First Draft Mistakes: Jessica Brody & Savannah Gilbo Compare Notes

Earlier this week, Jessica Brody and I sat down to compare notes on the most common mistakes we see writers make in their first drafts—some related to mindset and process, others related to what’s happening on the page.

Both Jessica and I have spent a lot of time helping writers finish their first drafts—Jessica in the Writing Mastery Academy, and me in my Notes to Novel program. So, we thought it would be fun to each make a list of five mistakes and compare notes on the podcast without seeing each other’s lists first.

And while there was some overlap, there were plenty of surprises too.

In this post, I’m sharing the 10 first draft mistakes that made our lists—plus our two cents on what to do instead. Let’s dive in.

Mistake #1: Expecting Your First Draft to Be Good

As readers, we’re used to experiencing finished books where every page flows seamlessly into the next. The clues are planted in the right places, the world-building feels natural, and every detail seems intentional—like the whole story just flowed out of the author’s fingertips that way.

But that’s not how writing a novel works. In reality, stories are built layer by layer. The first draft is where you discover all the different pieces of your story, test out ideas, and figure out what belongs and what doesn’t. And that is not a linear (or tidy) process.

So, instead of expecting your first draft to be a polished, cohesive story, give yourself permission to write it imperfectly and focus on getting to The End. Because remember: your first draft's only job is to exist, not to be perfect.

Mistake #2: Not Developing Your Antagonist Enough

Writers tend to spend a lot of time developing their protagonists, while the antagonist gets whatever attention is left over (if they're thought of at all).

This is a mistake because your antagonist is one of the primary sources of conflict in your story. If they're not developed enough—with their own goal, motivation, and plans—you'll probably run out of meaningful conflict for your protagonist to face, especially in the middle of your story.

So, instead of saving your antagonist for last (or worse, retroactively inserting them into your finished draft), give them at least as much development time as your protagonist. And if you need help doing so, check out this article for questions to help you flesh out your antagonist.

Mistake #3: Giving Your Protagonist a Goal That’s Too Vague

Your protagonist needs a clear goal to give the story direction—but sometimes a goal that sounds specific is still too broad to generate meaningful action.

For example, let’s say you’re writing a murder mystery where the protagonist’s goal is to “solve the murder.” Technically, that’s a goal. But it’s not specific enough to tell you what the protagonist should actually do next.

You’ll need to take it one step further. Yes, they want to solve the murder… But by doing what? What’s their plan? Do they need to interview a suspect? Go to the police station? Find a clue? Visit the library?

So, to avoid this mistake, make sure your protagonist has smaller, actionable goals they can pursue on the way to achieving their larger story goal.

Mistake #4: Not Giving Your Protagonist Enough Agency

Another mistake we see is creating a protagonist who mostly reacts to the plot instead of helping drive it forward.

This is a problem because readers want to follow a character whose choices matter. If other characters are constantly making the decisions, solving the problems, or pushing the story in new directions, your protagonist will start to feel passive in their own story.

So, look for opportunities to let your protagonist make meaningful choices—even imperfect ones. Let them take risks, make mistakes, and deal with the consequences.

The goal isn’t for your protagonist to control everything that happens. It’s for their decisions to influence what happens next.

Mistake #5: Waiting Until You Feel Ready to Start Writing

It’s easy to convince yourself that you just need a little more time before you start writing. Maybe you want to do a little more research. Or a little more brainstorming. Or create a slightly better outline.

But if you’re waiting to feel completely ready, you’re going to be waiting forever.

Because no amount of preparation can eliminate every unknown. Some parts of your story will only reveal themselves once you start writing. Even seasoned writers make discoveries during the drafting process—it’s just how writing works.

So, prepare enough to give yourself (and your story) direction, then start writing. You don’t need to feel totally confident in your ideas (or yourself) before you begin. You just need to take the next step and let the story reveal itself as you go.

