You wake up one day and decide it’s time to put down some words. Maybe you’ve been inspired by a movie, or read a book that moved you, or maybe just felt like writing. Whatever the case may be, you sit down and start typing. You come up with a few ideas, and then you keep going. Before you know it, you’ve written a complete first draft.
What if something happened after this point? What if you had to start all over again? Would you follow the same procedure, or would you find a new way to approach your writing?
This is the type of question that typically pops up in our heads when we’re faced with creative blocks. Sometimes we’ll feel as if a particular scene or article isn’t working, but we can’t put our finger on exactly what’s wrong. Other times we’ll know exactly what needs to be changed, but struggle with coming up with the perfect words to convey that idea. Either way, it’s frustrating. It feels as if something is holding us back, but we just can’t figure out what it is.
There are many different scenarios that could play out after you’ve written your first draft. What if you had to start from scratch? Would you write a second draft the same way as the first? Or would you find a new approach?
What If? Let’s explore some of the possibilities.
Keep Going
This is the most common scenario, and the one you probably assumed would happen. You decided to put your thoughts to paper, so you did. Now what? You have a complete work that you can show to others, or you can continue developing it into something more polished and perfected. This is the perfect scenario for any writer who wants to continue expressing themselves through their words.
Sometimes it takes a little courage to keep going, even when you feel like something is holding you back. Remember that your first draft is only the beginning. Even great writers need to go through multiple drafts before they reach what they consider to be a finished work. This is part of the creative process, and it’s one of the things that make writing so interesting.
Rewrite, Then Try Something New
Sometimes we’ll hit a wall where there’s just no easy way around it. You’ve written a fantastic first draft, but then you’ve got a scene that just doesn’t work. Maybe there’s a part of the story that you feel needs to be changed, or maybe you’ve found a gaping plot hole. Whatever the case may be, you’re stuck.
If this happens to you, then it’s time to suck it up and rewrite the scene or article. Go through what you’ve written so far and make some suggestions for changes. After you’ve rewritten it a few times, you’ll start to see the problem more clearly, and you’ll be able to come up with a solution that makes the story work exactly how you want it to. Sometimes it takes a lot of rewriting before you can even begin to see the proper version of something.
When you reach this point, it’s time to try something new. Maybe you’ve written an entire story, and you’ve hit a wall. It could be that you’ve followed the same plot line for the entire duration and are looking for new ways to explore the characters or situation. Or maybe you’ve followed a pattern for the first 40 pages, and then something happens that you’ve never written about before, and you have to start completely over again. Whatever the case may be, when you find yourself stuck, it’s time to try something new.
Whether you decide to start over from scratch or to rewrite parts of what you’ve already written, make sure that you keep track of what you’ve done so far. This is especially important if you decide to start over again, because you want to be sure that you don’t lose any progress that you’ve made.
Diverge, Then Merge
Sometimes we’ll come up with an idea and not have the perfect words to express it. Or maybe we’ll write an entire piece and then realize that there was a better way to say what we wanted to. Either way, we’ll be frustrated, because we won’t be able to find the perfect wording to convey our thoughts and feelings. This is a common problem for creative writers, and it has a simple solution. Instead of trying to find the perfect words, let the article (or the scene) speak for itself. If you feel as if you’re losing your train of thought or your writing is becoming awkward or uninspired, then it’s time to either find the perfect words or just let it go. You can’t force inspiration, so you might as well just go with what you’ve got.
Sometimes we’ll be working on an article, and we’ll come across something that just feels off. Maybe there’s something about the character or the situation that feels awkward or out of place. Or maybe it’s an idea that just doesn’t feel like it fits. Whatever the case may be, when you feel as if something doesn’t quite match what you’re trying to write about, it’s time to either change what you’ve written or cut it. You can’t force yourself into writing something that you don’t feel. Instead, just cut what you don’t need and keep what you do. This will help you find the proper wording you need to complete what you’ve started. It’s always a good idea to write what you know; in this case, you know what doesn’t work, and you can change it to make it better. Plus, if you follow this method, you’ll be able to find your way back to what you were going for, and you’ll be able to continue from there. This is why it’s important to always keep track of what you’ve written so far. You never know when you might need to refer back to something you’ve already done. In most cases, this is going to be because you feel as if what you’ve written is awkward or stilted, and you don’t know how to fix it. In other cases, you might find that what you’ve written doesn’t match your initial idea at all, and you need to start all over again. Either way, it’s frustrating not to be able to find the proper words or phrases you need to make your thoughts and ideas clear.
Scrap, Then Start Over
Sometimes it just doesn’t work out how we’d planned. Maybe there was a scene we needed to cover, maybe there was a character we needed to develop, or maybe the article just didn’t flow how we thought it would. Whatever the case may be, we’ll be frustrated, because we won’t be able to find the perfect words or situations to fit what we need. Sometimes this can happen because we didn’t think enough about how the story was supposed to work, and we’ll have to scrap what we’ve written and start over again. This can be frustrating, because we’ll have to start from scratch, and it’s not always easy to get back into the creative flow. In these cases, it might be best to just start over. There’s nothing wrong with a complete rewrite if this is what the story needs. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out the way we want it to, and we have to start over again. Sometimes this is for the best, because at least then we’ll be able to start from a clean slate.
Sometimes we’ll run into problems where there’s just no easy solution. We might feel as if a particular scene doesn’t work, but we don’t know how to change it so that it does. Or maybe we’ve developed a character, and there appears to be no way for them to fit into the story. Or maybe we’ve written a great first draft, and we feel as if there’s no way to improve upon it. If you find yourself in one of these situations, it might be time to scrap what you’ve written and start over again. Just because something doesn’t work out the way we’d hoped does not mean that we should give up, because there might be a way to make it better. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of ingenuity, and it’s worth trying. Rewriting is never easy, but it’s usually necessary. It can be frustrating, but you eventually get used to it, and eventually, you’ll be able to improve upon what you’ve written. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out how we’d hoped, but that does not mean that we should give up. Sometimes it’s worth starting over again, and sometimes it’s worth trying something new. Sometimes we just have to scrap what we’ve written and start over again.