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Revising Fiction – Shifting the “Bad First Draft” Mindset

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When it comes to revising fiction—specifically, to reading one’s first draft for the first time—the experience is almost universally touted as being… bad. It’s a sentiment shared by literary giants who’ve written books on the writing craft and newbie writers posting reflections online about their writing experiences: a first draft is a pretty darn awful piece of writing. Reading it is painful.

On the one hand,  I believe we’re attempting to be honest and realistic when we writers characterize our drafts in this way. However, I’d like to unpack our almost universal tendency to berate our first drafts. First, I don’t think it’s the whole story. Second, I think we may be inadvertently doing more damage to our process than good.

I think there’s a way to shift our “bad first draft” mindset and do ourselves a favour!

Are first drafts actually bad?

It’s a huge achievement to write a first draft. HUGE. You’ve created something start-to-finish that didn’t exist before. You are so much further ahead than you were when your story was merely an idea in your head or an outline in your notebook. Now you have something to shape, improve, and refine. You’ve taken a step—a leap!—toward making something you can share for feedback and coax toward its full potential.

Still, the words we often choose to describe our first drafts: garbage, rubbish, or junk (or some other four-letter gems). Why is that and is it as honest—and as helpful—as we think?

Novels are complex things. You’re not just stringing together words until you reach an impressive count (although you’re going to do need that, too). Story structure, pacing, a compelling plot, intriguing subplots, genre-specific features and conventions, your personal style, maybe your unique worldview or philosophy…these are just some of things we’re tapping into and balancing and honing as we attempt to express our story. It’s no wonder we writers don’t achieve perfection the first time through!

So, no—in short, I don’t believe that first drafts are bad! But I do believe that we writers often feel bad about our first drafts.

We often go into writing with such a strong vision for our stories that when we read it reflected back to us for the first time, we can’t believe how flat it feels, how short it falls when we compare it to the vision that’s been inspiring and motivating us. Based on that feeling, we blame the draft. We call it bad.

An Unnecessary Obstacle

If we’re being really honest, what’s often behind the usual “my draft is terrible” statement is shock and dismay at the results of a lot of effort, especially when our story feels so much better and alive and real in our brains. We seem to be forgetting what we know (or should know)—that novels are extremely complex entities, and that a great idea or vision is not (yet) a novel. The consequence, even if we berate our draft with a laugh, is that we’re putting ourselves in a place of defeat or set-back. It’s an exhausting, deflating place to be, even subconsciously. Revision is already hard work—why are we making it so much harder on ourselves?

Time for Refreshing Our Approach!

I’m not suggesting we all become delusional and declare our first drafts to be masterpieces, worthy of immediate sharing with readers and reviewers (they’re not—don’t do it!). I do think though that there’s a cost to the deprecating language we tend to use around first drafts. At the very least, you’ve made proceeding even tougher on yourself. At worst, declaring your draft to be “bad” can lead you to internalize that you are bad, hopeless, etc. at writing. Calling your draft a piece of “junk” can make you feel that you’re not up to the task of shaping your work into the story you once believed in and loved. I’ve seen it and been there before—abandoning a project because the first draft (or rather, my identity as a writer) is “bad”.

It’s time to swap the “bad draft” habit for a more helpful approach to our first drafts. I’m calling it the  Three Rs of Revising Fiction—Rest, Reframe, and Read.

REST

If I were to declare one non-negotiable rule when it comes to reading your first draft, it’s to put it aside before you do so. You need to put time and space between yourself and your vision in order to truly see what you have produced in your first draft. A few weeks, maybe even a few months.

True, coming back after a rest is going to reveal plenty of problems and challenges that you’ll want to address in order to polish your story into the best version of itself.  But that’s to be expected in something that we know and accept is a step in our process, not the finished product. If you let it, your time away will also let you see what’s already working. Which leads us to…

REFRAME

I’ve argued above that first drafts aren’t actually bad, so let’s stop using that word or any other words that imply a value judgment. Here are some alternatives:

Raw.

Rough.

Unpolished.

Fledgling.

Working copy.

Or how about…First draft.

These neutral terms respect the stages of the writing process—in fact, they respect the fact that writing is a process! You’re also respecting and protecting your writer’s self and your potential in a way that calling your work  “bad”, “awful”, “dreadful” never will.

READ

I mean this quite literally. After your rest, and after you’ve reframed your expectations, I advocate for a first read-through of your draft where you don’t revise, edit or make any notes—you just read. This is easier said than done, but it’s well worth it.

The idea here is to get a feel for the big picture, the rhythm, the mood and tone already coming through even in this rough or raw draft. If you must markup your text on this pass, highlight sentences or scenes that you love or that represent solid areas you can build upon in your subsequent revisions.

Reading your draft the first time without making changes helps signal to your brain that a first draft is not merely a bad piece of writing in immediate need of ripping apart and fixing. It’s a step in the writing process where you’ve produced a version of your emerging story. Reading once through without correction lets you appreciate your achievement, rough and raw as it is.

For more tips on revising fiction and on all the steps of the novel-writing process,  please check out my book The One Week Writing Workshop.

You can do this writers – and congrats on writing that first draft! 😉

A woman holding The One Week Writing Workshop book on her lap. A gold sticker superimposed on the image identifies the book as a winner of The Eric Hoffer Book Award.

How to Choose a Fiction Writing Guide (What Makes The One Week Writing Workshop Different?)

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I love a good fiction writing guide. There are many excellent books to choose from written by some very insightful writers. I have several favourites on my own shelf!

So, why did I bother writing another one? What makes The One Week Writing Workshop: 7 Days to Spark, Boost or Revive Your Novel different?

From my perspective as a writing workshop facilitator and coach, I saw a need for a more deliberately action-oriented, spark-YOUR-own-creativity-focused type of book. You can use my book on its own, prior to reading other guides, or in conjunction with any of the other writing books out there. But with its focus on action—and frankly, on the joy of creating—it may just be the missing piece that helps rev up your writing journey!

Let me walk you through my reasons for writing The One Week Writing Workshop and some of its unique features.

Process Over Product

In my experience, I’ve found that many guides have a product-centered strategy for teaching writers how to write. They begin with the polished, finished novel as the model (i.e., the product). They break the novel down into components and explain their features.

