5 Big-Picture First Draft Mistakes (& How To Fix Them)

Finishing your first draft is both exhilarating and challenging. You've finally brought your story idea to life on the page, which is an accomplishment worth celebrating! But if you're feeling stuck or overwhelmed as you review what you've written, you're not alone.

The good news? Every writer faces these challenges, even the bestselling authors you admire. Recognizing these issues in your work isn't a sign of failure—it's evidence that you're developing the critical eye of a professional storyteller.

Plus, the truth is, first drafts are supposed to be messy. They're the raw material you'll shape into something beautiful during revision. However, identifying certain structural issues early can save you countless hours of frustration later on.

In this post, I'm sharing the five most common big-picture problems I see in first drafts from aspiring novelists. These aren't line-level concerns like grammar or word choice—those come later. Instead, these are the foundational story elements that, when strengthened, can transform a struggling manuscript into a compelling novel readers won't want to put down. Let's dive in.

Mistake #1: Starting in the Wrong Place

One of the most common issues I see with first drafts is that the story begins either too early or too late. Finding that perfect entry point can feel like trying to hit a moving target, but it's crucial for hooking your reader from page one.

Here are some signs that your story starts too early:

• Your opening chapters feel like they're building up to something significant, but that "something" doesn't happen until several chapters in.
• You find yourself including extensive backstory, character introductions that don't connect to the main plot, or lengthy descriptions of the world before anything meaningful happens.

Think of starting too early like clearing your throat before speaking—it's unnecessary preparation that delays getting to the point. Readers make decisions about whether to continue with a book within the first few pages, and if you start too early, they'll get bored waiting for something to happen.

For example, if your story is about a detective solving a murder, but you spend the first three chapters detailing her morning routine, her childhood, and her drive to work before the body is discovered, you've likely started too early.

On the flip side, here are signs your story starts too late:

• Readers feel dropped into the middle of chaos with no orientation, scrambling to figure out what's happening or why they should care.
• Important relationships or events that should be shown on the page are only referenced as having already happened.

For example, imagine you’re reading a romance novel, but the story starts a week after the main characters first meet. This would leave readers feeling like they missed a crucial moment in the relationship's development—and it’s a key scene readers expect to see at the beginning of a romance novel. When you start too late, readers feel confused and disconnected from your story.

To ensure your story starts at the right place, ask yourself: What's the inciting incident that truly sets your story in motion? 

The ideal starting point is usually just before this event, giving readers just enough context to understand its significance without unnecessary preamble.

Related: 5 Mistakes Writers Make In Their Opening Pages

Mistake #2: Insufficient Compelling Conflict

Stories without strong conflict are like cars without engines—they simply won't go anywhere. Yet many first drafts suffer from conflict that's either too weak, too vague, or entirely absent.

Here are some signs your conflict isn't strong enough:

• Your protagonist gets what they want too easily
• There's no clear force of opposition (person, society, nature, self)
• Nothing truly challenges your character's beliefs or forces growth
• Your protagonist is mainly an observer rather than an active participant
• Scenes feel pleasant but lack tension

Many new writers misunderstand what conflict actually means in storytelling. Compelling conflict isn't just random "bad stuff happening" to your characters—that's merely misfortune.

True story conflict is direct opposition to what your protagonist desperately wants or needs. It forces difficult choices and creates tension on every single page of your novel, keeping readers invested in what happens next.

Remember that meaningful character transformation requires pressure. People rarely change without being pushed to their limits, and the same is true for characters. Without sufficient conflict pushing them toward change, your protagonist will remain static—and static characters rarely make for compelling stories.

To strengthen the conflict in your story, ask yourself:

• What does my protagonist want more than anything? Why?
• What's the worst (yet believable) thing that could stand in their way?

The answers to these questions form the backbone of your story's conflict.

Also, consider the different layers of conflict that can enrich your story. External conflicts provide visible obstacles (such as antagonists or natural disasters), while internal conflicts create inner struggles (like fear, guilt, or competing desires). 

The most powerful stories often feature both types of conflict working in tandem, applying consistent pressure on your protagonist to grow and change.

Related: 5 Questions To Develop Better Antagonists

Mistake #3: Lack of Narrative Drive

Narrative drive is what keeps readers turning page after page. It's the compelling force that pushes the story forward through clear cause-and-effect relationships between events.

If your draft features a series of disconnected episodes where things happen TO your protagonist rather than BECAUSE of their choices, you're likely lacking narrative drive. 

It might feel like: "This happened, then this happened, then this other thing happened..." with no clear connection between events.

