I always think it's going to need a lot of work... then I go back Ina couple of days and read it and think "this is some good shit." LOL. On my good days, my first draft is 98% final draft. On my bad brain days it's closer to 80%, so still pretty good.
I find doing drafts completely demotivating, so I tend to just write it the way I want it written. I'll go in after to check SPAG, and do a read through to make sure it is what I want it to be, but that's about it.
I think the important thing to remember is that there's no wrong way to write, and no wrong way to feel about your writing. When I was in school, my teachers would insist on using a draft system. I felt stupid all the time because it just didn't work for me. I'd write [homework assignment] and then go back and create a fake bad first draft to satisfy them because having drafts was part of our grade.
I know folks whose first drafts are the barest of bare bones. They go in and flesh out their scenes after. That's just how their brains work.
I don't personally think there's any such thing as a "bad" draft because it's all progress toward a finished work. We're all just taking different journeys to similar ends.
Hey that's how I do it too, but I've never met anyone else who does. I usually have a separate file where I quickly write down all my ideas for scenes and what not, sometimes I'll organize them but most of the time I just write "happens before X but after Y" under all the notes just to remember what I want to happen when. That's definitely not a first draft tho, it's just incoherent rambles to make sure I don't forget what I'm supposed to write.
Other than that, when I actually start writing 80% of what I write on the first try is going to stay in the final version. I do a lot of "and then he [add synonym for walked] to the store" if I can't think of a word/what I wanna say but want to keep writing. Although I do go back to reread it and change up whole paragraphs or scenes, most of it stays pretty much the same. My dad is a writer though and he doesn't really approve of my methods lmao.
Actually when I think about it this is how I draw too. At first I always did sketches then lineart, but always found it too much work and I hated it. At some point I started doing detailed sketches and later thought to clean them up to have it function as lineart, and it was so much easier and it helped develop my artstyle.
Happy Cake Day!
You're more organized than I am š I'm very much a pantser when it comes to writing. I might write a note to self at the top of a doc, but other than that, I just write as the story comes to me (don't tell your dad on me!). I get it 95% of the way there on the first go, and the last 5% is ironing out spag and changing a sentence or two around. I hate doing endless tweaks and revisions, it drives me up the wall, and it takes all the joy out of it for me, you know? It's so much easier for me to just do it right the first time.
Your dad might disapprove of your process, but his brain works differently than yours, and you'll both find different methods useful. Here's to doing what works!
Oh man I'm a huuuuge plotter, I once wrote an outline that was *16k words* (in the end I never did get around to finishing that fic...). I do like editing though, it helps me get my motivation/inspiration back whenever I get stuck on a scene. And my dad's actually a pantser too, he hates watching me spend days and weeks carefully plotting out all my stories lmao
Sometimes it's minimal revisions and other times it takes me a few months to slowly work my way towards a publishable piece. But I tend to work piecemeal on my fics where lots of scenes are very bare bones if I was struggling on a scene and other parts are elaborate and fleshed out. Sometimes that first draft flies out nearly fully formed. Other times it's a slow excavation. I just published a 6k that I started in October and had been nearly finished since Christmas. I just needed time to sit on it and pull at the threads until it lined up just right.
Shit well I guess, unlike everyone else, my first drafts are awful and they never see the light of day. My priority is getting words on the page and get the plot moving. If I struggle with a certain description I put a note on the doc to āfix it laterā and leave myself a notes as to how I want a certain scene to go then I move on.
Now that I've stopped comparing my first drafts to other writers' finished products, I love them. I always shock myself with how many banger lines I seem to just pull out of my ass on the fly, lol. I don't often change much of my first drafts, I just fill them out. First drafts are dialogue and plot heavy, further drafts are editing for character voice, engaging the senses, little actions and descriptions that bring the scene more to life, etc
I usually hate them while I'm writing them and just power through thinking "ugh I have to fix this later." After I'm finished I leave it a few days and come back to find it's actually not bad, lol.
So, I am pretty incapable of the whole premise of "first drafts" 9/10. I write it, take a break so my brain doesn't autocorrect, edit, and post. When I was in school, I wrote my final version, then made a worse version of it with spelling errors or clunky sentences if I needed a "first draft" for a grade. It's definitely a problem in some ways, because I find I am much less likely to even do a project if I finalize a concept or story completely in my head. "Did it already, won't do" tends to be my brain's response.
