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First Drafts

If you are reading Null_Pointer on this web site, you are reading a First Draft of the novel. First drafts are usually not seen by the public. Part of the reason for this blog is to let you see the writing process with all it’s wrinkles and blemishes. A First Draft is the very first complete pass at writing the entire novel. Usually, a writer is just trying to get the ideas out of his head and onto paper in a somewhat coherent fashion in chapter and scene form.

Sometimes it is readable and you can get a sense of how the story will evolve, other times its choppy and incoherent to anyone but the writer. For me, my first drafts are usually pretty rough when it comes to grammar, character, and details. I concentrate on plotting and scene progression more than anything. There are bits of polished gems in there, but I have not given much time to making sense of things or developing characters. Sometimes details change from chapter to chapter as I learn who my characters are and change my mind about various aspects of the story. I may even add or delete chapters or scenes as the novel progresses, but that’s pretty rare.

I try and plow thorough the whole thing first, then go back and rearrange things so they make sense. That is the role of the second draft. I will post the second draft on the site when the time comes to do that. The First Draft will become a single file and the chapter pages will only contain the latest draft version.

Once again, comments are welcome and I will respond in kind when questions are asked.

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