The first draft is freedom.
Let me rephrase that – writing a first draft of a novel can feel freeing.
After all, you are free writing – downloading your ideas out of your mind and turning them into the first words and sentences you can think of and typing those words onto the screen.
(I recommend getting used to typing your first draft rather than writing it out by hand. But find the way that works for you.)
The first draft means making time to write.
I’m an Obliger (see the book called The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Reuben – there’s a free quiz on her website if you’re interested in finding out which one you are) and I work best with accountability and with others.
That’s why I also recommend Writer’s Hour with the London Writers Salon. It helps me stick to the time I choose to write in.
The first draft gives us time to be with our characters, the situations, and all our plot ideas.
And the more time we spend with our novel, its ideas and the words we use to create it, the deeper we go into the novel and the more we know about it, getting ourselves to the end of the First Draft and ready, eventually, for our Revised Draft.
Lastly, the first draft is freedom because you write without editing your work.
Editing comes later. Editing comes when you’ve written the whole first draft and given yourself time to sit with the fullness of everything you have achieved with finishing a first draft.
We turn off the ‘editor’ mind during a first draft to let the words flow freely.
And as I always say, dear writer and novel dreamer, give yourself so much kindness and self-compassion as you move forward on your novel writing journey.
All the best, Novel Dreamer,
Cecilia
