Before you ask, no, I haven’t changed genres and embarked on
writing an erotic novel à la Fifty Shades. It’s a way of writing and it’s been
my most recent revelation.
A dirty draft is a first draft of a novel or piece
of writing that Nikki Moore
describes as “a raw first draft that is full of plot holes and peppered with spelling and grammar mistakes and it doesn’t matter. Because it’s not
the finished product.”
On Libertà Books blog, SophieWeston describes writing her first novel not realising what she had was a
cracking dirty draft.
The very talented and multi-published
Kate Walker has extolled the virtues
of the dirty draft for years in her creative writing courses but only now have I had the courage to try it and I’m
converted! A dirty draft means complete freedom to write without worrying about
the flow of the story, whether scenes are in the right place or if the
character's view point is correct, among other things.
The best part - my latest book is following this path naturally and the story is flowing. I’m
trying not to think about what it’ll look like at the end or even beginning to
imagine the work involved in editing it. But it will be written!
Hi Sarah, it is hard, isn't it, if you're a perfectionist like me, and super self-critical too, to allow even the thought of a dirty draft. But it sounds like your conversion is a winner and your writing is flowing freely, and with such joy, so way to go !! xx
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa. Thanks! I guess only time will tell whether the dirty draft prospers and that's providing my inner editor doesn't escape and insist I go back to writing chronologically. xx
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