Charlotte Rains Dixon 7 years ago06/30/2017

Friday Finesse: When Should You Share Your Rough Draft?

Friend and fellow writer Jenni asked me an excellent question about writing rough drafts: when is the best time to share it with others? She asked if one should “dump, then do some editing, then share? Or just dump and plow on until you have a full first draft completed?”

Such a good question. And, as I was formulating the answer in my mind, an email from writer Chris Fox popped into my inbox. Chris Fox is a novelist and an author of many helpful books for writers, and he once wrote a novel in 21 days. Yep, you read that right. 21 days. (He also happens to share a name with one of my very favorite cousins, which always confuses me when I see his name in my inbox.) Chris is launching a book today, but in his email he also included a link to his most recent video.

I’m glad I watched it, because it saves me lots of blog-writing time today. He essentially answers Jenni’s question, though that’s not the point of the video. He talks about how to get into the state of flow, and why you want to. The flow state (also known as the zone), is when you are flinging words at the page. Or dumping them, as Jenni said. His main point is that this state of flow is a very different brain state from that of editing. And if you are trying to do both, you are essentially multi-tasking. And, as we all should know by now, multi-tasking does not work.

But here’s the bit that speaks to Jenni’s question: Chris says you can either stay in flow for the whole draft and then edit, or do a chapter or chunk at a time and then edit. What is valuable about the latter option is that you can learn what is and isn’t working–and then apply it as you move forward, during your next flow state. So you write in flow, edit and analyze, figure out what isn’t working, rinse and repeat. Make sense?

I think he explains it better than I do, so here’s his video:

What do you think? What is your working pattern?

Tagged Chris Fox, novel writing, writing fast, writing in flow

Charlotte

Charlotte Rains Dixon mentors creative writers from passionate to published. Charlotte is a free-lance journalist, ghostwriter, and author. She is Director Emeritus and a current mentor at the Writer's Loft, a certificate-writing program at Middle Tennessee State University. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Spalding University and is the author of a dozen books, including The Complete Guide to Writing Successful Fundraising Letters, and Beautiful America’s Oregon Coast. Her fiction has appeared in The Trunk, Santa Fe Writer’s Project, Nameless Grace, and Somerset Studios and her articles have been published in Vogue Knitting, the Oregonian, and Pology, to name a few. Her novel, Emma Jean’s Bad Behavior, was published in 2013, and she is represented by Erin Niumata at Folio Literary. Learn about her annual writing workshops in Europe at letsgowrite.com, and visit her blog at www.charlotterainsdixon.com, where you can find all kinds of tips and techniques on writing and creativity.

0 thoughts on “Friday Finesse: When Should You Share Your Rough Draft?”

Jenni
06/30/2017 1:20 pm
Thanks Charlotte. That video was a perfect response to my question. It has given me a way to move forwards that makes sense to me and provides a structured approach that is really what I need if I am ever going to get anywhere as a writer. We’ll see how it goes!!
1. Charlotte Rains Dixon
  07/02/2017 5:31 am
  I am so happy to hear that, Jenni! It is so funny how things work. You asked that question and into my inbox popped the email with the video. He explains things so well. I can’t wait to read what you write!