Story structure, character archetypes, point-of-view, setting considerations—these are the things that many writing guides analyze and draw our attention to so we can try to shape our fledgling novels to contain the same characteristics. Well-known novels and literary masterworks are often used as exemplars so that we can learn to spot the features of a successful, properly-delivered story.

This is of course a time-honoured way to teach a subject: take the best examples of what you are ultimately trying to achieve, break them down and analyze them to understand how they work, and then use this analysis as your guide.

In The One Week Writing Workshop, I’ve chosen to flip this model on its head. Instead of a product-centered guide, I’m offering you a writing resource that is process-centered.

The Workshop Approach

So, what is a process-centered approach? Why might you choose it over a traditional type of writing guide?

First—which will be obvious from the book’s title—I come from a writing workshop background. I’ve been leading writing workshops since 2010. As you might expect, when people come to a workshop they are expecting to be active; writing exercises as opposed to a mere presentation about writing. I’ve seen folks walk into a workshop with zero writing confidence and “no ideas”, and leave with the start of something very special (sometimes more than a start!).

The reason this happens is that they don’t just come to hear me talk about writing. With a bit of guidance from me up front, they spend the time actually writing. There’s magic (and momentum) that can only be stirred up by doing. My workshop exercises are all real things I do in my own writing practice to coax my creativity to life and move my stories forward—my real writing process. I thought it was time to gather all this real writing action into a process-centered book!

Second, I’ve realized that there is a potential creative and emotional danger in holding up our fledgling ideas against the perfect, finished product (never mind literary masterpieces). For some of us, it can be difficult to see how we’re going to go about adding “turning points” and “rising actions” and “epiphanies” to our still-too-green story concept. We might start to think our story must include certain features and details that just don’t seem to fit. We might start shaping it in ways that don’t seem right or natural for our particular project—at least not at this early stage. That can be frustrating. There’s even a risk here in losing interest in what we were so excited about creating.

Product-centered writing guides aren’t intending to discourage you. But for some writers, when we’re in an early or vulnerable place with our project or our self-image as writers, they might do just that. My workshop or process-centred approach walks with you as you learn. It’s like having an encouraging mentor at your side as you create!

Don’t Just Read About Writing—Get Active!

In The One Week Writing Workshop, we focus on the process instead of the product. Instead of mostly reading, notetaking and then writing your story, with my book you start working with your own ideas and plunging into a series of writing activities almost right away. I show you how to grow your story organically. We experiment, build, explore, and build some more. Certainly, we discuss the essential features of story, but you’re learning as you try things out. I’ve been really careful not to overburden the book with examples to avoid unduly influencing or confusing you as you grow your unique ideas. You get to see firsthand how the “theories” of fiction writing apply to what you are creating!

When I write, I don’t merely think in the abstract about story structure and character archetypes and then draft a manuscript. I make webs and maps. I doodle and draw. I use sticky notes to make plans. I let my characters speak to me and tell me about themselves (really!). I go for walks to let my imagination wander. I sometimes stand in front of my mirror and act out dialogue. I take deliberate breaks and give my writing a true rest. These things are all part of my process, and the sorts of things I invite you to try in The One Week Writing Workshop. My chapters don’t start with ideal models—instead we start with a purpose, like “to get to know my character better”. Then we do real-world activities to take our own ideas and help us to do just that.

Use the Guide that Helps YOU!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with product-centered writing guides. If they help to guide and motivate you—use them! Many of them are rich in writing and story wisdom. They may also be the  ideal resources to turn to once you already have a first draft completed, offering ideas for where you can improve and go deeper. (See my article How to Plan a Story…for Pantsers?!?  for more on this!)

But if you’re the kind of writer whose shoulders get tense when reading a writing guide and you find yourself doubting the worth of your novel-to-be, then please give The One Week Writing Workshop a try. My aim is to help you dazzle and delight yourself, and to create amazing things. You can do it, writers!

Karin 🙂

The One Week Writing Workshop is the bestselling fiction writing guide by author and writing coach Karin Adams. The book has received numerous awards, including Winner of the 2025 Eric Hoffer Book Award (Best Reference Book). Available in paperback, hardcover, and all e-book formats wherever books are sold. You can find it here: https://books2read.com/one-week-writing-workshop

sticky notes thumbtacked to a bulletin board

How to Finish Writing a Novel Draft

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You’ve probably heard that when you start drafting, you should just write and write until you get through to the end. The writing will be rough no matter what, and revisions await—so just get the thing done at all costs! You can work out the problems later.

I don’t disagree! But in my own writing life, and having worked with thousands of participants in writing workshops and through one-on-one consultations, I’ve seen many a writer get so frustrated at the drafting step—even when they know it’s “allowed” to be super rough—that they lose faith in their idea or in their own abilities, or both. Too often, we give up entirely, and that’s a shame.

So—how to finish a writing a novel draft when the plan you made (or, the idea you ran with for those who write without a plan) just isn’t panning out…?  The key is remembering that planning can take place at any time in the drafting stage, not just before you get going. (And even “pantsers” can pause for a moment and make a brief but helpful plan to get them back on track!)

Don’t Give Up—Assess!

I think we can all agree that in many aspects of life, sometimes things don’t go according to plan. In fiction writing, this seems to happen all the time. Even when we make a solid plan, we start writing, and things change. This can be terrific—even magical! Often, however, the opposite scenario occurs—the draft is not turning out like we planned, and it’s draining our writing energy.

Stop

If you can’t press on with your very rough draft and get to the end, your first step is to give yourself the permission to temporarily stop drafting. You haven’t failed. You’re stopping in service of your story. How you speak to yourself about stopping is crucial here. Frame it this way: I’m hitting some snags in my draft. It’s not going the way I thought it would. Pushing on is draining my creative drive and preventing me from moving on. I’m going to stop for a while and figure this out.

Quite often, our self-talk in the “I’m stuck” scenario is more like this: This draft is a failure! My ideas are going nowhere and there’s nothing good about  this story. I can’t write anymore. I’m horrible at this. It’s too hard. I’m quitting. (Ick! I don’t even like reading this! So, let’s agree to go with the first version of self-talk when we decide to  “Stop”)

Take Stock

Ok—you’ve stopped because you’ve acknowledged there’s a problem with your draft, a “creative leak” so to speak. Well—let’s find it (and plug it!).