This creates what I call the "so what?" problem. Readers finish a scene and, instead of being pulled into the next one, think, "So what? Why should I care what happens next?"

Unlike real life, which is often random and chaotic, stories need to follow an internal logic that creates meaning. Each scene should grow naturally from what came before and plant seeds for what comes after. This deliberate cause-and-effect chain is what distinguishes a crafted story from a mere sequence of events.

To strengthen your story's narrative drive: Review each scene and ask yourself:

• Does this scene happen because of choices made in previous scenes?
• Does it force new choices that will affect future scenes?

If not, you may need to strengthen the connections between your scenes or reconsider whether a particular scene belongs in your story at all. This simple exercise can quickly reveal where your narrative chain breaks down and needs reinforcement.

Related: 5 Things That Kill Narrative Drive (& How To Fix It)

Mistake #4: Nothing Significant at Stake

Stakes are what give your story emotional weight. They answer the crucial question: "Why does this matter?" Without clear stakes, even the most beautifully written manuscript will feel hollow.

What are stakes, exactly? 

Stakes represent what your protagonist stands to gain or lose based on the outcome of their journey. They can be external stakes (life or death, winning or losing something tangible), internal stakes (identity, beliefs, relationships), or—most effectively—a combination of both.

Here are some signs that the stakes in your story aren't high enough:

• The consequences of failure feel minimal or unclear
• Your protagonist could walk away from their goal with little cost
• The reader feels no anxiety about potential outcomes
• Characters don't seem truly invested in the results
• The story feels safe and predictable

Contrary to popular belief, raising stakes doesn't necessarily mean making everything bigger or more dramatic. Instead, focus on making them more personal and specific to your character.

To create meaningful stakes, ask yourself:

• What would be the worst possible outcome for THIS specific character?
• What matters most to them personally? Why?
• What are they afraid of losing (specifically)?

The answers should guide you toward stakes that feel both significant and authentic to your character and story.

You’ll also want to consider the expectations of your genre when crafting your stakes. In a thriller, the stakes might involve saving lives, while in a romance, the stakes center around finding or losing love. 

Understanding your genre's conventions helps you deliver the emotional experience your readers are seeking while still making the stakes deeply personal to your characters.

Mistake #5: Unresolved Story Promises

Every story makes promises to its readers, starting from the very first page. These promises create expectations about the type of story being told and the emotional experience readers can anticipate. When these promises go unfulfilled, readers feel cheated—even if they can't articulate exactly why.

Story promises include elements like:

• Genre signals (a dead body in chapter one promises a mystery will be solved)
• Character goals established early (if your protagonist wants to win a competition, readers expect to see that play out)
• Themes introduced at the beginning (if you explore forgiveness early, readers expect resolution on this theme)
• Emotional tone (a humorous beginning sets expectations for a generally light-hearted story)

The most common manifestation of this mistake is when the end of your story doesn't match its beginning—essentially, beginning with one type of story and ending with another. For instance, starting with a romance focus but ending with emphasis on solving a crime instead of resolving the relationship.

Another red flag is when significant questions raised early in your story remain unanswered, or when character arcs feel incomplete despite reaching the story's end. This often happens when writers discover interesting new directions while drafting and follow these paths without circling back to fulfill their initial promises. While this exploration is valuable during the drafting process, it requires careful attention during revision.

To identify if you're delivering on your story promises:

First, review your opening chapters and note what expectations you're setting:

• What questions are raised?
• What type of story are you signaling?
• What would a satisfying resolution to these elements look like?

Then, compare this with your story's ending:

• Does it deliver on those early promises, or has your story drifted into different territory?

If it's the latter, you'll need to either revise your beginning to align with your actual story or adjust your ending to fulfill your original promises. Either approach can work—what matters is that the beginning and ending of your story feel like parts of the same cohesive whole.

Related: How To Find The Major Dramatic Question Of Your Story

Final Thoughts

If you've identified some (or all) of these issues in your manuscript, congratulations! Seriously—recognizing these problems is the first crucial step toward solving them. Many writers never develop this level of awareness about their work.

Remember that first drafts are meant to be exploratory. 

Sometimes the only way to discover what your story is truly about is to write it all the way through to The End, messiness and all. 

Now that you have that raw material to work with, you can begin the transformative process of revision with clarity and purpose.

If you need help making a strategic revision plan, grab a copy of my free 10-Step Novel Editing Guide. This guide will walk you through what to do first, second, and third, as well as how to organize your revisions, sort through feedback, and so much more.

As you revise, be patient with yourself. 

These foundational elements take time to get right, but the investment pays off tremendously in the quality of your final manuscript.

Trust that your story is worth the effort, and keep moving forward!