Draft and draft and draft again... (Patreon)

Even during the first draft, there's multiple drafts. When I lose my way and I'm staring at my computer screen, at a loss, I go old school. I don't know why but seeing the words on paper gets my brain moving again instead of being at a standstill.

I tend to write a lot of different drafts of highly emotional scenes. I usually do an over the top version, sedate, and then medium. If the emotion isn't right, I keep working on it until I feel it's right. Technically, since this is a first draft you're supposed to just rush through it to get it out, but I feel like that means I'll have a ton more editing to do so I try to get it right during the first draft so in edits/rewrites I can add to it rather than having to re-do a long, intricate scene.

I also have a separate notebook that I'll jot down notes and dialogue ideas and stuff in. There's so much more writing that goes on that doesn't end up in the actual book. I started to have a ridiculous stack of drafts so I set aside the most marked ones up so I could show them. I usually post the unblurred pics once the book is published... not that anyone can read my handwriting 🤣

Just thought I'd show a little of what goes on behind the scenes. I sometimes wonder if my upstairs neighbor hates me for printing a shit ton at midnight 😬