Forget PLOTTING and PANTSING you just need to focus on DRAFTING - Novel writing advice
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- The process of drafting a novel involves various approaches and techniques that cater to different styles and preferences of writers. Here are some resources and methods that discuss different aspects of drafting novels, including organizing drafts, determining when to start a new draft, and understanding the purpose of drafting:
Different Drafting Passes and Techniques
1. Fast-Drafting:
- Fast-drafting involves writing the first draft of your novel as quickly as possible, focusing on getting ideas down without worrying about perfection. This method is beneficial for capturing creative bursts and can be refined later during the editing stages[5].
2. The Snowflake Method:
- Developed by Randy Ingermanson, this method involves starting with a basic summary of your novel and gradually expanding it into a full-fledged draft. It emphasizes detailed planning and building the novel layer by layer[4].
3. The 5-Draft Method:
- This method, used by Jeff Goins, involves multiple specific drafts, each with a distinct focus, from structure to final edits, ensuring thorough development and refinement of the novel[4].
4. Revision Drafts:
- Different revision drafts focus on various aspects of the novel, such as structure, plot, characters, and language. Each pass or draft aims to refine specific elements before moving on to the next[18].
Organizing Drafts
1. Digital Tools and Software:
- Tools like Scrivener and Google Docs offer organizational features for managing drafts. These tools allow writers to keep drafts organized by chapters and scenes, making it easier to navigate and revise the manuscript[3][7].
2. Physical Organization:
- Some writers prefer using physical notebooks and binders to organize their drafts, separating them into different sections for easy reference and revision[11].
3. Version Control:
- Keeping track of different draft versions is crucial. Writers often use naming conventions for files or maintain separate folders for each draft to ensure they can access previous versions if needed[13].
Knowing When to Start a New Draft
1. Feedback and Reflection:
- Starting a new draft often follows a period of feedback from beta readers or after self-reflection and analysis of the current draft. This helps identify areas that need more development or changes[17].
2. Objective Milestones:
- Writers might set specific goals or milestones, such as completing a particular number of chapters or resolving certain plot points, before considering starting a new draft[17].
Purpose of Drafting
1. Exploration and Discovery:
- The initial drafts are often exploratory, helping writers discover more about their characters and plot. These drafts are not about perfection but about understanding the story's potential[12].
2. Refinement and Clarity:
- Subsequent drafts focus on refining the story, enhancing clarity, and ensuring coherence across the narrative. This includes tightening the plot, deepening character development, and polishing the language[18].
3. Preparation for Publication:
- The final drafts are about preparing the manuscript for publication, which involves meticulous editing to ensure the text is error-free and flows smoothly[18].
These resources and methods highlight the diverse approaches to drafting novels, each tailored to different stages of the writing process and catering to various writer preferences. Whether through fast-drafting to capture the raw essence of the story or meticulous multi-draft revisions for depth and polish, these techniques provide a structured way to develop and refine a novel.
Citations:
[1] carolinehardak...
[2] writingcoopera...
[3] / how_do_you_organize_yo...
[4] prowritingaid....
[5] www.well-stori...
[6] www.kboards.co...
[7] writingcoopera...
[8] / methods_of_writing_a_n...
[9] www.alyssamate...
[10] hollylisle.com...
[11] www.goodstoryc...
[12] katrisoikkeli....
[13] www.advancedfi...
[14] mlpp.pressbook...
All writing requires drafting and revising no matter if you outline or “pants” it. I think the point of this is to say who cares how you write the first draft, it will require revisions regardless
I never knew how it's called but it turns out I've been doing DRAFTING this entire time.
Turns out plotting and pantsing are just two sides of the same coin. Either the plot comes naturally or you have to structure it together so it makes sense and you can attach other pieces of the story to it.
