The First Draft Adventure

The following guest post is written by my friend and colleague, the brilliant and kind, Dr. Roger Leslie. Roger has been my writing coach for twelve years, as well as my editor, proofreader, publishing cohort, and mentor. You could say I have respect for the man. You could also say I have heard this phrase many times in the last 12 years and passed it along to my own clients as well: “Don’t get it right, get it written.” Read more of Roger’s advice on developing your first draft in his article written especially for my authors.

The First Draft Adventure

By Dr. Roger Leslie

When I coach clients through writing a book, one of the basic tenets I endorse: In your first draft, don’t get it right, get it written. The number one obstacle to completing a first draft is editing while you write. In truth, you don’t know what to edit until you complete the first draft because everything must advance toward the climactic scene in fiction or drive home your most important point in nonfiction.

Outline Some Ideas

If you feel better outlining your ideas before starting your first draft, then create a cursory outline and set it aside before you write. That outline simply provides general parameters for ensuring you follow a somewhat streamlined central storyline in fiction or a logical argument in nonfiction. More often than not, I recommend just diving right in to write the first draft.

You can write an entire first draft with only three elements in mind:

1.    A potential ending

2.    A conflict

3.    A purpose

Without any other details, you can write an entire book with a potential end in mind. In fiction, it’s the climactic scene where the tension has come to a dramatic standoff that results in some change for the protagonist. In nonfiction, it’s the last and strongest argument you set forth in your premise.

Identify a Conflict

All books need conflict. Novels require a proactive protagonist who wants something but cannot get it. The protagonist must be proactive in order to propel a story forward and give it momentum. A passive protagonist who only reacts to problems when they arise cannot sustain the interest, or respect, of readers. Standing in the way of protagonists getting what they want may be inner turmoil (person versus self), another character (person versus person), a cultural norm (person versus society), or a natural phenomenon (person versus nature). How the protagonist navigates the journey through the conflict must result in that main character becoming somehow different (usually better, but sometimes regretfully wiser) than they were when they started the journey to conquer what stood in the way of getting what they sought.

Nonfiction books also have conflict. In general, a nonfiction author starts an argument by identifying a problem. Next, the author briefly discusses other solutions that have been tried but haven’t worked or haven’t worked well enough. Then the author proposes an original solution that becomes the impetus for the entire book. Throughout the chapters, the author then elaborates, with greater depth and breadth, the proposed solution and why it can work in general, or it can work for individual readers.

Determine Your Purpose

The decision that gives writers the greatest impetus to keep returning to write and the most momentum to complete an entire book is purpose. Decide why you are writing the book.

Usually, I recommend authors choose a dynamic verb that will keep them on a consistent course while writing. Do you want to inspire, amuse, motivate, entice, intrigue, tickle, terrify, or spur to action?

The purpose that guides your writing is the theme that impacts your reader. It also leads to the most important aspect of any writer’s career: an original voice. Throughout time, the same stories are told over and over again. Why then do tens of thousands of books get published each year? Because the one quality that attracts readers and makes your books stand out from any other authors’ is your voice. The style of your writing and the tone with which you share your message can come only from you.

In essence, then, you can start your first draft by deciding where you’re heading, knowing the conflict that will make readers keep turning pages, and remaining clear on your purpose for writing the book. Then just start writing.

Anticipate an Adventure

To use an analogy of climbing a mountain, know you want to get to the top. In the distance, you can see the crest. But you’re heading up uncharted territory, so you can’t (and don’t even want to) anticipate every obstacle you’ll encounter before you begin the ascent. Knowing why you’re climbing this mountain will drive you upward, inspiring you to overcome challenges you don’t yet know if you have the resources to conquer.

The climb is an adventure. So is writing your first draft. If you start with the bare essentials, writing the book will be as exciting for you as reading the book will be for readers. You can sit at your writing desk every session anticipating unexpected plot twists and unpredictable character behavior. In time, the best writers learn to relinquish control and simply follow where their story and characters lead them.

In that process, you will develop confidence in your own creativity. Your conscious mind doesn’t need to work out every detail before writing. The story is already living deep inside you. Your subconscious mind has been hard at work developing intellectually intricate details and emotionally resonant scenes you will discover as you write.

Trust the process. Trust yourself. You have the inspiration. You came up with an idea. You know the message you want to convey. Now take that first step upward and write. Your adventure has begun!

More from Dr. Roger Leslie

Besides being a prolific author, Roger Leslie, PhD is an editor, writing coach, and publisher. For more detailed information about book writing, read his book From Inspiration to Publication: Master Book Writing One Piece at a Time. To find out about his coaching, editing, and publishing, visit RogerLeslie.com.

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