Writing from the Ground Up

Writing from the Ground Up

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Writing from the Ground Up
Writing from the Ground Up
First Draft Craft Workshops

First Draft Craft Workshops

What to consider as you draft...because you don't have to consider everything.

Stephanie Dethlefs's avatar
Stephanie Dethlefs
Oct 07, 2024
∙ Paid
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Writing from the Ground Up
Writing from the Ground Up
First Draft Craft Workshops
1
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Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom

For the most part, writing a first draft is opening your brain like a puzzle box and dumping all of the pieces out. Some of them will be attached already, while others will be upside down.

(It helps if you have the picture on the box, which is why we do the Groundwork first!)

I often tell writers that they don’t have to worry about getting things like description, or dialogue, or the balance of showing and telling “right” in the first draft. That’s for revision.

In the first draft, you are putting your thoughts on the page and telling yourself the story.

That said…

There are some things that you can - and should - be aware of as you craft your first draft, because it will ultimately make revision that much easier. Things like:

  • the structure of a scene

  • point of view

  • narrative distance

  • intentional character descriptions

And so, with no further ado, I give you…

First Draft Craft Workshops

Available for all *paid* subscribers.

Upgrade to paid!

When: 1st Saturday of every month, 10 - 11 a.m. Pacific Time

Where: On Zoom

What: a short presentation followed by Q&A and discussion

Why: to help you write a solid first draft (or revise the one you’ve got!)

Who: The focus will be on book-length fiction and memoir, but writers of short-
form are welcome too!

Upcoming Topics:

  • January 4, 2025: Story Present, Backstory and Flashback

  • February 1, 2025: Character Descriptions and Details

  • March 1, 2025: Main Character’s Arc

  • April 5, 2025: Rescheduled for April 19, 2025: Showing and Telling

To participate, all you have to do is become a paid subscriber! 🌻

Manage Subscription

Zoom link and additional information are at the bottom of this post below the paywall. Let me know if you have any questions. Hope to see you there!

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