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I read a thing about how many writers actually finish their first drafts
Found a stat from a 2022 survey saying only about 15% of people who start a novel draft complete it. I mean, everyone acts like the hard part is editing, but maybe just getting to 'the end' is the real hurdle. Anyone have a trick for pushing through that first messy draft?
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ryan_stone2mo ago
Isn't it the same with everything people start? That 15% number feels like life. We buy the gym pass, get the guitar, start the diet. The middle part is where stuff dies. My trick is to treat the draft like a bad first date. You don't need to be perfect, you just need to show up and get through it. Don't let yourself go back and fix things, just leave notes for future you. The goal is to have something, anything, to work with later.
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oliver2422mo ago
That "bad first date" idea is a trap. If you just push through a truly awful draft, you're left with a mess so big it's easier to quit than fix. The real hurdle is making a draft good enough to be worth editing later.
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My old writing professor used to say a draft is just a map of your thinking. The problem with a truly terrible draft is that the map is wrong, and you can waste weeks trying to fix a road that doesn't even go where you need. You need a draft with at least one clear path through the woods, even if it's rough. Otherwise, you're not editing, you're just starting over with extra garbage in the way.
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