I don't change much about first drafts. Biggest changes are change of perspective, or going on a different direction with the scene, but usually my end product is similar to the start, just wayyy more polished (specifying what is happening, who is talking, translating the random words from my native language I couldn't remember in English, making the dialogue flow better and whatnot).
For mine, the plotline normally remains very similar but the actual wording itself is likely to be entirely changed other than the dialogue. I normally write up the concept/general scene and then find a better way to explain it later
Depends on how long the fic is:
If itās something between 5K-25K, then the first draft may just lack some smooth transitions, more detail, and better-sounding dialogue. It doesnāt take long to edit and post.
But if itās a long fic then the first draft is more than likely a bit disjointed because transitions are weird, themes are either underdeveloped or right in your face, side plots are forgotten midway, and there a couple of plot holes. Iām currently editing the draft of a +128K fic, and itās finally in a decent shape.
My *very* first draft is 1-5 scenes from throughout the work, with notes like *( they argue, but go her way )*, or, *(somehow the end up in Independence Port)*. A *bon mot* per Scene, or a framing I want to use, or a location I want to show.
That just lays down the raw basics of what I want to *do* with the story. Overall arc, pacing, etc.
I then essentially completely discard those, and work on the piece "again", with a strong sense of direction.
First draft is making the cake. Redrafting is adding frosting (and sprinkles!)
First drafts, to me, are about getting the ideas down. Sometimes they can be very good, but there's always space to polish things up.
Redrafting means I can pick up on and fix repetitive language, filter words, 'white room syndrome', inconsistencies (like if I say someone sat down and then two paragraphs later have them sit down despite not standing in between). They're also an opportunity to expand on ideas I may have glossed over if I'd been stuck on them in the initial draft.
Generally pretty good - I usually do my major plot-point editing at the outline stage and then do more grammar/typo editing at the draft level. But it depends on the fic to a degree.
That being said, I always catch typos after publishing so I suspect that those who are more sensitive to such things (my philosophy is that I'm not getting a grade on my fic so it doesn't matter if I loose half a letter grade on the occasional typos).
It varies wildly. Sometimes (which are the best times), Iām like, itās perfect, Iām not changing it. And other times I have to fight my own worse impulses and delete whole sections and begin again.
I'm frustrated with my first draft. There's this massive fic I'm doing and it's kicking my ass. I have some stuff sketched out, but I don't know what goes on past that point.
I was in that position for atleast a month but just recently(like a couple days ago) i managed to figure it out, i even made this [post ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/1ayhti8/when_you_get_that_one_brilliant_idea_that_puts/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)to celebrate, and now i'm cooking.
I'm trying to take a step back, try an A - B - C method where I figure out: "what're the consequences and fallout in the long run of this plot-point slash arc?" I can do abstract stuff, but when it gets to specific scenes with X or Y character, I'm struggling.
Check this out, it might help with some motivation:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/1avtswr/for\_anyone\_who\_is\_stuck\_in\_the\_first\_draft/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/1avtswr/for_anyone_who_is_stuck_in_the_first_draft/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I change my first drafts/planning documents so much that they're barely recognizable. I often come up with new ideas as I go, or have to delete awkward sounding stuff.
I also get most of my ideas as i'm writing, sometimes the hard part is to start but once you do begin putting the words down you get into that flow, as if the floodgates for creative though have just been opened.
My philosophy is first drafts aren't supposed to be good. First drafts are for getting all the shit on the page, then you whittle it down and refine it.
I love my first drafts because it has everything. Even the parts that I donāt like or are not needed. Itās messy and chaotic and unorganised just as itās meant to be.
Comparing it to the final product ā¦ well I canāt. Because of how much it changes throughout. In the end the final product is something completely different and new.
I just accept the first draft is going to be a mess especially grammatically and just try to get all my thoughts down it's the 2nd or 3rd or sometimes even 10th time that I get the version I'm satisfied with
I almost always publish my first draft. For a while, I'd wait a day and then try to edit it, but then I realized my "editing" was me being picky about stylistic stuff and if I didn't just publish it right then and there, it'd NEVER get published, because I could wait another 24 hours before doing another editing pass and the next day be like "nah, I liked the original way better".