Here’s where you do some deliberate soul-searching. Remember, we’re not telling ourselves that the whole thing is a disaster (and it’s not! that’s just self-talk gone awry!); rather, we’re acknowledging that we’ve hit a snag or two. 

Spend some time pondering what’s bothering you most about your draft, the biggest snag. Trust your gut, your writer’s instincts—really lean into what they’re telling you. Do you suspect that the characters are falling flat? That there are big gaps in your plot? That your story’s chronology lacks logic? That the point of view you’ve chosen isn’t the best for telling your story?

Even if you come up with a laundry list of problems, zero in on the biggest sticking point. Like pushing down that first domino, often dealing with that “priority problem” has a way of knocking out the other issues…Let’s work smart so we can get back to our draft!

Plan

You’ve stopped and taken stock. You’ve zeroed in on what you think is the biggest factor holding back your writing flow. Now your job is to spend what would have been your drafting time trying to address the big issue you’ve identified.

Depending on the problem, planning can play out in all sorts of ways. It might mean coming up with a new outline or storyboard if gaps in your plot are your biggest concern. It might mean consulting a writing guide or video tutorial that discusses the issue you’ve identified. By “plan” I mean some sort of non-drafting action that helps you to unsnag the snag you feel is holding you back. Again, there are no rules here. Trust your creative instincts to lead you toward the actions you need to take.

Here are two examples from my own writing journey:

In my current work-in-progress, despite going in with a fairly well-thought out outline, I was having severe story- logic problems. (Basically, I have several interconnected journeys going on in my plot, and where and when things were happening were creating contradictions and impossibilities.)

I had the feeling that some visual aids were needed to sort things out and suggest solutions. First I created an exceptionally badly-drawn map of my story’s world (you do what you have to do!). Second, I made a calendar where I could note key story events. Suddenly, I could see exactly where things were going off the rails, and where I needed to adjust the timing of events and even alter the geography of my world (hey—I’m the author!). Stepping outside my story, I saw ways around the problems that were keeping my writing down.  The fixes were pretty simple. What a shame had I just declared my draft hopelessly flawed and thrown it all away! 

Now sometimes the snag holding back your draft might be more nebulous—more of a “feeling” thing. For instance, when I was writing my middle grade novel Frostbite Hotel, I had that niggling feeling that the story playing out in my draft didn’t have the richness it had in my mind. I stopped and took stock to figure out why. My gut told me that it had to do with my characters: they were getting embroiled in an escalating series of antics, which was fun—but I wasn’t buying their motivations, their why.

I decided I needed to do a bit of a character study, particular of the three characters whose conflict with one another drove the action. I didn’t have a formal plan for this study. But, following my instinct that I had to get to know my characters on a deeper level, I began writing some notes about them. I made columns and charted what each character wanted and needed—what exactly was driving them to do what they were doing.

Unintentionally (but wonderfully!) the columns let me compare my characters with one another and explore the dynamics that existed—or could possibly exist—between them. My notes revealed connections between my characters I hadn’t noticed before, common drives that made their conflict a lot more interesting to me on a human level. Through my planning notes, I found the richness that I personally needed to motivate my own writing!

Now, Frostbite Hotel never became a heavy-handed study of human nature because of this exercise—but I believe the story resonates with audiences—and that the draft actually got done—because of the meaning I found in the characters I was creating! I’m glad I took the time to plan midway through my draft instead of deciding it was irredeemable.

Next time you hit a drafting snag or frustration, don’t despair and quit. By taking a breath, admitting that there’s an issue in your draft and seeking it out, and then experimenting with solutions, you’re not only able to get yourself out a jam and get back to writing— it can help you to gain creative confidence. You’re learning to trust that, rough as it is, you have valuable ideas to build on. And where things aren’t crystal clear, you have the creative capacity to find a solution.

Looking for more strategies and tips to get through that first draft? Check out my book The One Week Writing Workshop: 7 Days to Spark, Boost or Revive Your Novel.

a woman sits at a desk with a cup of coffee and writes in a notebook

Make Your Own Creative Writing Prompts to Rescue Your Draft

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Here’s the scenario:

You want to write a novel. You’ve made an outline or you have a fairly strong vision for your story. You’re ready to dive in and write your first draft.

You begin to write, but for any number of reasons (known or unknown) you just can’t seem to get on a roll. You keep rewriting the beginning, never progressing past the first chapter (or first paragraph!). Maybe you’ve abandoned your draft completely (although you still can’t get it out of your mind). Maybe the previous scenarios actually sound relatively successful to you—because you can’t start writing at all!

While there are more ways than one to shake yourself into action—and please run with any tactic that you find works for you! —the one that works best for me is something I call the Zig Zag approach. (I chat about it quite a lot in my fiction writing guide The One Week Writing Workshop.)

Basically, to Zig Zag means rather than forcing yourself to flow through your draft by writing beginning, middle, end in order, you give yourself permission to jump around, writing scenes in any order you wish, using your instincts (or just what you feel like that day!) to help you choose. This is after all a first draft—you can work at harmonizing everything to make sure it works as a whole in the revision process. You can expect to do a lot of “harmonizing” regardless of whether you write scenes in order or out of order, so if zig zagging helps you get through, why not give it a shot?

Zig Zagging and Creative Writing Prompts

As I said above, you can use your instincts to guide you when it comes to deciding which scenes to write as you zig zag. But you can also make use of your outline, storyboard, or story notes and essentially turn them into personal creative writing prompts to spark your zig zag adventure. 

Why would you do this? Well, for one thing you might find it really fun, energizing your writing sessions by turning them into a sort of game. (Never underestimate the value of fun when you’re looking for momentum!) But beyond the fun-factor, I find that it’s a great remedy when you’re stuck-beyond-stuck…so stuck that you can’t even rely on your instincts to tell you what to do next.  

So don’t rely on your instincts—rely on your prompts!

How to Make Your Writing Prompts and Get Going!

You’ll need two copies of your outline: one to keep intact to use as a checklist, and one to cut up into prompts that you’ll pick at random. I highly recommend that you make at least the second copy a physical/paper one so that you can cut it up (yes, with scissors!!) into separate strips.

