when it does, I just need to scroll to the end of the file and type up my ideas for the new ending.
Since, for me, writing is a progress of continual rewriting and self-editing, I don't follow the "never edit while writing" rule. I do try to avoid major re-drafting of past chapters when I still have the rest of the story to finish, but I leave margin comments with notes and ideas ("Maybe instead of saying this aloud, it's left as simmering subtext?"). I often do read the previous day's writing and make a few revisions as I go - deleting wordiness, adding a few words to clarify the action, adjusting word choice to avoid repetition or to be more vivid, smoothing out continuity snags (did this character stand up twice in a row?). The rereading and revision gets me in the right mindset of engaging with my story and with the English language - and again, it's way less intimidating than trying to do something on a blank page.
Ideally, having zero draft plans and comment-notes to myself will let me catch most continuity issues and plot holes early. These do creep in, and often I bolt upright in the middle of the night to go "Wait! Was he wearing pants in that scene?" And then I write down a note on scrap paper so I can revisit the scene in the morning. Or I'll spot the issue on rereading, and either fix it if it can quickly be fixed or leave a note for later followup.
For another layer of âunfinalâ wording, I often used Tracked Changes to make revisions and even to type the 1.0 draft. This especially helps in bigger files where I leave off work at multiple points (like my WIPs file that contains many short stories in it, in addition to my lists). However, for large stories I usually like to have one 'border' where zero draft is changing into first draft, rather than multiple parts. In writing, I almost never skip over scenes. I may skip paragraphs or write extremely rough transitions, knowing I'll have to edit them later, but I do put down something that looks like story writing and not just a note to myself. I've tried the [put XYZ here] notes, especially for a historical novel that has a lot of [look up what would be historically plausible here] bits. But honestly? That historical novel has never been finished, and I think the cloud of uncertainty around various details is part of my problem. That goes in my zero draft. It doesn't work in my first draft.
This isn't to say I never need to include more scenes, or expand on scenes, in hindsight. Sometimes it's strange to think I ever tried the story without this crucial paragraph that I just added on the sixth draft.
And yes, when I need to tighten a story, I have to delete scenes too. Or combine them. And when I combine scenes, I sometimes paste all their text in a file together, bold it, and use it as my zero draft to work from until I've produced a new, shorter scene.
Itâs a very organic, messy kind of Planning and/or a very forward-thinking kind of Pantsing. I have an idea what the story's about, but there's room for surprises to sneak in. Best of all, I don't have to do as much multitasking. Because I don't have to think up the plot from scratch on the spot, I can pay more attention to phrasing. And I can keep polishing and tweaking until I'm happy, or at least until I accept perfection is unreachable but the story is probably pretty good and it's time to get it out into the world so readers can enjoy it.
In the first draft, I'm deliberate with my word choice, though not exactly critical. Iâll think of a phrase, go âThatâs awfully purple,â and then say âBut I like it anyway, so letâs give it a trial run.â When I reread, if the purple prose bugs me and doesnât seem to match the story, Iâll rewrite it.
I try to let a story rest at minimum overnight, ideally for a few weeks (even months) before I give it another edit. It helps clear my mind of what I thought I was doing so I can more clearly see what I am doing. But this is also where all the notes to myself help - they preserve ideas about the story that I'll find useful, but might not otherwise remember.
When I use an editor or a beta reader, they come in after Iâve sat on the story and then polished it until Iâve made the piece as good as I can possibly make it without the help of a second pair of eyes.Â
For that matter, when I'm in my day job as an editor, I use a very similar workflow. That is, I read through the manuscript and leave comments with quick notes to myself ("Could be foreshadowing?" and "Consistent ages?" and "When did this character last appear? If she's introduced in this chapter, may not have enough context.") Then I go through the story a second time and 'edit my edits,' deleting my questions-to-self and, where helpful, writing queries to the author in complete sentences. The first pass is to capture observations and ideas; the second pass is to make them into useful feedback for someone else to read. I use a full on bolded-text "zero draft" strategy to write developmental memos and cover letters to my clients.
And I mentioned using this for blog posts and emails - usually it's a much shorter, simpler process. But the principle is the same: first, write down the gist of what you want to say. Make some notes toward phrasing. Then, sit down and write a first draft out of the notes. Let it rest for a bit, reread it with new eyes, and edit. Then it's time to send out into the world. As I'm doing now.
TL;DR, if you want to try this: All your thoughts about the story are good enough to write down. Put them in some kind of order to make your future self's life easier. Lots will change as you actually write the story, and that's great. Doing things in stages is often easier than doing everything at one time. Write notes to yourself rather than relying on memory. You don't need to come up with your final phrasing until right before you send or publish.
