Do you draft before you draft?

[u/jemmly]

Hi all!!

I'm getting into writing a new novel idea and wanted to see where everyone stands with drafting. For my first book I wrote almost entirely by the seat of my pants but it took 4 years before I finishes that book and that doesn't even including the editing stages.

I'm thinking of trying trying draft a bit more this time around to save my brain from falling into circles trying to chase my plot. I feel like there's a line with having too much detail for your 1st draft and absolutely too little detail.

How much do you draft before your first draft, or do you skip it entirely? Just getting a feel for how others do their processes!

[u/Blacksheepatx]

Yes, I call it an outline. Just enough to get the storyline down.

[u/jemmly → u/Blacksheepatx]

Yeah! How much do you outline? Each chapter? A few sentences? I find as I get closer to the end of my novel, the easier it is to write when I have an end goal. When Yet, when I try to plan middle scenes it feels like I've written the story already and feels boring by then.

[u/Blacksheepatx → u/jemmly]

Yes, each chapter. I’m vague and basically just say what is going to happen in that chapter without any details. “MC has his first day at work, has a fight with his brother, and then goes out drinking.”