WHATS A ROUGH DRAFT FULL

WHATS A ROUGH DRAFT FULL

Use it for what it-a foundation-and build from it to get your story to its full potential. It’s because it’s a first draft, not a final draft. You’ve just got to dive right back in-and remember, the gaps and mistakes you catch when you go back through don’t mean you’re not a good writer. But once you finally see this first step through, it can be hard to know where to go next A Rough Draft is What You Make ItĪ rough draft is a major accomplishment. And most of all, don’t be afraid to get messy. Take your time with this, don’t be afraid to skip around to stay on topic as you address various points. It can be tempting to start off by changing the easy things that will clean it up quickly, like running spell check or correcting little inconsistencies.īut don’t do that-they may feel satisfying but they’re purely cosmetic, and you’ll likely have to go back through a lot of it with your big changes anyway, so you’re really just procrastinating. Start with the biggest things (the ones we identified in the last two steps) and work your way down to the small. Go back to the beginning of your story again, but this time, bring your writer’s cap with you. Make the tough calls about what to keep, what to nix and what to change or flesh out more. Think through what to cut, add, flesh out in your plot threads. Your main plot is probably mostly ironed out, but what about your supporting plot threads? Are there enough of them? Too many? Do they all have a proper arc of beginning, middle end? Are they all relevant, offering something that drives the core plot of the story forward? Delving deeper to flesh them out is a perfect first step for your next draft-understanding these elements will serve as a foundation as you work through everything else. Hopefully you identified these elements while re-reading the draft. But odds are that there’s some room in your setting, characters or plot for some richer development. Find what needs to be developed moreĬut yourself some slack-a full rough draft is already a lot to pound out all at once. As you read, consider what you want to change, and also what you like as is.

It acts as the framework for the final version. Reading through your draft is important so you can take in the big picture of what you’ve written. A rough draft or first draft (or, according to my second-grade teacher, a sloppy copy) is an initial, incomplete piece of writing that is the first attempt at getting all your ideas on paper. It can be hard to go back and face your own first stab at a story, but odds are it’s not nearly as bad as you think. Now that you’ve gotten the words out, you’ve got to suck it up and read through them all. Here are four steps you should follow after you finish your rough draft: 1. 4 Steps to Take After You Finish Your Rough Draft It just takes work to bring your rough draft to its full, final draft potential. Don’t do that! There’s bound to be a lot of good writing in that draft.

Whats a rough draft