Writing the first draft of a book is perhaps the most difficult part of publishing. However, there are a variety of things you can do to help keep the words flowing. The trick is to find the methods that work best for you.
As every writer is different with varying methods of success, I can only tell you what has worked best for me. It is up to you to discover your own flow and style.
Don’t judge yourself on the productivity and success of others. Every author will have a unique experience when it comes to publishing a book.
Keep in mind that most people who say they want to write a book never make it past the 20,000-word mark. If you do, relish in that thought and celebrate it as a win.
8 Methods for Writing the First Draft of a Book
When it comes to writing your first draft, there really is no right or wrong answer as long as you write it. Everyone has different techniques and skills, which means not every suggestion is going to work for every author.
As I’ve said before, all we can really do as authors is tell you what worked best for us. It is then up to you to pick and choose the best methods that will work for you.
Finishing the first draft is the most important part of writing a book. That part is obvious. But there is more to it than just getting the story out. Finishing the first draft also boosts morale and self-confidence.
By the end, you can say that you wrote a book. That’s something not a lot of people (including those who want to write) can say. In fact, I know far more people who say they wanted to write a book than those who have actually done so.
Of course, editing and marketing are two of the most difficult aspects of publishing. But finishing that first draft helps get the momentum going while making you feel good about yourself. It’s an accomplishment that can do more for your self-esteem than you probably realize.
So, what kinds of things help me when writing a book?
1. Experiment with Software First
Not a lot of people consider how much of an impact writing software makes when putting together a book. Some will simply open Word or LibreOffice and start hammering away at a story. Others, like myself, want more bells and whistles that are tailored for authors.
When it comes to writing, there are no absolutes when considering apps. It comes down to personal preference and what you can get out of each one. And there are a lot of great writing apps available on the Internet.
I prefer Reedsy as it has everything I want from the layout of the manuscript to the planning board. Reedsy focuses on helping beginner novelists put together a great story using a variety of features. So far, I’ve written several books using the platform.
Then you have a more advanced writing tool, Scrivener. It has a slew of functions and features but is somewhat more complicated than Reedsy. Scrivener provides virtually everything Reedsy does but has a bit of a steeper learning curve. That’s because it has a lot of advanced features that will take some time to figure out or get used to.
I suggest trying out different writing apps to see what works best for your needs. The right app can help you stay motivated, engaged, and productive. For example, I love the tracking screen of Reedsy as it helps me stay focused to finish writing by a certain deadline.
2. Set Realistic Goals and Deadlines
I cover realistic goals and deadlines quite often. That’s because they are two of the most impactful things that have helped me write and publish all of my books. I finished writing the first draft of Kingmaker two weeks early because I gamified the goals and deadlines.
This means I made it a fun task by trying to outperform the perceptions of what I could handle. The word count for the day was like a high score. The next day, I would try to beat that score.
By making adjustments to the deadline option in Reedsy, the platform will tell me how many words I need to write per day. Then, I simply work to surpass those numbers.
Now, I’m not just slapping words up on the screen to hit a certain number every day. Sometimes, I write slower depending on the scene or when planning out a section that wasn’t in my outline.
At the end of the day, though, I am still trying to maintain a level of productivity that I know I can handle. It’s not always easy, considering how chaotic my life is at any given moment. Yet, I still have the time necessary to finish the first draft.
When setting goals and deadlines, you want to push yourself to succeed. However, you don’t want to push so hard that you feel overwhelmed.
3. Create Daily Schedules
I use Asana to manage my day. It helps me keep track of blogs, YouTube videos, social media, clients, and time to write my books. I’ll plan out the entire week while making sure I have a block of time to work on my manuscript.
It’s much easier to do when you’re working from home and your youngest is seventeen.
When writing your book, you want to make sure you have ample time to finish. Setting up moments throughout your day will get you to the finish line rather than trying to “wing it.” It’s easy to get stuck in a routine of postponing your book because something else came up.
