(Did I mention my zero drafts are awful?) I love this method, as it gives me a chance to see the gaps, the disconnections, and the lack of logic. This process gives you an overview of your plot. (You can also do this using Scrivener or some other software that allows you to write the digital equivalent of index cards or post its.) Rachael Herron suggests going through the zero draft and writing one sentence on an index card or sticky note for each scene. Once you have your zero draft on paper, you’ll probably feel two things: So as long as you’ve got what you need so that you understand it, don’t worry about things like perfect grammar, ideal sentence construction, or using the same word too often. Most of the time, though, the lines will be rewritten for one reason or another. Those sometimes survive to the final novel. Now and then in a zero draft I’ll craft a sentence or paragraph that does exactly what I need and has a nice ring. Davis series, and I’ve got characters “named” Neighbor1 and Neighbor2. I just finished a zero draft of The Charming Man, Book 2 in my Q.C. If I know the character well and the words flow about that person, I include as much about the character as I want.īut if I simply need a character to fill a certain role–sidekick to the antagonist, alternate suspect in a suspense novel, protagonist’s boss–and I haven’t worked out who that person is, I simply write that character doing whatever it is I need the character to do. But the zero draft isn’t the time to worry about that. ![]() To love your story, your reader needs to be engaged with your characters. Skipping those on-going revisions saves you a lot of time if you reach the end and realize you don’t need that character after all, or you’re dropping that sub-plot that seemed so brilliant when you were halfway through. This approach saves you from going back and revising the early chapters, or perhaps the first half, of your novel each time you have a new idea. If I’m concerned I’ll be confused later I write a note in brackets and bold, something like. When I write the zero draft, I don’t worry about changing a plot line in the middle of the book. You can write the zero draft fast because there are a whole host of things that usually slow the writing process that you can ignore: What Not To Worry About In Your Zero Draft My changes to the first two-thirds when I rewrite almost always require that and guide me when I revise the last third. On the fly, I try out a new three-quarter turn, making notes in brackets about what might need to change in the pages before.īecause of these changes, the last third of the zero draft is often what I think of as thinner than the first two-thirds. ![]() ![]() Or I realize what I thought would be a dramatic turn doesn’t truly grow out of what came before it or feels dull–like merely more of the same. Sometimes that’s because my feel for the story and characters changes as I write. Typically I change what happens from the mid-point to the three-quarter point. I know who wins and who loses, so to speak, and often where the climax will happen. The climax also usually remains as I expected, at least from a big picture sense. Usually the first half follows the outline very well, though I often realize there are gaps I need to fill in so that it makes sense. ![]() This draft is where I see if my rough outline truly works. I want to get my story on paper so I can see how well it works and improve it later. Plot And The Zero Draftįor me, the zero draft revolves around the plot. And there’s no reason not to keep writing all the way to the end. So there’s no reason to go back and fix anything as you write. It’s the best way I’ve found to write and finish fast because you know the draft will be bad and unreadable. (Typically I do a rough outline before the draft, but you can write the zero draft on the fly if you’d rather.)Īllowing yourself to write a draft that makes no sense and has all the faults I mentioned above shuts off the editor side of your brain. Though I didn’t use the phrase Zero Draft, for all the books I’ve published, both fiction and non-fiction, it’s exactly what I write first. What works for me may not work for you, but if you’d like to write faster or are having trouble finishing your novel, why not give it a try. include incorrect character names and characters who disappearįor me, though, starting with a zero draft is the most effective way to get a novel written.include storylines that trail off to nowhere and others that start mid-stream.That phrase fits my first draft of a novel perfectly. At a Sell More Books Show Summit I attended author Rachael Herron used a term I hadn’t heard before: the zero draft.īy this, she meant the initial very rough draft–so rough you’ll never show it to anyone–of a novel.
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