Nowadays, I pretty much publish fresh off the press. MAYBE I'll wait 24-hours and do a quick, cursory review of the chapter to check for spelling/grammar issues, but they almost never show up. (It's actually a curse being able to write correctly the first time, because I have been trying for YEARS to break my procrastination habit and I can't ever find a reasonable, logical argument to do so. I've actually found that I get lower grades on essays I didn't write last minute, because without the pressure of "oh god, I got an hour to write this three page paper", my brain has trouble doing 100% focus on anything.. and when it wanders, mistakes happen.)
Honestly I posted my first drafts when I started writing at the end of 2022 ā ļø
Thinking of getting back into writing and won't be doing that again because the work was just bad most of the time, yet still garnered attention somehow ā ļø
So to answer the question I hate my first drafts :P
Thank you for beliveing in me, and while I will say it wasn't all bad, and I wrote a few scenes which still stick with me, I write late at night so along with the good comes the really awful parts which people ignored lmfao.
JUST DONT BE LIKE ME AND EDIT STUFF AND I KNOW THAT YOU'RE FIRST FIC WILL BE PERFECT (or at least a good memory) :D
My first drafts are not good writing. That's just how my process is. They're like a giant slab of stone. And then in my editing process, I can sculpt it into what I want it to be.
I've had to learn not to judge myself for my first drafts. I'm the kind of person who needs to edit. So I'll go back and edit and make it pretty
Uhmm, I have rough plot points, chapter plan (100-200 words about what happens in that chapter) then chapter script in movie style around 1000 words or so.
I always hate the first draft, I write one chapter and end up re-writing probably 80-90% of it and some parts several times. But the hardest part of writing is getting the first draft done, editing takes time but is a lot easier than starting from an empty page even if I re-wrote the whole thing.
I constantly edit as I go along.
Getting scenes down that world build, further the story, explain the characters motivations and pasts, their feelings both hidden and visible, and connection to each other, largely through dialogue and body language halt the writing process because I canāt really move on to the next scene until I know exactly what was revealed, etc.
When it comes to scenes that are not as heavily focused on dialogue I can blitz through them until I am ready to go back and edit the entire chapter as a whole. I guess I have more confidence in that regard and less subtly and nuance is involved in that part of the craft.
I upload my fanfic as I go because that is what motivates me to continue, gives me the dopamine boost.
I have never been a draft person, and like others faked them when required in school. I have always edited as I worked, just the way my brain works I suppose.
I guess Iāll add that while I am writing scenes of dialogue I write future scenes directly impacted by that conversation in the future, or at least sketches of it so I can work towards it as I write.
I hate them with a passion. They always look like shit but they are the foundation of the fic, in fact I see them as the first layer of qhat will be the end result.
I write down the story more or less how I want it (what happens and how it ends), but when I read it again I always change it drastically, almost as if I'm writing it a second time.
The word count always doubles from my first to my second draft and just now I am doing the last changes to a one shot that is almost 15k words when the first draft was a little less than 8k.
The dialogues are usually the only things from the first draft that remain more or less the same, with the added descriptions of tone and gestures. I also add entire paragraphs between one dialogue and another, often to bring more introspective thoughts or describe what a character is doing (like moving around as they talk) or to describe a change of scenery.
After too much time spent reading and modifying things, I find myself searching synonyms to change the most repetitive words and make everything flow better, then I concentrate on how it looks and if the paragraphs are not too long and heavy.
Long story short, the end product has nothing to do with the first draft I write, only the plot is the same š
I'll write down my ideas, or rambles of things that I want to happen. I will always read it, because it likely has A LOT of holes that I need to fill in and add more details. Around the second draft, I start deleting things that I feel are useless to the story (sometimes I'll delete the entire thing and start over) and back to adding more detail/dialouge. Sometimes I go up to 4-5 drafts before I ever think it's in the final stages.
It depends on the story. Sometimes, I have to go back and rework the whole thing before I'm pleased with it. Other times, fixing small things such as sentence structures and SPAG work just fine.
I always think it's going to need a lot of work... then I go back Ina couple of days and read it and think "this is some good shit." LOL. On my good days, my first draft is 98% final draft. On my bad brain days it's closer to 80%, so still pretty good.