Now, I’m aware that there are a multitude of outline styles writers use. You might have made anything ranging from an extensive scene list, to a storyboard composed of sticky notes, to a chapter-by-chapter synopsis, or you simply have a series of jottings in a notebook. The key here is to break out the smaller moments captured in your outline so that you can scramble them up and pick them at random.

If you can’t literally copy your outline and cut it up into reasonable prompts (like you can if your outline is an orderly scene list), take the time to jot down as many distinct scenes or moments suggested by your outline as possible. If this sounds like a lot of work, remember that it’s another chance to flow through your story in your mind—and if you’re stuck and unable to write your draft anyway, this will be all the more valuable!

If you don’t have a complete outline or you’re a by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of writer who never outlines, you can still make your own writing prompts. Just use your unfinished outline or jot down a list of as many scenes/moments already swimming around in your imagination. (It’s enough to get you going, and that’s way more than half the battle!)

Once you have your prompts written out on strips of paper, scramble them in a box…and give them all the control. At each writing session, draw out one prompt from the box and write that scene. Will it be rough?—sure! But this is a draft, and rough  is infinitely better than a blank page or taunting blinking cursor!. When you have a (rough) scene, mark it off on the “checklist” version of your outline. The act of giving yourself a checkmark will itself prompt momentum!

Do this until you get through your writing prompts. Or…feel free to jump back into an orderly flow if you get inspired! This happens frequently, and is a huge benefit of the Zig Zag approach.

Opting to zig zag (by instincts or with physical prompts) rather than force flow is a simple switch. But so often we get caught up in how we think we should be writing (in order) that we forget that our story is entirely in our hands, including how we write it! 

That being said, zig zagging with prompts isn’t for everyone. In fact, outlining isn’t for everyone (for a non-outline take on zig zagging, see my post called Make Daydreaming Your Writing Superpower). I get it! But what I can tell you is that zig zagging has worked wonders for me on more than one occasion. And quite often—maybe even more often than not—zig zagging for a bit restores a state of flow, and you can go back to writing your draft in order. Even if it doesn’t get you back into flow, it’s certainly better to be moving back and forth than to not be moving at all. 

a hand wearing a rubber glove holding a soapy sponger

Spring Clean Your Manuscript!

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How do I go about revising my draft manuscript? What steps do I take? Is there a proper order for these steps?

In my experience, revision is perhaps the most misunderstood step in the writing process. Many think that revision is the same as proofreading for spelling and grammar. Others believe that revision is something an editor does for you.

While revision certainly can involve proofreading as well as input from other people (editors, readers, etc.), it is most certainly a step authors themselves take to improve their drafts. I see it as a creative step, where your writing and your story continue to come to life. Where might new scenes be needed? How can story events be better arranged? How do I improve my language?—this all gets another look. It’s not merely about dotting “i’s” and crossing “t’s”.

But even if you define revision in this way—a chance to look again, make creative changes, polish one’s writing—you might still ask: Where do I start? What kind of approach should I take?

Spring Clean Your First Draft

I’ve done some deep dives into the revision stage in my book The One Week Writing Workshop and in my articles Three Ways to Clarify Your Plot and  How to Know When to Stop Revising Your Novel.

But it hit me the other day that we can translate the housekeeping steps we take to air out, refresh, and polish our dwellings into tips for revising your manuscript. In fact, it might be super helpful to think of revising a draft manuscript in the language of Spring Cleaning! So, let’s roll up our sleeves together and see what this “fresh” approach looks like…

Before You Spring Clean, Take a Spring Break!

I will always, always advocate that before you begin to revise a draft (whether it’s a first, second or third draft), it’s crucial to step away—to rest. It clears your mind and allows you to better see the proverbial forest and the trees when you return.

Rest can certainly involve a bit of fun—in fact, the more you can get your mind occupied with thoughts and experiences outside of your story, the better. So, give your mind a metaphorical Spring Break (how wild you go is up to you)!

Assess Your Space

When you’re rested and ready to get to the nitty-gritty (sometimes very gritty) task of cleaning your home top to bottom, it’s wise to first take stock of the big picture before fussing with details. Maybe you walk through each room and let your eyes take in the state of the mess. You let yourself get a sense of what needs to be done and the order of their importance. Maybe afterward you make a list of to-do’s.

It’s the same with a fiction manuscript. You can count on several “sweeps” through your draft. I advise that you see the all-important first sweep or read-through as a chance to acquaint yourself with your manuscript as it stands. Next, you might read it again making notes on what you think you’ll need to change to clarify, polish, and improve. In other words, do a walk-through of your text, then make a revision to-do list.

Declutter

The fewer items in a space, the easier it is to get to the heart of spring cleaning: dusting, scrubbing , sweeping, etc. So before making microscopic changes to words and phrases in your story, first take some time to decide what might in fact be superfluous…and then “declutter” it. That way when you do the finer work of finessing your language,  you’re less likely to spend energy revising a paragraph, scene or chapter that’s ultimately destined for the cutting floor. Look for things that you know aren’t serving your story, and instead of wasting time polishing them, clear them out of the way.

Pro tip: if you’re on the fence about whether to keep something or let it go, create a document where you keep “Old Stuff”—kind of like a box of “maybe items” you tuck away in your storage room. Chances are you’ll never look at this document again, just as you’re likely to eventually toss or donate that box! But if you need anything from it, it’s there.

Organize

Once you’ve decluttered the obvious extras and are happy with what’s left in your draft, it’s time to ask yourself—does it flow? does it make sense? Is the pacing right? Have I told the story in a way that makes sense to the reader? Does my story draw them in/keep them in suspense/make them wonder the way that I’m intending?

Like organizing your kitchen or your clothes closet, organizing your manuscript might involve rearranging, reordering, and more “letting go”. Also, you might need to add new material. Getting organized in a home sometimes means adding to a space (bins, shelving, better lighting). Similarly, your manuscript might need additions and expansions at this stage to achieve cohesion.

Deep Clean and Detail Work

All right, Spring Cleaner—you’ve assessed, decluttered, and organized your home. Now you can deep clean, i.e, attend to the details big and small. Your goal is to revitalize, refresh, polish and shine up your home. There are excellent terms to keep in mind when revising your manuscript. This is probably the time in the process where you find you’ll be tackling that to-do list you made earlier in earnest!