Committing to a schedule is creating a commitment to yourself and your craft. Unless you plan on leisurely writing your book, that commitment is pivotal for your success. You don’t want your manuscript to sit on the back burner indefinitely. This is why I prioritize blocks of time for working on my books every day.
I have stories to tell and want to work on all of them. So, it’s important that I finish each one in a timely manner while putting in the best version of myself as possible as a storyteller.
4. Don’t Strive for Perfection
The first draft is not supposed to be perfect. No one publishes the first draft of their story. The main goal is to get the story out of you so that you can work on polishing it up later for your readers.
I know too many people who agonize over each paragraph to make it sparkle like a star in the night sky. The problem with that is you could get stuck in an endless loop of editing before you even finish chapter one.
When you think about it, perfection doesn’t exist, especially as an author. Everyone who writes a book can go back over the manuscript and want to change things for the better. This includes books that have already been published for years.
The point is that there is no such thing as a perfect manuscript. Keep in mind that your first draft is not the book you’ll publish. You’ll undoubtedly make sweeping edits to make the story a much better read.
Take Kingmaker, for example. The book that I published was quite a bit different than the one I wrote in the first draft. For one thing, one of the main characters had a massive personality shift.
5. Limit the Distractions
How often do you start writing only for something to snag your attention? Social media, kids, work…all of these can make writing a book far more difficult. What you need to ask yourself is how many of these distractions are your own making?
It’s easy to melt through a lot of time scrolling through Instagram or getting sucked into some random YouTube rabbit hole. Before you know it, your time is depleted.
Social media is especially bad because of how addicting it is to get those likes and follows. Not to mention how the fear of missing out affects a lot of people.
Now, there are some distractions that are unavoidable. Taking care of kids, household emergencies, and the like happen all of the time. The trick is to not get upset at yourself for “wasting time.” It’s not really a waste if there is a task that is ultimately important for your life or home.
I’m talking more about the distractions we impose on ourselves when we have a task to do. How often do you clean something instead of writing? Are you binge-watching episodes of something on Netflix during your writing time?
A lot of people will say they are constantly busy. However, I’ve found that most who do are only busy with the distractions they put on themselves throughout the day.
6. Outline the Story
Outlining is more of an optional step than a requirement. I know a lot of writers who will do so from the seat of their pants without knowing where the story is going. And that’s fine if that’s what works for you.
I’ve found that having an outline of a book, even a basic one, helps keep me focused and writing. It’s also one of the things I do to avoid writer’s block. For me, it’s all about connecting the dots from one point to another with a storyline.
Sometimes, those outlines change depending on how the story unfolds. Then, I make those adjustments and keep writing.
Outlines can be of any size and break down as much of the book as you want. There are authors who will outline every chapter with a few basic lines of text. Then, you have others who will plot the entire storyline. It all depends on who is writing what.
Outlining a story also gives me the ability to toss a few ideas out there to see if they work. Sometimes, those segments are cut because they just don’t make much sense according to the story. It’s kind of like brainstorming your book.
7. Research as You Write
Some books will require a great deal of research. However, a lot of new authors will spend an incredible amount of time diving into a topic without actually writing much. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that; learning new stuff is always good. Still, it can be a time suck if you’re not paying attention.
Instead, research the elements you’ll need for that particular scene as you write.
For instance, I spent way too much time trying to calculate if a thoroughbred can travel a certain distance in three days so the characters can meet at the same time. I didn’t look up any other information about the horse because I didn’t need it for the scene.
In Shadows of Atlantic City, I would research clothing or weapons of the 1870s as per the description I was writing. In other words, I only researched what I needed at that particular moment.
Anything else you’ll need for a certain scene to make it feel more “real” is added during edits. Remember, you’re only working on the first draft just to get the story out of you. Finer details will undoubtedly come when you start polishing up the manuscript.
What this does is that it shaves off quite a bit of time. Essentially, you’re avoiding collecting information that you won’t use in your book. Focusing on the specifics helps hone your research and makes you more efficient when writing the first draft.