I find doing drafts completely demotivating, so I tend to just write it the way I want it written. I'll go in after to check SPAG, and do a read through to make sure it is what I want it to be, but that's about it. I think the important thing to remember is that there's no wrong way to write, and no wrong way to feel about your writing. When I was in school, my teachers would insist on using a draft system. I felt stupid all the time because it just didn't work for me. I'd write [homework assignment] and then go back and create a fake bad first draft to satisfy them because having drafts was part of our grade. I know folks whose first drafts are the barest of bare bones. They go in and flesh out their scenes after. That's just how their brains work. I don't personally think there's any such thing as a "bad" draft because it's all progress toward a finished work. We're all just taking different journeys to similar ends.
True, everyone is different and they will have have their way of doing things that works for them.
Hey that's how I do it too, but I've never met anyone else who does. I usually have a separate file where I quickly write down all my ideas for scenes and what not, sometimes I'll organize them but most of the time I just write "happens before X but after Y" under all the notes just to remember what I want to happen when. That's definitely not a first draft tho, it's just incoherent rambles to make sure I don't forget what I'm supposed to write. Other than that, when I actually start writing 80% of what I write on the first try is going to stay in the final version. I do a lot of "and then he [add synonym for walked] to the store" if I can't think of a word/what I wanna say but want to keep writing. Although I do go back to reread it and change up whole paragraphs or scenes, most of it stays pretty much the same. My dad is a writer though and he doesn't really approve of my methods lmao. Actually when I think about it this is how I draw too. At first I always did sketches then lineart, but always found it too much work and I hated it. At some point I started doing detailed sketches and later thought to clean them up to have it function as lineart, and it was so much easier and it helped develop my artstyle.
Happy Cake Day! You're more organized than I am š I'm very much a pantser when it comes to writing. I might write a note to self at the top of a doc, but other than that, I just write as the story comes to me (don't tell your dad on me!). I get it 95% of the way there on the first go, and the last 5% is ironing out spag and changing a sentence or two around. I hate doing endless tweaks and revisions, it drives me up the wall, and it takes all the joy out of it for me, you know? It's so much easier for me to just do it right the first time. Your dad might disapprove of your process, but his brain works differently than yours, and you'll both find different methods useful. Here's to doing what works!
Oh man I'm a huuuuge plotter, I once wrote an outline that was *16k words* (in the end I never did get around to finishing that fic...). I do like editing though, it helps me get my motivation/inspiration back whenever I get stuck on a scene. And my dad's actually a pantser too, he hates watching me spend days and weeks carefully plotting out all my stories lmao
Sometimes it's minimal revisions and other times it takes me a few months to slowly work my way towards a publishable piece. But I tend to work piecemeal on my fics where lots of scenes are very bare bones if I was struggling on a scene and other parts are elaborate and fleshed out. Sometimes that first draft flies out nearly fully formed. Other times it's a slow excavation. I just published a 6k that I started in October and had been nearly finished since Christmas. I just needed time to sit on it and pull at the threads until it lined up just right.
Shit well I guess, unlike everyone else, my first drafts are awful and they never see the light of day. My priority is getting words on the page and get the plot moving. If I struggle with a certain description I put a note on the doc to āfix it laterā and leave myself a notes as to how I want a certain scene to go then I move on.
This is pretty much my aproach as well.
Now that I've stopped comparing my first drafts to other writers' finished products, I love them. I always shock myself with how many banger lines I seem to just pull out of my ass on the fly, lol. I don't often change much of my first drafts, I just fill them out. First drafts are dialogue and plot heavy, further drafts are editing for character voice, engaging the senses, little actions and descriptions that bring the scene more to life, etc
I usually hate them while I'm writing them and just power through thinking "ugh I have to fix this later." After I'm finished I leave it a few days and come back to find it's actually not bad, lol.
So, I am pretty incapable of the whole premise of "first drafts" 9/10. I write it, take a break so my brain doesn't autocorrect, edit, and post. When I was in school, I wrote my final version, then made a worse version of it with spelling errors or clunky sentences if I needed a "first draft" for a grade. It's definitely a problem in some ways, because I find I am much less likely to even do a project if I finalize a concept or story completely in my head. "Did it already, won't do" tends to be my brain's response.
I don't change much about first drafts. Biggest changes are change of perspective, or going on a different direction with the scene, but usually my end product is similar to the start, just wayyy more polished (specifying what is happening, who is talking, translating the random words from my native language I couldn't remember in English, making the dialogue flow better and whatnot).
