Embrace the Rough Draft
I write very fast. I can get a chapter written in an hour if I know the characters and know the story. So, in my two hours I have slotted every morning, I should be able to write two chapters – and that means a 30-chapter book could conceivably be written in rough draft form in 3 weeks.
I’ve done it many times. But, the key word there is rough draft.
Miriam Webster defines rough as:
: crude, unfinished
: executed or ventured hastily, tentatively, or imperfectly
draft is defined as:
a preliminary sketch, outline, or version
A rough draft is not intended to be a thing of beauty or perfection. It should not contain a lot of descriptions or perfect sentences. It likely has a lot of telling and not showing — a lot of passive sentences and words that end in conjunctions.
That’s okay!
I learned when I try to write with perfection, my entire creative process is completely hindered. I’m too busy worrying about how to properly order a paragraph and not use a word too often than I am thinking about the story.
When I give myself permission to write it rough, then my creativity has nothing holding it back. I can just close my eyes and envision my scene and let it go.
The real magic happens in the editorial process. THAT is the hard part – that is the work. It will take me four passes through my entire book to fully edit it in order to hand it off to my editors. And, that’s okay. Because the story is down and now I know where to fill gaps and what is needed for each scene.
You have permission to write a crude, hastily written preliminary outline of your book. In fact, I encourage it!
With nearly a million sales, Hallee Bridgeman is aUSA TODAY best-selling and award-winning Christian author who writes action-packed romantic suspense focusing on realistic characters who face real-world problems. Her work has been described as everything from refreshing to heart-stopping exciting and edgy. Hallee has served as the Director of the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference, President of the Faith-Hope-Love chapter of the Romance Writers of America, is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), the American Christian Writers (ACW), and Novelists, Inc. (NINC). An accomplished speaker, Hallee has taught and inspired writers around the globe, from Sydney, Australia, to Dallas, Texas, to Portland, Oregon, to Washington, D.C., and all places in between. Hallee loves coffee, campy action movies, and regular date nights with her husband. Above all else, she loves God with all of her heart, soul, mind, and strength; has been redeemed by the blood of Christ; and relies on the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide her.