Mar 31 2009
Writing Tip: The Power of Three
In WriteAtHome courses, students do three drafts of every paper. Sound excessive? It’s not. In my own writing, especially in my novels, I’ve found three to be a consistently powerful number. Each draft has a distinct purpose.
The First Draft: This is the magic draft, the fun draft, the frustrating draft; it’s the lift-your-wings-and-fly, let loose and pour, spill it all out on the page draft. The First Draft is where your ideas take shape for the first time. It’s often best just to push through a First Draft, not bothering to stop and edit much. Save that for . . .
The Second Draft: In the Second Draft, it’s time for a substantive edit. This means that you’re going to look at your content and analyze it. Take a big-picture approach. What’s working? What isn’t? What needs more fine-tuning? Do you need to make major changes to structure or plot? Are you majorly lacking any key elements–like description, convincing points, or dialogue? Is there anything you should cut? Are there plot elements or key points you’ve left undeveloped that should be expanded? Read through your first draft, take detailed notes, and make a plan for your Second Draft. Then go at it! When you’re finished, you’re ready for …
The Third Draft: Now it’s time for a copyedit. At this point, your big-picture issues should be taken care of. It’s time to fine-tune the little stuff, to immerse yourself in the nitty-gritty of word choices, rhythm, punctuation, and grammar. Now’s the time to proofread carefully and master the art of reading out loud to yourself.
Should you do more than three drafts? If your work calls for it, yes. But for turning out great writing, three is a powerful number — make good use of it.
I think that is smart advice.
Thank you! This really makes me want to start writing again. I often fixate on certain chapters or just spots, leave the story for ages, forget all the elements, etc. Stories are extremely difficult to create, good ones that is.
I haven’t been writing seriously since late fall last year when I finished Bible Battles. But I just really have a urge to focus and do this.
Love your blog!
I like to edit my first drafts just a little so that when I re-read them, I’m less tempted to say, “This stinks, I can’t use it!”
P.S. Thanks for the advice! :-)
Elisabeth, that’s a good point–and because the computer makes it so easy to delete and move things around and just generally play with words, I know I edit as I go, too. But for the most part, that’s small-scale editing. I’m not usually tempted to bog down in it, though I know some writers are never able to get past the first draft because they can’t just let themselves write it!