You might need to rewrite sections to better express your ideas, or to bring your characters more vividly to life. You might rework your dialogue to make it sound more believable, or to better suit whoever’s doing the speaking. Any new scenes you’ve added are likely raw, and are worthy of a little extra elbow grease to make sure they harmonize with the rest of your prose and serve their intended purpose. This is the time to wrestle with that opening chapter and make sure it sings…

And if you’re going to do any proofreading, this is the time to do that, too—think of it as that final buff and polish.

Put Your Feet Up

Ahhh…what a great feeling to sit back in a comfy chair with your feet up as you take in your freshly cleaned home. In the same spirit, be sure to celebrate your Spring Cleaned draft with a celebratory break…and then…

…Have Company Over!

A spring-cleaned home feels so very guest-ready, doesn’t it? It might not be magazine-perfect, but it’s tidy and welcoming. It’s a place that reflects the most orderly, settled version of you and your home. Similarly, your draft is now ready for “company”—in the form of sharing and feedback.

There may still be some finessing left to do once your guests are gone (just like you need to tidy up a bit after guests leave!), but you know that you’ve put the best, most cleaned up version of your draft out there. You’re less likely to get notes that express confusion and puzzlement about what’s going on. Your draft is now a decent reflection of the story you want to tell, and the feedback you get is more likely to help you take it to another level.

Happy Spring Cleaning, writers!

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The One Week Writing Workshop Earns Top Honors in 2024 Reader Views Literary Awards Program

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With its hands-on, engaging exercises, “The One Week Writing Workshop” is a game-changer for aspiring and experienced authors.

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA, March 12, 2025 — Bestselling author and writing coach Karin Adams is making a powerful impact with her latest release, “The One Week Writing Workshop: 7 Days to Spark, Boost or Revive Your Novel.” This innovative guide has earned top honors at the 2024-2025 Reader Views Literary Awards, winning:

• Gold Award in the Writing & Publishing Category
• Silver Award in the Education Category
• The Book by Book Pub Award for Best Writing/Publishing Book of the Year

“The One Week Writing Workshop” offers a practical, structured approach to novel writing, guiding writers through daily exercises in brainstorming, character creation, story structure, and revision—making it ideal for both aspiring and seasoned writers.

“Many people dream of writing a novel but don’t know where to start,” says Adams. “This book provides structure, motivation, and a creative spark to get the words flowing.”

A UNIQUE, ACTION-ORIENTED APPROACH

Unlike traditional writing guides, “The One Week Writing Workshop” is designed for immediate engagement. Instead of simply reading about writing, authors actively participate in hands-on exercises, including:

• Music and soundscapes to inspire ideas
• Movement and outdoor exploration to break through creative blocks
• Visual arts and hands-on crafting to unlock new storytelling techniques
• Daily “core activities” with warm-ups and stretch goals for flexible progress

Adams challenges the idea that writing is only for the “gifted,” emphasizing that a writer’s true gift is the desire to engage with the process. By making creativity active and accessible, her approach helps writers overcome self-doubt, spark momentum, and enjoy the process of storytelling.

A VALUABLE RESOURCE FOR ALL WRITERS

Ideal for aspiring writers looking for a structured approach, the book also benefits experienced authors who may be stuck on a project or seeking fresh inspiration.

“I’ve been writing fiction for over thirty years, and yet “The One Week Writing Workshop” gave me new insights into my own process,” says Richard Bist of Reader Views. “It provides a simple, organic framework that makes the writing process less intimidating and rekindles the joy of storytelling.”

BRINGING THE WORKSHOP TO MORE WRITERS

Building on the success of “The One Week Writing Workshop,” Adams is launching an online video course to provide further hands-on guidance. She is also developing a specialized guide for teachers and writing group leaders, expanding access to her method in classrooms and writing communities.

With its award-winning status and praise from writers of all levels, The One Week Writing Workshop is fast becoming a go-to resource for unlocking creativity and bringing stories to life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karin Adams holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Winnipeg and pursued doctoral studies at Harvard University. She spent seven years teaching at the University of Winnipeg before focusing on fiction and writing workshops full-time. She is also the author of six books, including the critically acclaimed middle-grade novel Frostbite Hotel. Through her platform, Author In Your Corner, she continues to support and inspire writers worldwide.

AVAILABILITY & FURTHER INFORMATION

“The One Week Writing Workshop: 7 Days to Spark, Boost or Revive Your Novel” is available now at Amazon and major book retailers.

For more information about Karin Adams and her works, visit her website at https://www.karinadams.com/

a cup of tea, a raisin bun and a candle beside blanket

Why should you wait before revising a first draft?

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When it comes to finishing a first draft, following up with a break—a rest—is not just a good idea. It’s arguably an essential task. Whether or not you’re filling your days with dreaming and drafting right now, at some point you’ll arrive at this crucial step in your process. So, let’s explore “rest” together, both the obvious benefits, and maybe the not-so-obvious ones when it comes to your fiction!

The power of rest when revising a first draft

Finishing a first draft is a major accomplishment. Let’s celebrate that right off the bat! You’ve been working for weeks, months—maybe years. You’ve planned or dreamed, sometimes wrestled, sometimes flowed. You have persevered and made it through to The End.

In my own experience and in working with other writers through my creative writing workshops, there’s a range of different impulses and emotional scenarios that might play out after finishing your draft. You might be soaring on the rush of completion—you’re ready to hit ‘Send’ on an email blast to friends, family and publishing houses.

On the other hand, you might want to toss your laptop out the window and never look at the thing again.

It probably won’t surprise you that I’m going to urge you to find the middle ground between these extreme scenarios. I say: resist the urge to share it for now, because it’s not quite the (brilliant) story you think it is. But also, resist the urge to abandon it forever…because it’s not quite the (awful) story you think it is!

Instead of giving in to your emotions at this stage—whether you are jubilant or fed up or anywhere in between—plan on resting your draft. Feel your feelings, but know that now is the time in the process for rest. How long will vary writer to writer and project to project. In my opinion, resting a draft for anything less than two or three weeks is probably not enough to give you the full benefit of this strategy. Some authors give it months.

