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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Tell the Truth Tuesday: What My First Draft Looks Like

Okay, so I'm in first-draft mode again. Writing, writing, writing, as per my "new year's resolutions" I posted a few weeks ago.

I saw this picture on Facebook, and it pretty much sums up what my first drafts look like in my head...

           ...aaaannndd in actuality:



So yeah.

What does your first draft look like?
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66 comments:

  1. TamaraSeptember 13, 2011 at 6:10 AM

    About 30k less words than it should be!!!

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  2. Christine RainsSeptember 13, 2011 at 6:11 AM

    *LOL* Great comparison! I want a cookie monster cupcake now. My first draft looks like me when I first wake up in the morning. Hair sticking out at odd angles, bleary red eyes, dry mouth, crease lines on my cheek from sleeping weirdly on the pillow.

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  3. blankSeptember 13, 2011 at 6:18 AM

    wicked! Thanks for sharing! my first draft is currently only 2000 words that im not sure where its going as per usual!

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  4. JessSeptember 13, 2011 at 6:20 AM

    Haha lol that's EXACTLY what mine looks like! Thanks, this really made me laugh :)

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  5. Jessica BellSeptember 13, 2011 at 6:26 AM

    Pretty clean actually as I edit as I go. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, which can sometimes cause a LOT of problems because I can't move on from a scene if there's something not quite right with it. So yeah ... I'm a SLOW writer :o) But that's okay, I guess. Has worked out fine so far. I wish I could just bash out a first draft in one month and then go back to fix it. But my brain doesn't seem to like the idea! :-/

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  6. B.E. SandersonSeptember 13, 2011 at 6:27 AM

    ROFL... yup, pretty much the same here. In my head, my first draft looks so wonderful, but in reality, it's a melty, globby mess no one would want to consume.

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  7. Gail ShepherdSeptember 13, 2011 at 6:28 AM

    My first draft looks like somebody arriving way underdressed for a fancy party: In shorts and flip flops instead of a slinky black cocktail dress.

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  8. Bish DenhamSeptember 13, 2011 at 6:36 AM

    That is so funny. I'd say my first drafts look like a bonsai tree that hasn't yet been trimmed and trained.

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  9. LizaSeptember 13, 2011 at 6:41 AM

    Mine looks like 1/3 of one of those cookie monsters.

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  10. Meredith McCardle September 13, 2011 at 6:42 AM

    LOLOLOL. Yep, that's about right. :D

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  11. Karen BaldwinSeptember 13, 2011 at 6:46 AM

    Brain barf! I just write whatever my brain hurls up. NOT pretty!

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  12. UnknownSeptember 13, 2011 at 6:50 AM

    BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *rolls on the floor* I... *giggle fit* think... *still laughing* that's AWESOME!!!

    NAILED IT. Hells Yeah.

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  13. Chantele SedgwickSeptember 13, 2011 at 6:56 AM

    LOL! Funny! Mine looks about the same! :D I do think they're getting better the more first drafts I write, but they still suck pretty bad! ;)

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  14. Lydia SharpSeptember 13, 2011 at 7:07 AM

    That is so spot-on, I can't even...

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  15. Amie BorstSeptember 13, 2011 at 7:17 AM

    nailed it!

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  16. DeanaSeptember 13, 2011 at 7:21 AM

    Hey, those look pretty good! I wish mine looked like that rather than big ole bowl of alphabet soup:)

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  17. Talli RolandSeptember 13, 2011 at 7:35 AM

    Haha! Truthfully, my first drafts are disastrous. Every character sounds the same, they all roll their eyes... in fact, there are a lot of 'eyes' everywhere! Eyes meeting, big brown eyes, eyes staring, you get the picture! Very sad.

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  18. Kristin LenzSeptember 13, 2011 at 7:40 AM

    Ha ha, I only have a few minutes to scan blogs this morning, but yours is the third one that has cracked me up. Thanks for the fun start to my day!

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  19. Natalie AguirreSeptember 13, 2011 at 7:50 AM

    Funny. I need that as I'm sitting waiting for my bankruptcy case to be called. Yawn.

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  20. Red Boot PearlSeptember 13, 2011 at 7:52 AM

    I LOVE this picture... because I HATE cooking/baking. I can't tell you how much that made my day, because despite my efforts, my bake goods will always resemble that second pic. And as far as drafts go, that sums it up pretty good. If I go too slow and think too much--I lose momentum, but if I word vomit the first draft it takes a million drafts to finish--such a delicate balance.

