What's the deal with wanting a masterpiece of a draft so early?

The Chatters
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Honestly, it is irksome when a writer thinks that the first draft and every other draft afterward has to be a glorified masterpiece. So, yes, people want fast results and hate waiting, along with the crazy editing that comes after the fact.

“My novel needs to be perfect and flawless!” Not if you are writing the drafts, because editing and revising comes later, much later in the drafting process to the final drafts.

NO. HUMAN. BEING. IN. EXISTENCE. CAN. WRITE. A. MASTERPIECE. IN. THE. EARLY. STAGES. STOP. THINKING. THAT. WAY.

Now, with me, it borderlines on the fact that I am impatient and always lost in my thoughts. The thing with my mental health is that I barely stay in the present, I am always focusing on futuristic events until I spiral out of control. Which makes me impatient and anxious most of the time.

Even so, I know that when I am writing Project Succession, I am leaving things unedited and awful looking, because I am enjoying things as I write. There are SO MANY grammatical errors, problems with structure, and so much more, though the potential is there, even if a little, that’s what is keeping me going, along with that I am in love with my own novel for the first time in a very long time. Still, I am not writing a masterpiece so early in the game, I am not some outstanding genius or non-human being who is capable of such a thing. I know my story is bad and lacks sense, but the potential is there and I know how to make it better. I didn’t even need to plot and plan things either. I am more focused on the joy of writing Project Succession and the potential rather than worrying about how everything is terrible. The old me could never do that, never even think that.

So, when writers working on the first draft or even the second or third, whine about how everything is horrible and nothing is perfect, makes me get lost in my thoughts, along with being uncomfortable by their whining.

Where I can see so much potential in the trashy piece of crap, these writers can’t even do that and expect their earlier drafts to be the pinnacle of perfection.

What I am saying is, do you agree that many writers are trying to dish out the perfect story when no story is absolutely perfect, and if it is, that story never started that way, but is still flawed in some way?

I get that published books make it hard for newbie writers to understand the difference between drafts and the final products, because writers who are getting into writing fiction think their first, second, third, and even fourth drafts have to look like the final product. It takes up to seven or eight or ten or even more drafts until you are ready to reach the final stages then say complete. Yes, everyone is different, but the point is that writers think it’s easy to write a perfect masterpiece so early, dismissing editing and revising entirely, and the amount of hardships.

What are your thoughts and feelings on this topic? What would you say to a new writer, young or old, who is struggling with staying messy until the final stages of their draft?

We can talk in depth on how you are noticing it all over YouTube and other social media outlets. Maybe you notice it when you converse with other writers or overhear conversations.

Thoughts and feelings?

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@Akje
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Yes, it is very easier said than done, are you going to keep harping on making the story absolutely perfect till it consumes you or will you accept the fact that it is going to take time and effort?

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bump.

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Hmmm…that’s an interesting question. I dunno if other writers are trying to dish out the perfect story or not. This is the only writing group I’m in, and I’ve never seen anyone here complaining that their first draft isn’t perfect, although I may be missing something in other threads. I admit I don’t follow every thread, especially the ones created by users who only participate in their own threads and don’t join in other discussions. Has someone complained about their first draft…?

That’s a good question too. I would imagine that if a writer was a perfectionist like that, there’s really nothing you can say to change their behavior–it’s likely ingrained.

I suppose there are ways to accommodate that behavior, maybe. For instance, I don’t hold myself to a perfectionist standard while writing the first draft, but I do edit as I write to save time later and take care of small things that I might overlook after a while just from seeing them so often that I don’t see them anymore, if you know what I mean. Better to eliminate those little problems now when I’m thinking of it rather than later when I won’t be thinking of it. ¯\_(ﭢ)_/¯

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When I first started writing seriously, I foolishly assumed I could write a perfect draft my first try. It wasn’t until I re-read the whole thing and talked to other writers about the proccess that I realized I was sorely mistaken. I was a young, naive writer at one point too, so I try not to be too hard on other writers just starting out. But I also try to teach them so they aren’t crushed when they realize their first draft wasn’t the end. I think the important thing to remember is that even after several drafts, your book will never be perfect, because perfect is an impossible concept. You just have to decide when your book is good enough. Not perfect. Just good enough. Because eventually you have to stop drafting and actually try to get published. It’s definitely not going to be on the very first draft though.

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Thanks so much for saying that.

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There’s no such thing as perfect, and I don’t think the majority of people expect it. Though I think a lot of people when starting don’t realize the amount of editing that follows. The first writer I knew growing up was my mom. And her drafts may be ugly, a slew of typos and structure errors. (almost unreadable if you actually look at the page). Into my later teenage years she would sit down and read them to me as she finished a chapter. Even when there were little weird spots, it all sounded so good. Honestly, that woman was freaking gifted and it made it so unfortune that she never published. Anyway, getting sidetracked. I grew up to a very high set bar. I wouldn’t say I expected to be perfect. But there was this goal I was striving for.

When I talk about being disappointed by my draft its not that I expect a masterpiece. That I don’t think there’s going to be a ridiculous amount of editing and future drafts to follow. It’s that I’ve been doing this more on than off for the last 12 years. I know what I am capable of in a first pass. I hold myself to the quality I’ve come to expect from myself. When it’s drifted far from that I get very discouraged. But I do not by any means expect perfection.

Honestly, I think a lot of it is just a matter of naturally either lowering your expectations for yourself or struggling through until you meet them. I can tell myself that there’s editing later. But either way there’s a lot of doubt and loss of motivation for me when I don’t feel like i’ve achieved what i expect from this pass.

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Why can’t we get people to understand this? Why is it so hard to have people know that perfect ain’t real, in terms of impossible? Why?

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Because even if we all know its not really, we really hope we’ll be the first ones to be.

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sigh

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Everyone’s idea of perfect is different, which is part of what makes it impossible. But I guess that some people try to be their own personal version of perfect, despite this. Problem is, that never works because it won’t be perfect to other people. They’ll still get criticism and people who don’t like it, and that shatters their own perception of perfect. And that’s only if you sonehow manage to miraculously live up to your own version of perfect, which is pretty much impossible too. I dunno, I guess some people are just too naive to believe perfection isn’t real.

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