 Hello, hello, writers! I'm Kristin Kiefer, author of fantasy fiction and creative writing resources, and you are listening to the Well-Sturried podcast, where I share insights, encouragement, and actionable advice designed to help you craft sensational novels and build your best writing life, always in 30 minutes or less, so you can get back to writing, of course. Ready for the show? Let's get talking! Well, hello there, writers, and welcome back to another episode of the podcast. If you often struggle to finish your first drafts or feel like you really haven't yet found a drafting technique that works for you, today's episode is a must-listen. In it, I'm breaking down three techniques in particular. There is one technique for writers who often end up cutting half of their first drafts during the revision process, one technique for writers who often diverge from their outlines as they draft, and one technique for writers who just can't stand the drafting process. So if any of these struggles resonate with you, if you are any of these writers, stay tuned, you are going to love today's episode. Titled Three Alternative Drafting Techniques for Fiction Writers, you can find the article that also serves as the episode transcript at well-storied.com slash alternative. Now let's dive in. Finding your personal writing process is essential to building a writing life you love. Without knowing which techniques help you create your best work, you'll struggle to get your stories down on the page. But every writer's process is unique. The methods that work well for one writer won't necessarily work for you. That's why it's vital you discover your unique writing process, including the method that helps you craft your best first drafts. Traditionally, writers outline their stories, then use that outline to guide them as they draft their idea in full. But what if this method doesn't work well for you? Good news. Today, I'm sharing three alternative drafting techniques that might just revolutionize your writing process. Let's break them down together. Technique number one, blocking scenes with the draft zero. If you often draft your stories in full, only to overhaul them when you revise, it might be time to find a new drafting method that doesn't lead to so many words on the cutting room floor. Creating a draft zero, also called a skeleton draft, is a technique worth exploring. With a draft zero, you don't draft a story in full. Instead, you write a draft that blocks the major beats in each scene. No need for beautiful prose or full description. You simply state what will occur in each scene so you can later review and refine your plot before fleshing out your story. A draft zero might look like the following example. Marty walks through town, lost in thought as he mourns his breakup with Ariela. A shop door hits him in the face. The woman who opened the door apologizes profusely. Marty realizes the woman is Tam, his best friend from high school. Tam smiles before saying hello. Marty fumbles over his words. Tam invites Marty for a drink to catch up. Some writers think of draft zeros as extended outlines. In fact, I didn't know my latest 10,000 word novel outline qualified as a draft zero until encountering the term earlier this year. I now plan to use this technique for every novel I write. Technique number two, discovery drafting. If your first drafts often diverge from the outlines you create, you might benefit from a drafting process that doesn't hinge upon pre-written ideas. Allow me then to introduce you to discovery drafting. Writers who choose this method want the creative rush that comes with allowing a story to unfold organically as they write. No outline, no restrictions, no bare bones writing. They go all in, drafting their stories in full without a plan in place. Creative freedom, here they come. Interested in this method? Here's an example of a passage from a discovery draft. The sidewalk beneath his feet is clean. Too clean. He's used to sidewalks spider webbed with cracks and blotch with wads of old blackened gum. Sidewalks he once walked for hours, arm in arm with Ariela. He remembered tripping once, so lost in the feel of her skin that he didn't notice the jutting sidewalk block. He flushed through him as he barely kept his footing, but Ariela's laughed kept embarrassment at bay. It was a sound so bright, so full of reckless joy that he beamed and touched her hip and pulled her close to kiss her, as if he could swallow that sound. Let it bubble up inside him. Let it make him feel light and free and whole. When writing this passage, I didn't focus on creating a clean, well-written draft. Instead, I wrote freely, letting the story play out as my imagination prompted. Discovery drafting can result in the need for extensive revisions since the story isn't pre-planned. But with a strong understanding of story structure and character development, a writer can produce a relatively clean and cohesive first draft, regardless of the free-flowing nature of this drafting technique. Finally, technique number three, fast drafting. If you don't enjoy the drafting process and would rather spend your time pre-writing or revising, then it's time we talked about fast drafting, one of my personal favorite writing techniques. The purpose of a fast draft is to get a story down on paper as quickly as possible. No need to worry about the quality of your prose, you're going to edit it later. You simply want to draft as fast as you can, saving the bulk of your energy for the parts of the writing process you enjoy. Most writers who fast draft first complete extensive pre-writing. Some, like myself, even block their stories with a draft zero before writing their stories in full. This extensive pre-writing work allows you to draft faster, because you always know exactly what you need to write next. Here's an example of a passage that I just fast-drafted. Marty walks down the sidewalk, his shoes scraping again the pavement. He's too tired to pick up his feet, too tired to do much of anything but find his way home and lock himself in his apartment and drown himself in whatever alcohol he had stocked for some special block party of birthday. He wants to stop thinking about Areola, about her kiss, her touch, her vibrant laugh that always left his so damn happy. Notice the spelling and grammar mistakes in this example, as well as the poor sentence structure. I didn't intend for this paragraph to be pretty. I wanted it written, so I typed as quickly as I could without fixing mistakes or rewriting ideas. And let me just say as an aside here that reading some of that was kind of strange. If this passage were from a novel, I would definitely revise it later. If you're wondering if fast drafting is the right technique for you, I have a blog post linked for you on this subject in today's episode description. Do any of these drafting techniques seem like they might align with your creative process? Or are you happy with the more traditional method of writing a complete first draft at a measured pace? No matter your technique of choice, if it helps you craft your best stories, then it's the right technique for you. That said, don't hesitate to explore new methods if any part of your writing process no longer serves your needs. Discovering the most effective tools and techniques can take time, but you'll gain that time back tenfold when you nail down a writing process that allows you to create with confidence and ease. Thank you for listening to today's episode of the Podcast Writer. I hope you found it helpful to your writing journey. If so, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode, and to give the podcast a quick rating and review. Doing so goes a long way toward helping the podcast reach new writers and lets me know that you're enjoying what I'm creating. You can also give me a shout out directly on Twitter at christen underscore keeper. For additional guidance as you work to craft sensational novels and build your best writing life, be sure to head on over to www.well-storied.com where I share blog posts, workbooks, e-courses, and other helpful resources for writers. Again, that's www.well-storied.com. Thank you again for tuning in to today's episode, my friend. Until next time, happy writing!