I do one thing differently - I don't have just different version of the story, I have different versions of each scene. Some scenes will have two versions, some will have 12 or more. In my last story, I added two entire new subplots and a dozen new characters. The main character went from spoiled prince and underdeveloped underdog into charismatic leader and then I made him second in command because the conflict with his leader was so interesting.
I needed to watch this! I have written a book before but I just had a month off after reaching about 40k as lost my glasses 😅. I love how you introduced this vid with the point that writing videos tend not to talk about drafting, because that is a good point. Plotting and pajtsing is drafting but somehow when people talk about it using those terms they end up talking about plotting and structure rather than drafting generally ..also I'm similiar as put notes in my draft.
I hand write and began with a notes file as worldbuilt fir a year and a half before beginning to draft but ended up just writing my notes in the handwritten draft as I go, in the margin.
I think the V.O. 1 etc is a really good idea for when I type it up.
I AGREE about getting to know my characters AS I WRITE IT.
I was obsessed with Story Genius fir a few months before beginning drafting, then gave up on that as realised I prefer to not know exactly what happens and why, as it's the only way I'm excited enough to write to find out what happens next ,( even though I had a basic plot in mind).
It was so nice to hear someone talk about drafting who does it in a similiar way to me, and also I edit about as many times as you but am so glad to know ...give myself permission, to just have multiple "versions"...that will help my tension because last time I'd keep cutting and pasting in Scrivener then posting my cut and pasted if bits I changed into sub files on Scrivener ( or when I lost Scrivener) paste them into FB from Google docs with "I changed "this" "to this" and paragraphs or sentences in quotation ...so chaotic 😅❤
I loved the walking. I wasn't watching it though, except glancing up as I was drinking my morning coffee Infront of the heater. ( Winter in Melbourne Australia 🥶)
I loved seeing the tress and hearing the birds in the background.
And my vision bad so I couldn't focus on the tress well as didn't have my new glasses on. I noticed someone complained about it but I loved it, also what you were saying was gold, and so worth turning eyes away if I had watched it and found it "distracting" like someone else said.
It's definitely become my process to discovery write and not do a lot of world building at the beginning so the story can show me what it is supposed to be.
Some of my friends are writers, as am I. Most are loave to approaching writing systematically, as they emotionally believe that art just springs forth by some magic within. As you have, I have a complex software systems engineering background. We know that to manage in that world, we have to use iterative decomposition in the static structural views and the dynamic state transition views. This means we decompose an overwhelmingly large complex system into manageable smaller parts iteratively. Then, we focus on the interfaces between these parts. The analog of these smaller system parts to writing is that the smaller parts in writing are scenes. The analog in writing to interfaces is scene transition. This is the logical means of how a scene fits into a plot (how did the characters get to the scene, the motive of the scene, and how does the scene exit). Since the writing work now consists of many smaller pieces, the iteration moves across them. Again, your system engineering background shows with the "v" numbering for versions. That's the proper rigor. Now, given all this, writing still has to have original voice, creativity, and inspiration.
I like this format where you’re just walking and talking to us. This really makes me ponder not only the writing process, but also writing format. I’ve always been a discovery writer, horrible at plots and never interested in actual plots. I grew up on manga and anime and episodic storytelling, and feel like I want to create a format for that. Whether that’s writing and releasing it by chapter, or an entirely different approach.
Anyways, insightful vid!
I highly recommend Brandon Sanderson's lectures at BYU (available on UA-cam). If you are just marginally interested in writing, these are very useful. Also, since he's a professional storyteller, he knows how to make any topic interesting, and how to keep your attention.
Love Brandon's lectures but at some point I had to stop watching YT videos and just focus on the writing. 🤣
I back this so much but there's a point where it just turns into procrastination 🤣 super guilty of this
Just shut up and write lol
Love your vids David. You could pick pretty much any topic and say something interesting about it.