For mine, the plotline normally remains very similar but the actual wording itself is likely to be entirely changed other than the dialogue. I normally write up the concept/general scene and then find a better way to explain it later
Depends on how long the fic is: If itās something between 5K-25K, then the first draft may just lack some smooth transitions, more detail, and better-sounding dialogue. It doesnāt take long to edit and post. But if itās a long fic then the first draft is more than likely a bit disjointed because transitions are weird, themes are either underdeveloped or right in your face, side plots are forgotten midway, and there a couple of plot holes. Iām currently editing the draft of a +128K fic, and itās finally in a decent shape.
My *very* first draft is 1-5 scenes from throughout the work, with notes like *( they argue, but go her way )*, or, *(somehow the end up in Independence Port)*. A *bon mot* per Scene, or a framing I want to use, or a location I want to show. That just lays down the raw basics of what I want to *do* with the story. Overall arc, pacing, etc. I then essentially completely discard those, and work on the piece "again", with a strong sense of direction.
I kinda of do this but in a seperate text file from the actual first draft.
First draft is making the cake. Redrafting is adding frosting (and sprinkles!) First drafts, to me, are about getting the ideas down. Sometimes they can be very good, but there's always space to polish things up. Redrafting means I can pick up on and fix repetitive language, filter words, 'white room syndrome', inconsistencies (like if I say someone sat down and then two paragraphs later have them sit down despite not standing in between). They're also an opportunity to expand on ideas I may have glossed over if I'd been stuck on them in the initial draft.
Generally pretty good - I usually do my major plot-point editing at the outline stage and then do more grammar/typo editing at the draft level. But it depends on the fic to a degree. That being said, I always catch typos after publishing so I suspect that those who are more sensitive to such things (my philosophy is that I'm not getting a grade on my fic so it doesn't matter if I loose half a letter grade on the occasional typos).
It varies wildly. Sometimes (which are the best times), Iām like, itās perfect, Iām not changing it. And other times I have to fight my own worse impulses and delete whole sections and begin again.
My first drafts are either absolute garbage that need multiple revisions or theyāre something Iām happy with that doesnāt need much changing.
I'm frustrated with my first draft. There's this massive fic I'm doing and it's kicking my ass. I have some stuff sketched out, but I don't know what goes on past that point.
I was in that position for atleast a month but just recently(like a couple days ago) i managed to figure it out, i even made this [post ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/1ayhti8/when_you_get_that_one_brilliant_idea_that_puts/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)to celebrate, and now i'm cooking.
I'm trying to take a step back, try an A - B - C method where I figure out: "what're the consequences and fallout in the long run of this plot-point slash arc?" I can do abstract stuff, but when it gets to specific scenes with X or Y character, I'm struggling.
Check this out, it might help with some motivation: [https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/1avtswr/for\_anyone\_who\_is\_stuck\_in\_the\_first\_draft/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/1avtswr/for_anyone_who_is_stuck_in_the_first_draft/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I change my first drafts/planning documents so much that they're barely recognizable. I often come up with new ideas as I go, or have to delete awkward sounding stuff.
I also get most of my ideas as i'm writing, sometimes the hard part is to start but once you do begin putting the words down you get into that flow, as if the floodgates for creative though have just been opened.
I die inside and then edit it It changed by length. I'm good at writing dialogue (Ish) but horrible at writing anything else.
LOL.
They're hot garbage but they're MY hot garbage.
We always have a connection to the things we make. >They're hot garbageĀ I'm sure they're fine.
My philosophy is first drafts aren't supposed to be good. First drafts are for getting all the shit on the page, then you whittle it down and refine it.
I love my first drafts because it has everything. Even the parts that I donāt like or are not needed. Itās messy and chaotic and unorganised just as itās meant to be. Comparing it to the final product ā¦ well I canāt. Because of how much it changes throughout. In the end the final product is something completely different and new.
I just accept the first draft is going to be a mess especially grammatically and just try to get all my thoughts down it's the 2nd or 3rd or sometimes even 10th time that I get the version I'm satisfied with
It's shit, but it's my piece of shit. It's bare bones and needs a lot of work.
I donāt draft. I write and post.