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  21. REINHARDT!September 13, 2011 at 7:58 AM

    That pic is the most perfect way I've ever seen this topic described! Thanks, Elana. It's so easy to forget how much work goes into perfecting a book we buy at the bookstore.

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  22. Nicole ZoltackSeptember 13, 2011 at 8:24 AM

    That analogy works perfectly for my drafts too!

    I so want a Cookie Monster cupcake right now.

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  23. Mary AnnSeptember 13, 2011 at 8:26 AM

    Ahhhh. That gives me hope and giggles. Thanks!

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  24. writing and living by Richard P HughesSeptember 13, 2011 at 8:41 AM

    I love writing first drafts. I enjoy revising. The things I discover throughout the writing process is fascinating. What's even more fascinating is when my writing group sees clever or funny ways of improving a story. I love it.

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  25. Anita SaxenaSeptember 13, 2011 at 8:44 AM

    An absolute mess....

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  26. Shannon O'DonnellSeptember 13, 2011 at 8:48 AM

    Gosh, I wish my first drafts looked as good as yours!! LOL. :-)

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  27. Donna K. WeaverSeptember 13, 2011 at 8:50 AM

    A first draft I call a rough draft. For a reason. =D

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  28. Abby FowersSeptember 13, 2011 at 9:03 AM

    LOL. Okay, I totally want to make those cupcakes and mine would probably look something closer to the bottom picture. And yes, I feel the same way about my first draft. It aggravating at times, but I just keep trying to tell myself to keep moving forward. I can EDIT and REVISE! Whew.

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  29. LauraSeptember 13, 2011 at 9:04 AM

    I can't stop laughing...

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  30. Matthew MacNishSeptember 13, 2011 at 9:12 AM

    If yours is a sloppy cup cake, mine is like a wedding cake after the best man falls into after too much champagne. I'm hoping the next book's first draft will only be 2x too long, instead of 4x.

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  31. belSeptember 13, 2011 at 9:13 AM

    Yep! That's about right. Except my draft is way less colorful than those cupcakes. :D

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  32. ChelseySeptember 13, 2011 at 9:17 AM

    ahahahahha

    yup. That seems familiar.

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  33. Emily R. KingSeptember 13, 2011 at 9:34 AM

    You know the burnt cookies the end up in the trash? Yeah, that's my first draft. I have to throw the whole thing out and start over.
    Funny post!

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  34. Shannon MessengerSeptember 13, 2011 at 9:37 AM

    LOL! Yep... that's pretty much me. Except maybe they're also super runny and unbaked in the middle. Oh murky middle, how do I hate thee? :)

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  35. Angela CothranSeptember 13, 2011 at 9:53 AM

    He he he! As long as it's not the final draft right? Great post!

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  36. lotusgirlSeptember 13, 2011 at 9:55 AM

    Nice. Yours is better than mine.

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  37. EmilySeptember 13, 2011 at 10:07 AM

    Thank you. I need to be reminded sometimes that everyone has a first draft. I am currently working on the third draft? I think. It barely resembles the first draft.

    Sometimes I think I'm the only one who can't write it perfectly the first time.

    It's nice to see that there's more of us.

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  38. Jenny LundquistSeptember 13, 2011 at 10:10 AM

    Love this! Am writing a first draft too and I can honestly say that my first draft looks like a pot of soup that manages to be both burnt and undercooked at the same time, has way too much salt in it, and has to be thrown out altogether so I can start over--and hopefully, my second try won't suck so bad. Will be craving cupcakes now as I write today!

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  39. AnonymousSeptember 13, 2011 at 10:38 AM

    Funny you should ask...
    I'm writing a first draft of a YA novel at the moment. My aim was to have it finished by the end of September but right now it's making your cookies look good.

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  40. Sara B. LarsonSeptember 13, 2011 at 11:15 AM

    Ha ha, LOVE it! And so very true. ;)

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  41. Stephanie McGeeSeptember 13, 2011 at 11:23 AM

    LOL. And totally my drafts, too. Sigh.

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  42. AliceSeptember 13, 2011 at 11:42 AM

    My first drafts look pretty much the same. It's nice to know yours do too. Gives me hope.

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  43. L. Diane WolfeSeptember 13, 2011 at 12:03 PM

    Mine are green. I think I made Oscars instead.

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  44. Mart RamirezSeptember 13, 2011 at 12:14 PM

    ROTFL! LOve the pics. Um--Yeah. Just like that:)

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  45. Hermana Tiffany GarnerSeptember 13, 2011 at 1:24 PM

    haha about exactly the same...though I don't usually realize it until later ;p

    Good luck!

