The First Draft Debacle: How My Book Looked Like a Toddler's Finger Painting

I've always been a pen-and-paper kind of girl. I know, I know – a bit old-school in this age of dazzling tech, right? But there's just something about feeling the words as they flow from my pen onto the page that makes a story truly real. The worlds I build become believable in that moment, and the characters? Well, they become relatable. They could be your friends, the person next door, your school teacher (I know, eww!), or even… you. For me, feeling those words on paper is simply the best way to conjure a story.

So, how does a first draft look? In one word: ugly! In another: messy. And in a final word: chaos. My first drafts are less 'epic fantasy' and more 'fever dream written on a sugar high!'

When a story, or even just the makings of one, suddenly bursts into my head, I start building the world vividly within my mind. It becomes trapped, desperate to be set free. That's when the notepad is deployed, the black biro comes out, and I begin writing frenziedly. Anyone watching (horrified and probably looking for an escape route) might think I've lost the plot – metaphorically, of course, because there'd be no story if I literally lost the plot! But honestly, once a story is in my mind, it simply has to come out.

And yikes, does it come out! Usually in a hot shambles!

The writing itself can be incredibly jumbled – truly not fit for anyone else's eyes in my hurried attempt to get the story down. Once written, I always have to go back and fix the inevitable plot holes. For example, the exchange between Phoenix and his teacher, Doctor Winterson, originally went a completely different way. When I reread it, it sounded like the ramblings of a lunatic teacher talking to a teenage boy. I still can't quite understand how that character went rogue! It was strange, but the black marker came out, and that entire chapter/conversation had to be reshaped to fit the events that were to proceed.

And here’s an interesting fact: Phoenix wasn't originally the protagonist in that initial first draft. Gabby was! Why the change? Well, as the story progressed and the characters evolved (as they tend to do when the plot starts moving), Gabby's character made more sense in the role she's now in. This wasn't just due to her own development and growth, but because Phoenix, with his journey of growth, development, loss, and discovery, became far more relatable and believable as the central figure.

As messy and chaotic as my first drafts are, they are absolutely essential. They help me weed out unnecessary scenes, rein in rogue characters, fix those pesky plot holes, and untangle sentences that just don't make sense. But most importantly, my first draft allows me to get the story out of my head and onto the page.

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