So, what are the benefits of a decent rest? First of all it will give you a chance to come down from the exhilarated heights or level up from some of the lows so that you have the peace and clarity that will serve you when you start to revise. Second, more in terms of your manuscript, I propose that there three broad categories of advantages (and I’ve given them titles because that’s what writers like to do!): Seeing the Whole, Seeing the (Right) Parts, and Arriving at a Greater Sum.

Seeing the Whole

Stepping away from your draft before making further changes (and before sharing) will give you a unique and immensely helpful chance to see your story as a whole on paper (or screen) for the first time. I find that this just isn’t possible at 7:00 am the morning after you finished at 11:43pm the night before. You are too close to your manuscript. In your mind’s eye, you can see all of your creative intentions with crystal clarity. But that doesn’t mean they’ve made it onto the page—and you won’t be able to tell! The flip side of this is the writer who thinks their story is awful. It’s not! There’s brilliance in there, at least in a potential state, and even in rough spots. But you probably won’t be able to see any of it either without some distance.

So, take that break. What you’re giving yourself is that one and only (but amazing) chance to read your first draft objectively as a whole. I recommend that you do your first read through without making any notes or changes at all. Feel the overall rhythm of the story as it exists at the moment—the big picture. Let your mind take “big picture” notes, about what’s working beautifully, and about what still needs creative work. I think you’ll find that this becomes invaluable to creatively revising your story,  letting it become what you see in your mind. This just isn’t possible without a rest in my experience!

Seeing the (Right) Parts

When we jump into revisions too early and can’t see the big picture—the whole—we often start tweaking spelling and grammar and changing little details here and there. While it’s not wrong to tweak, it’s potentially misdirected energy at this stage—you’re fixing and fussing with things that may not survive in your manuscript after feedback or a deeper revision. Resting will help you to see the big picture things that need changing, and thus help to zero in on the smaller parts that stick out as in need of a polishing hand if they are going to serve the story as a whole.

On a purely practical level, you don’t want to spend all sorts of time fussing with paragraphs (or chapters) you’re ultimately going to cut. Get that big picture view so you spend your time addressing the parts that really need work.

Arriving at a Greater Sum

Once you’ve made a first pass through your manuscript with the advantage of rest, and made some thoughtful, deliberate changes, I say rest again. It doesn’t have to be as long this time, but now that you’ve made creative changes to your manuscript, it’s been transformed. Step away, take a break, and come back to it as you did the first time. You may repeat this revision process again or even a few more times. But it’s worth it. Your project is coming into clearer view, better matching your vision each and every time.

And soon, as your story comes more in line with the brilliant story you’ve been imagining all this time, you will have that urge to share it with everyone under the sun. But now this urge will be based on much more solid ground—on the deliberate creative work and confidence that follows a good rest.

a lightbulb resting on a stack of books

What to Do Before Writing a Novel

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You have an idea for a novel. It may be anything from a vague notion to a crystal clear concept. What, if anything, should you do to prepare? You might know (or suspect) that you are a planner type, and so you want to do some “figuring” before diving into your draft. On the other hand—vague notion or otherwise—you might be the sort that wants to dive right in and get going! Whether you are a plotter or a dive-right-in writer, I think that there are three broad strategies all writers can adopt when thinking what to do before writing a novel. (Or, better stated: before-ish.) It comes down to Reading, Research and Recess. Let’s explore what I mean together!

Figuring out what to do before writing a novel

I will be honest: I’m more of a planner-type writer. Several lessons in my book The One Week Writing Workshop offer strategies that encourage pre-draft dreaming, exploring and figuring. I follow this up with tasks that then help you to focus and funnel this preliminary work into a confidence-inspiring plan before you start your draft.

Now, I acknowledge that not everyone likes a formal plan. And yet…I’ve led enough creative writing workshops to know that most of us need just a little something to prime the creative engines before we get going on a manuscript. If not a formal plan, then maybe something like preparatory play. That’s where my three pre-draft strategies come in—Read, Research, and Recess—and I believe that everyone can benefit!

Reading

You’ll be hard pressed to find any writer who wouldn’t advise you to read before writing your novel. It’s generally-accepted wisdom that reading fiction helps train you to write fiction. I would certainly agree with that! I also guess that if you are preparing to write a novel, you probably are already an avid reader of fiction—it’s likely not a stretch at all. So, keep it up!

What you may want to add or adjust when it comes to your avid reading habit is a deliberate shift into“study mode”. As you read fiction, use a noticing eye, focusing on how authors approach any number of things, from opening lines to creating tension between characters…how she uses language to effectively describes settings …and how he juggles multiple points of view….etc. If you have specific questions about particular writing techniques or how to go about something in your own writing (for instance, how to write dialogue in a novel), treat the books you read as your mentors—and get inspired by their “solutions”.

You might also want to get more intentional about what you read as you prepare to write your own novel. You don’t have to give up reading widely if that’s what you do, but consider beefing up your reading list to include more books in the specific genre you’re planning to write in. This way you can better acquaint yourself with the genre’s rhythms and peculiarities—kind of “absorbing” them consciously and even subconsciously  as you read. You might also want to consider re-reading books in your chosen genre that you’re already familiar with. Knowing the twists, turns and ending of a story in advance, you can really focus on studying technique in that narrative, thus inspiring your own writing approach. (My advice: don’t do this with your favourite book of all time—let it remain a story!)

And of course, you can be reading, even the “studying” kind of reading, while you are writing your draft. So, before-ish. Start in on some focused reading, and keep reading this way even as you write.  This can help your draft and can inform the revision stage, too.

Research

In order to write with authenticity, you might have to do some research before you get going on your draft. What this means will depend on the kind of book you’re writing. If you’re writing historical fiction, it’s probably rather obvious that you’ll have to do plenty of academic-style research. Your novel simply won’t be believable without it!

Other kinds of stories might require research, too—and not all research requires a trip to the library. For instance, my middle grade novel My Best Friend is a Viral Dancing Zombie features two boys who are making a stop motion movie. While I wasn’t intending to write a how-to-make-a-movie guide within my book, I certainly needed to get familiar with the basics about animated films so that I could write authentic scenes about my eleven-year-old characters as they made movie magic after school. I had to get acquainted with the tools, technique, and timelines of this kind of movie project, and figure out what it would be reasonable to assume boys this age would have access to and could create (quite a lot, actually!). I looked up articles on the subject. I watched tutorial videos. I viewed stop motion movies created in classrooms I was working in at the time (use your social connections!). I talked to my animator friend to clear up my list of technical questions. This was all research, and actually none of it took place in a library.