Possum might have been playing possum. BTW thank you for your simple and to the point advice. About to embark upon writing my first novel. Will definitely take your approach with me as I go. Thanks again. 😅
It was pretty bloody
@@MythicArchetypes ew. okay guess not then 😐
Would love to hear you talk more on this! Felt like we just got the intro 😅
I'm sorry to ask the obvious, but I'm just curious - it sounds like you are describing pantsing. How is what you call drafting different from pantsing?
Also my question, thanks for being the hero some of we need 🦸♀️
It's not.😆 Don't know what this guy is on about.
No, pantsing is just writing without an outline. Plotters and pantsers must draft, and no one talks about drafting.
@@MythicArchetypes can you please explain what exactly drafting is and how it’s different from pantsing? :) genuinely asking
@@jarnkarlinndrafting is basically what you write first. An unedited version of your story. So basically just draft your story until you finish it and then go back and edit.
Yep, that’s how it works. Keeping the old versions and using a format you can easily run a diff on are key.
Spot on for what I need today at the beginning of drafting my second novel, thank you very much
For now I'm just plotting tons of ideas down. Then the story will be manifested in some way in the future
Very good advice as well as nice scenery. Thanks David.
THANKS for the tips. Beautiful forest. Introduce it to us next time. What I do is put the date at the beginning of the file name. Then every iteration/version is in the right order, even if I change the title, such as, 240528-Murder on the Beach. Thank you for not rambling.
Yeah I just do v01, v02, etc lol
Great video as always! Also RIP baby possum
What's the difference between drafting and pantsing?
Pantsing is just writing one draft without planning. Drafting is iterating (eg writing and revising repeatedly).
"Drafting" is generally known as the first version of your book...writing the draft...but here ( according to his comment just now and context of video) it means the process of writing the first draft but including the editing phase of multiple drafts in that.
Just thought I'd clarify because drafting is also the first draft because some people only write one first draft and edit that one file
that's a really effective method I use for a lot of documents on my mac. 👍
Am I the only one confused by this? As far as I know, drafting means you are writing the book. There are only two ways to write the book--having either done some outlining ahead of time (PLOTTING) or just sitting down to write with no real prior plan and figuring out the story as you go (PANTSING). So how does drafting stand as a third option outside of one of these? By default, if you are drafting, you are already pantsing or plotting--it just depends on if you've any work ahead of time or not. Please explain...
The difference, I believe, is that with pantsing you have no outline of any kind period. You have an idea, you sit down, you write. Plotting, you have sat down, you have a glossary of terms (if needed) for your world, you have a background written down, you have character profiles (however brief). Then you have scene for scene, beat for beat a plotted outline for your story maybe even with conversation beats. A draft however is much less strenuous and complex. You have a basic outline, maybe briefly outline each act, a character list with some vital info but not much else then you sit and you write that first draft and go from there. It's the middle ground between pantsing and plotting.
The idea is that it doesn't matter weather you are plotting or pantsing, it matters that you complete a draft of your work, and then start editing and refining, and rewriting it. To write a second draft that improves on the first, and so on, in whichever style pants/plot you prefer.
Skip to 2:30 to find out what drafting is.
im a plotter to a fault so recently ive been writing a daily low effort project to help pants
I don't know what I am anymore, to be honest. All I know is that I want to write this story and I want the reader to be gripping the book with both hands as they read it.
Link to your novel...if it's out that is. Also, how many pages does it contain?
Not out yet. It's over 110k words
I think it was Cujo King couldn't remember drafting because he was so addled by drugs and alcohol, which is a shame because it's one of his best (imo)
On the subject at hand, my attitude is that, however you get your writing done, you get to the same destination: a piece of finished work. Everybody does it differently, so find and do what works for you.
But if you're drafting without an outline then you're discovery writing
As Howard says on Writing Excuses - everyone is discovery writing all the time, it's only a matter of which paradigm y ou use.
Drafting is why George Martin hasn't finished Winds of Winter in the last 15 years.
No, it's because he only writes 300 words per day maximum.
Can you please stop walking. It’s very distracting
gotta move to think