HEIDI CIECIURA #thrillerwithlove

I love a rough draft. It’s essentially a more detailed outline. I used to take part in NanoWriMo back in the very early years when there was only about 1000 people doing it. This taught me to write very rough drafts very quickly. It taught me stamina and routine, two things that have gone on to keep me in good stead. I owe my ability to actually be able to complete novels now to those early, feverishly fast-paced writing sessions that stack up quickly and teach you that early drafts don’t have to be clean, structured, or in fact make a whole lot of sense. That is what the next drafts are for. Yes, I draft and draft, and draft some more. When I’ve finished drafting a few times, I draft a couple more. BUT I write each draft quickly. And often I will do multiple drafts in one go. I have a daily word count or section of work I want to focus on in a single sitting. I have to be honest though, this rough draft has in fact taken several rough drafts to get to this point. I’m not exaggerating when I say this project has been a labour of love 🥺

There is no great, mind-blowing secret to creating a rough draft… it’s just hard work, bum on seat stuff. It’s grind. It’s routine and blocking out time that a nuclear bomb won’t distract you from. It’s looking at the diary and finding a few hours here and there between school runs and cooking dinner and the day job to hang up the Do Not Disturb sign and BANG OUT THOSE WORDS… if there is one piece of advice I can give, though, it is to not hold yourself up with needing to craft the perfect sentence, or iron out the creases in a scene, or waiting until you have the next part to move forward… what I mean is: be messy, just write SOMETHING, ANYTHING… a list of things to research or names for a character or possible decor for a room are good enough in a rough draft! I find having an outline has helped with this book, but I’ve also written previous books with no outline, and basically used the rough draft as a kind of exploration task.

I believe the key to completing a rough draft is not to worry about what you’re writing. If you have an outline or map of some sort then it’s primarily about moving from one destination to the next, exploring basic details like the genre you want to lock in, the structure, the tone, the pacing: Will it be a slow burn, or go at a break-neck speed? How many characters will be Point of View characters? What are the basic traits of your protagonists and antagonists? Get a feel for their dynamics and quirks… I will also include research in my rough draft. I don’t need it to read like a finished manuscript. It can have chunks of research, bullet points, notes to myself. I expect scenes to be unfinished, thoughts to be underdeveloped, ideas to taper off and need more thought… plot holes you can drive a bus through are a definite feature of a rough draft, and that’s ok. That’s great in fact, it means the story is developing and you have something solid to work with… so, with the rough draft in place, I am now finally ready to progress with my mission of completing a novel and submitting to agents all within the year 2026. I’d love for you to join me on this adventure, share the books you are reading, the books you might be writing, or any other passion projects or tips for staying motivated and productive you might have.