A question for the other writers here
 

Is anyone else here afflicted with the crippling "Perfect first draft"syndrome?

This is a godawful tendancy to recognize story errors AS you are writing, and getting so consumed with goign back and fixing them in the first draft, that you dont even finish it?

Now I know that the proper thing to do is write, then go back and make corrections. is this "syndrome" the result of a lazy mind? like i could somehow get it right the first time and never have to do a rewrite? I also know that is a great way to give your carreer a massive gunshot wound to the head before it even gets going.

Personally, i think this is worse than writer's block. Its not even the inability to get a cohesive idea, its having the idea, through completeion, but holding yourself back unnecesarily by getting mucked up in useless details.

I bring this up becaus ei am writing a story right now where i am gettingout only half of what i want to say, but i am gettingout a framework of what i want, puttingin to paper (so to speak) and actually WRITING, and now i am doing the proper thing and moving forward, and it is DRIVING ME NUTS!!!!

It's like asking someone with OCD not to line up the toothpicks on the table....

Yes, I suffer from Perfect Draft Syndrome, I tend to spend too much on the research part and end up with a different story than I began with.

The word-processor doesn't help either - can't decide if it is UK English or US English, so spend hours checking and re-checking spelling, it's amazing how many times the "ignore" function is used.

I also suffer from Can't Be Bothered Syndrome as well. It's a killer.

yeah, overthinking is death... You talk yourself into a corner, then never write anything...

This si why i am in mute awe of Rod. (man, that sounds so wrong...) Where i think and imagine, he is doing. drives me nuts.

I force myself to keep going until the first draft is done. I won't even let myself correct gramatical or spelling errors. My problem is going back and then doing the second draft, because I'm lazy.

I'm with you VOD, Everytime I start to write I always go back and fix words or add in new ideas. Like this one I am writing now I have been doing it for about 2 months, and I only have 12 pages. I think this is because I want it to be perfect, I know its a rough draft but damn is it killing my brain. I even tried using "The Web" I always tend to find my self in the opposite direction though. Heres a little advice "You are your own, worset critic"

very true AM. Im getting better. i am on page 4 right now and have been writing for about 30 minutes so far, so that is promising...

You're lucky, the most I got to was page 12 and then the "Syndrome" took effect.

Scrapped all of it as it was going in the completely wrong direction, with new characters joining in from nowhere.

Aaaaahhhhh. I'm getting less hair day by day.

No.

and this is why.

If something isn't working by page 20 (3-4 days in), it's the wrong idea and I move on.

And my partner and I handle drafts this way:

Come up with a loose story and tight characters, people you understand before the first word is written, then place them in the middle of a story and let them dictate the action.

1st draft, from the gut & groin - fast, sloppy and passionate

2nd Draft from the heart - make sure characters speak, act and react appropriately for their situation

3rd Draft and beyond is head work - this is where spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and the "nuts and bolts" of the craft is applied.

Thinking a first draft should come out perfect is unrealistic and thinking your first draft IS perfect is delusional.

A writer writes.

Writing is rewriting.

Hope this helps.

I know it's not really the same kind of writing you're referring to, but as you know, I wrote recipes...and when I get 'em out (eg - the stuff I submitted to TVG), they flow beggining to end, so yeah, this happens to me constantly.
It happens again when I improve on things, or make changes.
But, the fact is, it spends most of it's time going back and forth in my head.
Nothing I can do about it. When I want it done, it has to be right, by my means...takes a while.
I can see writers going through the same, if not more.
Think on it, notepads...etc. My only suggestion.

Thank you, Rod, that's some good advice.

First Draft Syndrome is a growing problem among writers. It can strike at any age and does not diferentiate between gender and content. Any writer can become afflicted with FDS. Be aware of the following symptoms

Banging the keyboard
Starting your project over more than twice
Staring at the screen, usually at one paragraph for more than five minutes
Pacing while muttering character conversations for more than an hour

If you have two or more of the symptoms you may have FDS.

Jeezus pleezus, I have started my shit over a million times. One author told me to think of it in the sense of writing essays, because that's something I can nail. When you write an essay, it's not always a good idea to write your thesis/intro paragraph first, because theorectically, you have a vague idea about your topic, but you don't know exactly where you're going to end up. So, she told me, write all over the place (You can't do that in an actually essay or thesis paper or report). You can write out different character dialouge sessions, and then sort of put it all together like a puzzle.

I think you have to find your[I]own[I] techniques to figure out what works best. I've been told that there really isn't any such thing as writer's block rather it's just a sort an obstacle that you learn to develope techniques to overcome, a sort of rerouting or rewiring.