8. Don’t Critique the First Draft
This goes along the lines of expecting perfection. Don’t critique your first draft as it’s not going to be the story you wind up publishing. Some folks look back at the first draft and trash it because the manuscript didn’t live up to their expectations of themselves.
The only version of your book you should ever critique is the finished copy. And even then, you should do so with a grain of salt. Every author can look back through his or her books and find faults to fix. Besides, it’s not your job to be a literary critic.
Not to mention that you have a bit of a bias considering it’s your book.
Think of it like this; the first draft is kind of like a raw chunk of diamond being pulled out of the ground. Sure, it’s a diamond, but it looks like a lump of dirty and unclean crystal. Then, you begin edits to make it the shining, carved beauty that people pay a lot of money to obtain.
My point is that being critical of your first draft works against you. Instead of carving out the bad stuff to show the story underneath, you can wind up tossing the manuscript in the trash.
Nowadays, I let others critique my work and then consider ways to improve. I’ve thrown away my fair share of manuscripts because I thought the first round sucked. That was a massive mistake!
What About Dealing with Writer’s Block?
A lot of authors have to deal with varying degrees of writer’s block. Sometimes, this blockage can last weeks if not months. I never have this problem mostly because of the methods I’ve learned over the years.
As a freelance writer for content mills, I had to churn out as much writing as possible to get paid a livable wage. So, I practiced various techniques to make as much money as I could. Nowadays, I always seem to have a stream of conscious thought. It takes practice, but I believe everyone can find a flow that keeps them productive.
To keep myself from succumbing to writer’s block, I have five important elements while writing my book. They may not work for everyone, but perhaps you can come up with your own ideas from the things I practice.
Remember, the key is to write an imperfect first draft. Don’t think too much when writing your manuscript. Overthinking can cause you to spin out of control. Let the story flow as you write and worry about making changes and fixes during the edits.
Plotter vs Pantser
First, are you planning to be a plotter or pantser? Some authors can sit at a keyboard and start hammering away a story. Others need a guideline of where they want the story to go. Either way is effective, depending on the writer.
I find that plotting gives me an outline of where I want to take the story and keeps me working to that end. Sure, I have to change a few things here and there if the story takes a turn somewhere. But I always have a guide and simply have to write to connect the dots, so to speak.
Now, there are some authors out there who say that you can’t really write a good book unless you plot it out. In truth, a lot of the most successful authors on the planet are pantsers. As long as the method works best for you, it doesn’t matter which path you decide to take.
In my case, plotting easily keeps me on course while allowing me to explore different avenues to put together a better book. In fact, there are several parts of Kingmaker and Fury that were added after the outline. In those cases, those changes made for much better books.
Stepping Away
Whether you have full-blown writer’s block or get a bit stuck on a scene, it’s always a good idea to take a break. It’s easier to get the flow going again after you’ve had a chance to breathe.
For instance, I often go for breaks to walk around the backyard. During that time, I listen to certain songs that help fuel creativity while thinking about the book. By the time I am done (after about 15 to 20 minutes), I’m ready to tackle the manuscript.
Unfortunately, a lot of people wind up needing far more than just a 20-minute walk to get their bearings again. And that’s fine. Publishing a book is not a race, and if you try to force the plot, readers will notice the discrepancies that follow. Take as much time as you need to get back into the zone for writing your book.
You don’t have to walk, either. I do it simply because physical activity improves brain power. It’s something I’ve been practicing since I started writing for clients in 2012. Perhaps that is key to why I never suffer from writer’s block for more than a few minutes at a time.
In any case, taking time from writing can help you recuperate and refocus your efforts. Don’t try to force yourself to write the story.
Side Projects
What if you don’t necessarily want to walk away from writing? You can always invest your time into other side projects, such as short stories or flash fiction based on writing prompts. It’s quite a common practice for many authors, actually.
The idea is to get the creative juices flowing by working on a smaller, and less significant story. It doesn’t have to be anything you plan on publishing, and it’s just to get you back into a creative mindset.