So, take some time to think about the sorts of things you’ll need to learn or research in order to write authentically. Where can you find the info? Who can you ask? Do as much research as you can before you begin your draft. It might very well shape and inspire your story! But just as with reading, there’s no rule that says your research must be 100% complete before you begin to draft. It might not even be possible since you might only realize the need for research in the midst of writing certain scenes. Your research can be ongoing, shaping your draft and informing your creative revisions afterward.

Okay- so, above we’ve covered story research. But you might also want to do some writing research before you write your novel. This might take the form of attending writing workshops, reading writer’s guides, or watching online video courses. I would of course love for you to grab my book or sign up for my videos classes (!), but there are plenty of other wonderful resources out there that can be helpful to your writing process, too! I believe that whatever increases your writing confidence and offers advice that you find helpful and motivating is the right resource for you.

One note of caution (especially to you planners): don’t stay stuck in a planning loop! Reading an endless list of how-to books or spending hour after hour on videos at the expense of rolling up your sleeves  and drafting will ultimately work against you. In my workshops, that’s why I aim to get you writing as you read. So, be sure that—whatever guide you choose—you use these writing tools to boost the quality of your writing time, not replace it!

Recess

If you’ve been reading my articles, you’ll notice that I often talk about maintaining a sense of play, experimentation and exploration when it comes to writing (kind of like recess, where we just played and let our imaginations guide us). The time before you begin to write your novel might  be the most natural time to lean into this approach. Your story idea feels fresh, exciting, and full of possibilities…and it is!  So, I say take advantage of this feeling and take steps to keep things fresh and playful.

Do you draw, even just a little bit? Why not sketch out that intriguing character you’re picturing… Or, perhaps you know your characters will be setting off on an epic journey. Why not make an intricate map? This can help better to connect you to your story, and it’s fun. You can even decorate your writing space with your handiwork to keep you inspired!

Maybe you keep bumping into the questions: who is my main character? …or…who should be the one to tell the story? Experiment. Write a random scene a few times, using different points of view. Change the tone, change the location…what happens? You might never use this scene, but playing around can be a great way to get ideas!

Speaking of playing around, you don’t have to limit this to things you do with your story. Consider taking time to engage in non-writing but delightfully creative activities, to feed your own playful soul. I’m not talking about spending hours and hours you don’t have (especially when you want to add writing into the mix of your life!), but don’t forget to make puzzles, knit scarves, do word puzzles, colour, or cook. It’s amazing how keeping actively creative—nurturing a “creator identity”—can light up our writing, both directly and indirectly. 

Now, nothing we do on a writing recess is being written or drawn in stone. It doesn’t have to “count” toward anything, just like no one gave us grades for how we played at recess. No one has to see your playful experiments other than you. But doing these kinds of things might inspire story moments. And even if not, simply keeping you connected to the joy that comes with creating something that never was before has great value.

As with Reading and Research, Recess can be enjoyed both before and while you write (in fact, I highly recommend it!). 

a person holding a yellow note with the words keep going

How to Build Confidence as a Writer

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Mostly when we go looking for writing tips, we find advice related to the creation—meaning the story or novel we want to write. That’s great—there’s wonderful advice out there to be had! But there’s something we don’t see as often and that I would argue is just as important when it comes to the writing process: the creator—that is, you the writer. After all, without your imagination, your creativity, and your willingness to engage the writing process, there wouldn’t be any creation. So, let’s focus on YOU for a moment! I’d like to share my top tip on how to build confidence as writer. It’s based on my own experiences as an author and the years I’ve spent leading creative writing workshops. It’s a simple shift, but for some it can be what keeps them on the writing journey (and I think that’s worth it!).

Your Writer’s Mindset: Setting the “shoulds” aside helps build confidence

It’s not at all a bad thing to have dreams and goals when it comes to writing. But sometimes what we’ve come to believe about writing or the writing life can get in the way of seeing those dreams and goals come true. This can be true whether we’re just starting down the writing path or we’ve been at it for a while.

I’m talking about things like telling ourselves we should be writing a certain amount of hours every day. Or, that for a good writer, writing should flow easily. Do either of these sound familiar?

There’s more:

I should be able to write one book a year at least (a real writer can do that).

Ideas should be coming to a good writer at any and all times of the day.

…And I should have a notebook with me and should be filling it with ideas if I’m calling myself a writer…

I should sell x number of copies of a book to be successful.

There are more (so many more!) ways that we writers judge our own worth (and often fall short)…

Again, goals and dreams aren’t bad—not a bad at all! In the best cases, they can inspire us to try, grow and strive as writers. In the worst cases, however, they can become a discouraging hum (or shout!) that deflates our confidence, discourages our efforts, and causes us to give up.

The key of course is what you do with these shoulds when your writing life and efforts don’t match your expectations. Do you take it as data—an indication that you might want to try new tactics? Or even a sign that, possibly, your expectations were inaccurate, at least for you right now on your writing journey? This, I think, would be a helpful way to use “shoulds”, but in my experience, very few people see them this way. We don’t usually reflect on should or consider adjusting them, instead we fix them in time and space measure (ourselves) by them. When we fall short, we’ve failed. The problem is with us. And this is the quickest way to lose confidence in ourselves, maybe even for good (ugh!).

If a new writer reads somewhere that he must write 3,000 words a day in order to be a real writer, and finds this task initially (or forever!) impossible for him, should he throw in the towel? If a seasoned writer has picked up somewhere that for a real writer, a good writer, writing flows in an almost effortless fashion, and yet she is always stymied and slumped when it comes to writing those middle scenes, they’re always trouble…so much so that she doubts her own abilities. Is she just not cut out for this? Should she pick a new passion?

Or…instead of living by absolute “shoulds”…might these writers be much better served viewing their initial expectations as possibilities? I think so! Because when we experience a disconnect between a possibility and actual practice, we have the opportunity to adjust to a different possibility! And most importantly, we’ve found a way to remain on the writing journey.

