Finishing drafts of an untold story

In the last year, I’ve written 2 stories I feel very proud of (and several others I feel decidedly less proud of). The funny thing about writing stories is that they’re so much more layered than simply: I have an idea! I’m going to write that down.

Being a reader, it’s so simple and so wonderful to sit down with a good book and run through it in a matter of days or weeks. You get to dive deep into the story, feel the fabric the author wove together, understand events and feelings from your own perspective… it’s magical in the best sense of the word.

Writing these stories? Well, it would be too simple to say it’s the same, but it would be incorrect to say it’s different. You get to dive into the story deeper than… well, probably anyone. As the author, you get to spend days, months, years (depending on the author) thinking about your story, looking at it from every angle, and… guess what? No matter how much time you spend with it, you’ll never think of everything.

But that doesn’t stop us from trying, does it?

So we start with our first draft. I feel so much insecurity when I look at my first drafts. Things like ‘this isn’t even a full story’, ‘why didn’t I do more character work’, and ‘no one’s ever going to read this’ run through my head. But here’s the thing: first drafts are meant to be messy. They can be terrible. You might throw out half the words. If the writing gods are on your side, you won’t have to throw out all your words (lovingly referred to as a page one rewrite). The first draft of the fantasy book I wrote was 135k words. Guess how many of those words I kept? Guess lower. 65k. I kept less than half of the words I initially wrote.

Was it demoralizing? No. Was it inspiring? Sometimes.

I’m the kind of person who keeps their eyes on the next step ahead (and maybe look just one step behind too). For every word, scene, and chapter, I threw out, the story got better. I also added a lot of words. My second draft (just completed) is at 170k. I’ll do the math for you—that’s 105k additional words I dug up from the trenches of my mind and added to this story. Subplots I hadn’t planned on, characters morphing in surprising ways, things I didn’t want to have happen. But the story demanded it.

Now here I am, at the end of Draft 2. It feels like it should be a joyous occasion. I went from knowing my precious idea wasn’t a full story to feeling like it has a shape. And a recognizable one at that! (Feel free to cheer along with me. It is very exciting!)

But the thing about drafts is, the line between gets blurry (at least for me). I say I’m done with Draft 2, but Oh! I should definitely add an epilogue. And what about the creative cursing I needed to add. Not to mention these hundred other improvements I just thought of while starting to outline book two.

I’m not an expert. I don’t think you can even call me a professional since I’ve never sold a book yet. But for what it’s worth, I don’t think there is ever a completely finished draft. It all bleeds from Draft 1 to 2 to 3… all the way to 8 (I hope I don’t have that many revisions, but I know I’ll do what my story demands to ensure I tell it well).

If you are a writer, my advice is simply be kind to yourself. What you are creating is precious (but not so precious you are right all the time—even if you do write all the time ba-dum-cha).

If you are a reader, take a moment to appreciate just how much thought, heart, and magic went into every word your wonderful eyes skim across. It’s a lot. Trust me.