Mistake #6: Writing and Revising at the Same Time

Let’s say you write 50 pages, then suddenly have a great idea for something you want to change on page one. If you’re like most writers, you’ll probably go back and make that change.

This is a mistake because although it feels like progress (you are making changes, after all), you’re not actually getting any closer to finishing your draft.

Like we just talked about in the previous mistake, you haven’t fully discovered everything there is to know about your story yet. You don’t know what the ending will teach you about the beginning—or which ideas will still matter once the whole draft exists.

So, when you discover something you want to change, leave yourself a note and keep moving forward whenever possible. Finish the draft first. Then revise with the benefit of seeing the whole story.

Mistake #7: Treating Plot and Character as Separate Things

Plotting frameworks can help you figure out what happens in your story, but writers sometimes get so focused on hitting the right plot points that they forget those events need to matter specifically to their protagonist.

This is a mistake because when your plot isn’t connected to your protagonist’s goals, fears, and choices, the events can start to feel random—even if you’re technically hitting all the “right” beats.

So, as you outline or draft, make sure your plot events challenge your protagonist in meaningful ways and force them to make choices that affect what happens next. Your plot should impact your character, and your character should impact the plot.

Mistake #8: Info Dumping All Over the Place

First drafts often contain a lot of exposition and info dumping because you’re still figuring out the story yourself.

You discover an important piece of backstory as you’re writing, so you put all the details on the page. Or maybe you finally understand part of your world-building, so you explain it in detail right where you discovered it.

That’s often completely fine in a first draft. You need somewhere to put those discoveries while you’re figuring things out. The mistake is assuming all of that information needs to stay exactly where you first wrote it.

So, when you revise, curate what the reader actually needs to know. Cut anything that isn’t necessary, move information closer to the moment it becomes relevant, and weave the rest into the story more naturally.

Mistake #9: Focusing on Chapters at the Expense of Scenes

Writers often spend a lot of time worrying about things like chapter length, chapter openings, and cliffhangers, but very little time thinking about whether the scenes within each chapter actually move the story forward.

This is a mistake because if the scenes themselves aren’t working, changing the chapter breaks or adding a cliffhanger won’t fix the underlying problem.

So, focus first on learning how to write a strong scene—one where your character wants something, faces meaningful conflict, and comes out the other side with something changed. Then, once your scenes work, you can decide how to group them into chapters and where to place your chapter breaks based on the pacing and reading experience you want to create.

Mistake #10: Disconnected Side Characters

It’s easy to get carried away with a side character you love and give them more and more page time—until suddenly they have their own subplot, backstory, and scenes that don’t have much to do with your protagonist.

This is a problem because side characters who don’t connect to the main story can start to feel like distractions. Readers may enjoy them, but they’ll eventually wonder why that material is there.

This isn’t necessarily a problem you need to stop drafting for. But once you get into revision, look at how each important side character connects to your protagonist and the larger story—and make sure there’s a good reason they’re taking up space on the page.

Final Thoughts From Jessica & Savannah

If a few of these mistakes feel familiar, don’t panic. First drafts are where you figure out what your story actually is—and that process naturally produces messy pages, wrong turns, unexpected discoveries, and things you’ll want to change later.

The goal isn’t to avoid every possible mistake on your first try. It’s to understand which problems are keeping you from moving forward, which ones can wait until revision, and what your story needs from you right now. Hopefully, this helps you move forward with a little more confidence—and a lot less pressure to get everything right the first time.

If you want to learn more from Jessica Brody, check out the resources on her website and inside the Writing Mastery Academy. You can also check out her books, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and Page One to Done.

And if you want my help turning your ideas into a finished draft, I’d love to invite you to check out my Notes to Novel course. Inside the program, I’ll walk you through how to develop your ideas into a full-length novel—including creating compelling characters, choosing your genre, uncovering your theme, and outlining your story scene by scene—so you can approach your first draft with more clarity and confidence.