So maybe…that new writer adjusts his word count expectations? Maybe he reduces his target by a bit, or a lot, until he feels comfortable with his writing rhythm? From there, the word count might expand over time (or not) but he is writing in a way that works for him…That is a recipe for growing confidence.

Could that seasoned writer simply accept that middles are a challenge for her—at least at this stage of her writing journey. Perhaps then she could seek strategies that might help her through, even if this isn’t her first book? Maybe she even reevaluates her belief that writing has to proceed beginning, middle, end…maybe zipping around to different spots in her story, even playing with out-of-the-box ideas when she gets to the sticky middle, could be among the very best “new” tips on how to write a good story this veteran author discovers for herself!

So, to protect a healthy and helpful Writer’s Mindset, I say we don’t give up our goals and dreams, but let’s consider giving up our shoulds. Let’s claim our status as writers right now—without delay!—no matter what our writing life or writing output currently looks like. We are writers simply for engaging the process of writing. As writers (already), we can then be open to adjustments, fresh perspectives, growth, and the fact that our writing journeys and output may not look exactly like everyone (or anyone) else’s. That’s what your writing goals can show you if you let them—not your worth as a writer, but your way as a writer.

a person using a planner and calendar app on a laptop

Tips for Plotting a Novel with a Calendar App

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We’ve arrived at that point where one year is beginning to wind down and we start to look to the next. It got me thinking about calendars, and more specifically how I use calendars as a tool to help my writing. I want to share with you two of my best tips for plotting a novel with a calendar. The first way helps you to keep a story on track, and the second helps preserve you as a writer! While these aren’t necessarily mind-blowing tactics, I know that I went a long while in my writing life before I started using them, and things have greatly improved for me ever since! My hope is that they’ll help you, too.

Two Tips for Plotting a Novel with a Calendar

As I was working out my plot for my third novel, Frostbite Hotel, I realized I was getting muddled when it came to the passage of time. In terms of story timelines, Frostbite Hotel, set in a contemporary school during the winter months, is a pretty straightforward tale. There is no subplot set in a different era. No one is time-shifting through history. Even still, I needed the story’s events to unfold in a way that felt realistic to my readers. I needed to allow enough time for certain events to take shape, find the perfect moment for specific turning points to occur, and work all of these things around special events that happened at fictitious Huddleston Elementary School. I also wanted to keep the snowy season in mind, particularly the best time for blizzards and winter celebrations in the Canadian prairie location I was imagining. (Pretty important to a story about a schoolyard overrun with snow fort entrepreneurs!)

So, I turned to the calendar app on my computer. I created a dedicated Frostbite Hotel calendar, chose an icy blue highlight color, and began to plot the key events that I was planning to include in my story across a couple of winter months. Because I could look at my plot points all at-a-glance, I quickly realized where I needed to stretch some action over more time, or rein things in where I was dragging.

After dragging and dropping things around on my calendar to make some tweaks and adjustments, I soon saw a logical timeframe emerge—a flow and order of events that made sense. I worked to this “fictional schedule” as I wrote my draft, calling up my calendar whenever I needed reference points. It certainly helped! And there was something about seeing story events in my calendar that made my story feel even more real; though it was fiction, it felt more rooted in real time and in my real life—so, that was fun! Also, I think it’s interesting to note that I don’t actually state any dates in this book, but it was helpful for my own “author logic”. And those little transitions we sometimes use, like “a few days later” or, “on the following Monday” had a real reason behind them!

My next two novels were even more firmly in need of a calendar when it came to planning plot and story world. The action in My Best Friend is a Viral Dancing Zombie all funnels toward a school project deadline, with the need to balance all the conflict and incidents that happen along the way. Also, my two best friend characters are splitsville for a time; so, using two separate, color-coded character calendars, I was able to figure out what each of them was doing over the course of their separation (even when the secondary character wasn’t involved in the main action, he was doing something behind the scenes that would become important to the story…and I wanted it to make sense!). Meanwhile, Mermaid Warrior Squad, a hybrid novel/graphic novel, takes place at a two-week summer day camp. When the story’s events occur are so important, I actually inserted a camp schedule into the book! (But it was of course first planned in my own digital calendar.)

All of my books so far have been straightforward, that is, in linear time and over the course of a relatively short time frame (a couple of weeks to a few months). I’m working on something with a more complex timeframe at the moment, set in a world with fantasy elements and a fictional history that I need to account for. I can assure the fantasy and timeline-conscious writers out there that a calendar is a GREAT help for more complex stories! You can even use two, three or more calendars in parallel. Different colors can represent different characters, or eras, or timelines for parallel worlds if that’s how your story leans! It’s a great tool to keep your story world straight for yourself, whether you lay out “dates” for your readers or not.

Of course this can all be translated to a paper calendar system. A wall calendar or one of those great big (physical) desktop or “family planner” type calendars can be brilliant—highly visual—and right in front of your face at all times if you choose! It’s also easy to get creative with color and organized with handy handwritten notes.

Use a calendar to save your writer’s self!

You don’t need me to tell you that you can use your calendar to make a writing schedule, and set writing goals and deadlines. Of course you can and it can be a great idea!

But if you’re a story-planner type (and if you’re using calendars as a tool, you likely are!) there is one date that I encourage you to mark on your calendar and stick to no matter what: a planning deadline. And by that I mean the day you commit to stop planning and start drafting.

A pitfall for planners, one that I know too well, is spending too much time planning. So much so that it comes at the expense of writing. I get it—we planners want to get our stories worked out to airtight degree of detail…but because of that, we often put off actually writing our draft! In the most extreme cases, but far more common than we might want to admit, we deplete our creative energy and even our own interest in our tale through excessive planning, and never start writing at all.

As I say in my book The One Week Writing Workshop, a certain alchemy occurs in the writing itself. To enjoy the writing experience and to let your story become what it’s meant to be, you need to actually write. So, commit to a planning deadline—marked boldly on your calendar!—after which you start to write no matter what. Don’t worry if you’re not quite sure how long your planning will or should take—estimate it and run with it. You can always return to do a bit more planning if your writing stalls or you hit a dead end. But I’m guessing you’ll be delighted by what you discover in the drafting process once you step beyond the calendar and into the actual world of your story.

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