The First Draft
Everyone has their own process for writing a novel. This is mine, based on research, on advice from authors, agents, editors, and designers, and on experimentation and experience. Much of it applies (sometimes on a smaller scale) to producing and publishing short stories, poetry, magazine articles, and non-fiction books.
The first, most crucial, step is to complete a first draft. Some people never get past this. You can still call yourself a writer in that case, but without a draft you won't get published. You'll also be very frustrated as a writer. If you're having a horrible time writing that first draft, you may not be ready. Spend some time just writing (anything else- poetry, descriptions of coffee mugs, alternatives to your country's constitution, literally anything). Try writing at different times or places, or using different media.
How you proceed depends on whether you are a plotter or pantser. Since I am a panster, I will cover that. (I may cover plotting another time.) To produce a first draft, I just write. And write. And write. "Write now, edit later." Every evening when I'm done with whatever else has to be done, I sit down and write. I write as much as I can on the weekends. I write at lunch during work. Though not a morning person, I may write before work. I don't edit! If I find I have started down what seems to be a bad path or dead end, I might save that chapter and start it anew. But editing can wait. I write.
In my case, my wife Sharon is also a collaborator and my early editor. She's also my biggest fan. As each chapter (or two or three if she's busy or I'm on a roll) is finished, I print it off for her to read, followed by the inevitable "Where's the next chapter?" This hunger is great motivation. I realize that most people don't have a wife Sharon. It can be anyone who wants to read things right away who will cheer you on and ask questions like, "Seriously? You went there?" or, "Didn't you kill them off three chapters ago?" They will help keep things real.
Writing includes research where necessary, but only where necessary, or if I know I won't get side-tracked and will be able to dive right back in. For instance, in Golden Dawn, I started writing about life aboard a ship. I wrote two chapters around the ship Governor Swan was trapped on in "Pirates of the Caribbean", knowing the actual ship would be something else. But it gave me the visualization I needed to write. The ship research came two months later, accompanied by much rewriting.
I keep an eye on word count, mainly so I can see progress. While I have a target range based on genre and age group, in the draft I'm just trying to tell the story. I can fill it in or cut parts later. If necessary I can split it into multiple books. I haven't had to do that, but it's an option.
When is the first draft done? When I'm at the end of the story- or what passes for the end now. When I have resolution, or have set things up for the next book (as with the Lord of the Rings). Then I print two copies- one for Sharon and one for myself. We both read straight through, just to get the feel of the story. This is not an editing pass! It's OK to make notes on things that don't work (or that we love), but that's about it. At this point, Sharon typically rereads it for a first editing pass, whereas unless I see areas that scream for massive rewrites (and possibly even then), I put it aside for a week or two. I'll then reread it with fresh eyes, again to see what the story needs.
Next time, we'll dive into rewriting and editing.
Image: Rube Goldberg device, public domain. Copyright 2019 Miles O'Neal, Round Rock, TX.