You can do something like a shorter, serialized story on your blog. Maybe write a bit of backstory of someone or something in your manuscript. There are a lot of different things you can do for minor projects that may help kickstart the major one.
Of course, you need to be careful when adding more projects to the mix. I’ve seen a lot of authors on social media who wind up having more than five works in progress, most of which are only half-written. Even if you think the new story is a brilliant one, write it down in a notebook and come back to the idea after you’ve finished the first draft of the original story.
Writing Out of Order
One of the methods I use quite often is that of writing the story out of order. Bear in mind that I wrote the ending of Kingmaker long before I even finished writing chapter one of the book. Though, I did need to change it a bit as things happened in the main storyline.
If I get a bit stuck on where to go, I start writing a section that I know I want in the book. This is much easier to do when you’re a plotter. I pick a section of my outline and fill in the blanks. Afterward, I work on connecting the two sections of the story.
This isn’t the easiest to do as a pantser, mostly because you don’t know how the story is going to unfold. In that case, this tip isn’t going to be worth much to you. However, it’s not entirely impossible if you have a single idea of what you want from what you’ve already written.
Fight scenes, love scenes, lines of dialogue…I implement all kinds of things out of order while writing. There are times when I think of some great lines while in the shower that I want later on in the book.
At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with writing out of order if it works to help you get the story out. Just make sure you connect everything in a logical and cohesive order.
Ask for Feedback
Having another set of eyes on a manuscript can provide quite a bit of insight. Feedback is exceptionally valuable, as long as you don’t internalize the critique or feel like it’s an attack on you as a creator. I know several people in real life who view every critique as a personal attack.
Don’t be that person.
Someone you trust can read what you have written and then help brainstorm ideas of where the story can go. This technique is so effective that a lot of writing apps today have built-in similar methods in the form of AI.
For example, AutoCrit has an AI that will analyze your text and then give you possible ideas for how to continue writing the story.
In any case, having another person to bounce ideas of off can help get you back into writing your book. Just make sure you’re inviting someone you trust to read your manuscript. Don’t simply go onto social media and ask complete strangers. The Internet is full of people who will take your idea and run with it themselves.
Your First Draft is Not the Book You’ll Publish
The most important thing to remember is that the first draft is not the book you’re going to publish. It is merely the backbone of what the story could be after editing. No one writes a perfect first draft.
As I’ve said before, Kingmaker is a much different story now than it was when I first wrote it. I had main character behavioral changes, new scenes, more details, and extended backstories for secondary characters that weren’t in the first draft.
That’s my point. That first draft is merely a tool to get the foundation of the story out of you. Then, you put in the finer details and polish up the story in subsequent edits. So, don’t assume that once you’re done with that initial story that it’s good to go on Amazon.
You also want to make sure that you’re not spending the next 10 years editing your book to perfection. But I’ll go over that later. For now, you just want to do what you can to finish writing the first draft of the book. It’ll fill you with a sense of pride and accomplishment. It’s quite an amazing feeling.
The end result is a newfound sense of confidence that you can, indeed, publish your book.
Writing a Book Is the Easy Part
Compared to the other aspects of self-publishing, writing the book is easy. Sure, you’ll probably face moments of doubt or get stuck on a scene. But when all is said and done, writing pales in comparison to the more difficult aspects such as editing or marketing.
Perhaps the greatest piece of advice I can give any new author is to finish the first draft. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it’ll fill you with a sense of confidence and pride. You can then use those feelings to drive the rest of the process. You’ll find yourself more excited with each step you complete in the process.
One last thing I’d like to mention is how writing a “good” book is subjective. What one person will love, another will hate. Write the story you want to tell and don’t focus on whether other people are going to like it or not.
It’s awfully arrogant to think you know what someone will like to read. That’s a lesson that took me quite a long time to learn, and I threw away a lot of potentially good stories because I thought I knew better. Don’t assume that you know what others will find enticing.
You won’t be everyone’s favorite author with the first book, but you will be someone’s.
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