Now that you have the outline ready. Let’s see how you can prepare your first draft as soon as possible.
Think of the first draft as your thoughts and musings. At the beginning of my writing career, I used to get carried away and do a lot. However, things are luckily different now. Following are the things that I do now and will help you with your first draft:
Goals of the first draft
Focus on completion
When writing your first draft, you need to complete all the sections. Focus on getting your thoughts on the document.
Don’t fix grammar
At this point, don’t fix grammar at all. You’ll have lots of urges to change things here and there. However, that’s a pitfall. You’ll get your chance to polish things later.
Check your story
While writing your first draft, you may realize that your story needs to be more consistent or correct. In either case, this is the place where you fix it.
Tweak the outline
Related to the previous point, if you realize that the outline doesn’t work, tweak it to suit your needs.
Tools
Following are the tools that I use to create my draft:
- Markdown: Markdown is an authoring language. I’ve written this course and all the blog posts on this website using markdown. You can use markdown to create webpages, slides, and even print content.
- Git: Git is a version control system used for software primarly. I use git to version control this website and content.
- Text Editor: You can use the editor of your choice. I use Visual Studio Code as an editor to write content.
- Docusaurus: Docusaurus is a blog and documentation engine. It provides the functionality of adding blogs and documentation to your website. It also includes search functionality, autogenerated side menu, and a table of contents feature. This blog and course website uses docusaurus.
Exercise
- Bring the outline from the previous exercise and start writing your first draft.
- Follow the tips mentioned.