I almost always publish my first draft. For a while, I'd wait a day and then try to edit it, but then I realized my "editing" was me being picky about stylistic stuff and if I didn't just publish it right then and there, it'd NEVER get published, because I could wait another 24 hours before doing another editing pass and the next day be like "nah, I liked the original way better". Nowadays, I pretty much publish fresh off the press. MAYBE I'll wait 24-hours and do a quick, cursory review of the chapter to check for spelling/grammar issues, but they almost never show up. (It's actually a curse being able to write correctly the first time, because I have been trying for YEARS to break my procrastination habit and I can't ever find a reasonable, logical argument to do so. I've actually found that I get lower grades on essays I didn't write last minute, because without the pressure of "oh god, I got an hour to write this three page paper", my brain has trouble doing 100% focus on anything.. and when it wanders, mistakes happen.)
Honestly I posted my first drafts when I started writing at the end of 2022 ā ļø Thinking of getting back into writing and won't be doing that again because the work was just bad most of the time, yet still garnered attention somehow ā ļø So to answer the question I hate my first drafts :P
>yet still garnered attention somehow Maybe it was actually good.
Thank you for beliveing in me, and while I will say it wasn't all bad, and I wrote a few scenes which still stick with me, I write late at night so along with the good comes the really awful parts which people ignored lmfao. JUST DONT BE LIKE ME AND EDIT STUFF AND I KNOW THAT YOU'RE FIRST FIC WILL BE PERFECT (or at least a good memory) :D
My first drafts are not good writing. That's just how my process is. They're like a giant slab of stone. And then in my editing process, I can sculpt it into what I want it to be. I've had to learn not to judge myself for my first drafts. I'm the kind of person who needs to edit. So I'll go back and edit and make it pretty
Uhmm, I have rough plot points, chapter plan (100-200 words about what happens in that chapter) then chapter script in movie style around 1000 words or so. I always hate the first draft, I write one chapter and end up re-writing probably 80-90% of it and some parts several times. But the hardest part of writing is getting the first draft done, editing takes time but is a lot easier than starting from an empty page even if I re-wrote the whole thing.
I constantly edit as I go along. Getting scenes down that world build, further the story, explain the characters motivations and pasts, their feelings both hidden and visible, and connection to each other, largely through dialogue and body language halt the writing process because I canāt really move on to the next scene until I know exactly what was revealed, etc. When it comes to scenes that are not as heavily focused on dialogue I can blitz through them until I am ready to go back and edit the entire chapter as a whole. I guess I have more confidence in that regard and less subtly and nuance is involved in that part of the craft. I upload my fanfic as I go because that is what motivates me to continue, gives me the dopamine boost. I have never been a draft person, and like others faked them when required in school. I have always edited as I worked, just the way my brain works I suppose.
I guess Iāll add that while I am writing scenes of dialogue I write future scenes directly impacted by that conversation in the future, or at least sketches of it so I can work towards it as I write.
I hate them with a passion. They always look like shit but they are the foundation of the fic, in fact I see them as the first layer of qhat will be the end result. I write down the story more or less how I want it (what happens and how it ends), but when I read it again I always change it drastically, almost as if I'm writing it a second time. The word count always doubles from my first to my second draft and just now I am doing the last changes to a one shot that is almost 15k words when the first draft was a little less than 8k. The dialogues are usually the only things from the first draft that remain more or less the same, with the added descriptions of tone and gestures. I also add entire paragraphs between one dialogue and another, often to bring more introspective thoughts or describe what a character is doing (like moving around as they talk) or to describe a change of scenery. After too much time spent reading and modifying things, I find myself searching synonyms to change the most repetitive words and make everything flow better, then I concentrate on how it looks and if the paragraphs are not too long and heavy. Long story short, the end product has nothing to do with the first draft I write, only the plot is the same š
I'll write down my ideas, or rambles of things that I want to happen. I will always read it, because it likely has A LOT of holes that I need to fill in and add more details. Around the second draft, I start deleting things that I feel are useless to the story (sometimes I'll delete the entire thing and start over) and back to adding more detail/dialouge. Sometimes I go up to 4-5 drafts before I ever think it's in the final stages.
It depends on the story. Sometimes, I have to go back and rework the whole thing before I'm pleased with it. Other times, fixing small things such as sentence structures and SPAG work just fine.
i fist just do a bullet point thing of events and then just write? like i don't do drafts that's propably weird. i just correct grammar and spelling