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  46. Angela BrownSeptember 13, 2011 at 1:30 PM

    My first draft...hmmm. Well, normally you want to give the one-up story. "I did this better than you" or "I did that better than you". This time, it's all about the one-worse, like, "My first draft is like chitterlings, requires an acquired taste to deal with them and aren't edible until you get rid of all the ****". Yeah...that bad.

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  47. MeredithSeptember 13, 2011 at 2:16 PM

    Thank goodness I'm not the only one who feels this way!

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  48. AngieSeptember 13, 2011 at 2:21 PM

    LOL. My cupcakes would definitely look like that. (The bottom one, not the cute ones.) First drafts are supposed to look like that, though. That's what first drafts are for. That's what I keep telling myself.

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  49. Jenny S. MorrisSeptember 13, 2011 at 2:37 PM

    Oh, how I wish my first draft could flow straight out of my head and look pretty like the top picture, but alas it does not. I hope by the end it really does resemble to top pic though. Still working on that...

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  50. Golden EagleSeptember 13, 2011 at 4:14 PM

    Rather similar to the second one. :P LOL.

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  51. Caryn CaldwellSeptember 13, 2011 at 4:17 PM

    LOL! My first drafts are pretty messy, too, but I do a lot of revising as I write so they're not as awful as they could be. However, they take three times as long because of all the editing.

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  52. Jemi FraserSeptember 13, 2011 at 4:53 PM

    That might just be the best pic ever!!! Love Cookie :)

    My first drafts are not pretty creatures either!

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  53. AnonymousSeptember 13, 2011 at 5:49 PM

    Too funny! The last pic looks like something I'd bake.

    My first drafts remind me of unmade beds.

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  54. Sophia ChangSeptember 13, 2011 at 7:58 PM

    lol

    woo the famous EJ came by :D

    You were a "stamper"?!? Um...that's kind of bad ass. Like, who says that?

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  55. WritingNutSeptember 13, 2011 at 8:00 PM

    Hahah... I LOVEd this... exactly spot on! :)

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  56. Ronald L. SmithSeptember 13, 2011 at 8:49 PM

    My first draft looks like graffiti with punctuation marks.

    Okay, I just stole that from a character in the new film Contagion. He was speaking of bloggers, and said, That's not writing. That's graffiti with punctuation marks.

    To which I wholeheartedly disagree.

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  57. June GSeptember 13, 2011 at 9:10 PM

    Oh boy. Those cupcakes look a mess! Is that an actual photo of your attempt?! LOL...I do try to do some editing as I write, so things don't get too ugly, but when I read it over, it's always more of a mess than I would like. Nice to know I'm in good company... :-)

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  58. Sharon K. MayhewSeptember 13, 2011 at 10:03 PM

    Hahaha! My first drafts look a two year old cut her own hair...Some spots are missing hair and other spots have long bits. :D

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  59. Miranda HardySeptember 14, 2011 at 3:07 AM

    Yes, my first draft mirrors yours exactly! lol I'm editing two of them now, and boy, they are horrible. lol

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  60. AnonymousSeptember 14, 2011 at 4:32 AM

    LOL, great comparison.

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  61. Enid WilsonSeptember 14, 2011 at 4:44 AM

    My first drafts usually have a lot of grammatical mistakes, spelling mistakes, POV mistakes and a lot of repetitive words. So they are for my eyes only.

    Every Savage Can Reproduce

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  62. Meadowlark LayneSeptember 14, 2011 at 12:42 PM

    aHaha. You make me laugh. My current first draft can't decide if it is a cupcake or a cake or a giant cookie. It's just a lump of messy dough with a few bites missing.

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  63. ShariSeptember 15, 2011 at 11:38 AM

    Not even as good as the bottom ones.

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  64. Ishta MercurioSeptember 17, 2011 at 7:13 AM

    LOL! Yeah, that picture pretty much nailed it. Plus, my first draft is full of holes, so some of the cookies would be missing. Ugh, first drafts... Blerg.

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  65. Rachel BeanSeptember 17, 2011 at 8:47 AM

    Bhahahaha, oh my gosh that actually made me start laughing out loud!! Hahahaha, too funny (and sadly, too true.... ;)

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  66. UnknownSeptember 20, 2011 at 12:44 PM

    Hahahaha! What a PERFECT picture for the-story-in-my-head vs the-story-on-the-page :-)

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