The Truth About Writing Faster: It's Not What You Think

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"Just write your first draft. Let it be messy. You can fix it later." It's one of the most common pieces of writing advice out there. Just get the first draft down! Embrace the mess! Don't worry about quality—that's what revision is for!

But if you're like most writers, this advice probably makes you a little nervous.

Because "write fast" sounds a lot like "write badly." And why would you waste weeks or months of your life producing something you'll just have to throw away?

But here's the thing—fast drafting doesn't have to mean bad drafting. And that misunderstanding might be the very thing keeping you from finishing your novel.

What Writers Get Wrong About Fast Drafting

Let's talk about what you're probably picturing when you hear "fast drafting."

You imagine sitting down with a vague idea and just... writing. No plan. No structure. No clear sense of where the story is going. You've been told to silence your inner editor, embrace the mess, and figure it out later. So that's what you do.

Thousands of words later, you have a finished draft. But it's not really a good draft—it's more like a pile of disconnected scenes. The plot wanders. Characters do things for no clear reason. You're not even sure what the story is about anymore.

And now you're supposed to... revise this? How? It would be easier to start over.

If that's what fast drafting meant, I wouldn't teach it either. That's not a writing strategy. That's a recipe for abandoned manuscripts and creative burnout.

So let me be clear about what I mean when I talk about writing your first draft quickly: fast drafting isn't about sacrificing quality for speed. It's about having enough clarity that speed becomes possible.

Can You Write Fast AND Write Well?

Here's what I've learned after years of helping writers finish their novels: the quality of your first draft isn't determined by how slowly and carefully you write each sentence. It's determined by how well you understand your story before you start.

Writers who produce solid first drafts—drafts that actually work as stories—don't write slower. They prepare smarter.

They know what kind of story they're telling and what readers expect from it. They understand who their protagonist is at the beginning and how that person needs to change. They can see the major turning points that will carry the story from beginning to end. They've thought through the central problem and what it will take to resolve it.

When you have that clarity, drafting isn't a process of fumbling in the dark, hoping you stumble onto something good. It's more like following a roadmap. You still make creative choices along the way—there's still plenty of room for discovery and surprise—but you know where you're headed.

And when you know where you're headed, you can move faster. Not because you're rushing, but because you're not stopping every few paragraphs to wonder if the story is working.

That's the secret: clarity is what makes speed possible. Without it, writing fast just gets you lost faster.

Why Skipping the Prep Work Costs You More Time

Now, you might be thinking. Okay, but won't all that planning take forever? What if I spend weeks preparing, and then the draft still doesn't work?

Here's what I want you to consider: how much time have you already spent on drafts that didn't work?

If you're like most of the writers I work with, the answer is... a lot. Maybe you've started the same novel three or four times. Maybe you have a folder full of abandoned first chapters. Maybe you've written 20,000 words, hit a wall, and walked away—more than once.

That's not a planning problem. That's a lack of planning problem.

When you start drafting without a clear sense of your story's foundation, you're essentially hoping it will all come together somehow. Sometimes it does. But more often, you hit the middle of the book and realize something isn't working—and you don't know how to fix it because you were never quite sure what you were building in the first place. So you stop. You step away. Eventually, you start something new and hope this time will be different.

That's the real time-waster. Not the prep work. The endless cycle of starting over.

The writers who finish their novels aren't the ones who skip planning to "save time." They're the ones who invest a little time up front so they don't have to keep starting from scratch.

How to Prepare for a Fast First Draft

When I talk about doing the foundational work before you write your first draft, I'm not talking about outlining every single scene or knowing every detail in advance. It’s more that I want you to understand the bones of your story before you start writing. 

Here’s what I mean:

• It's knowing your genre. Not just "fantasy" or "romance," but what readers of your genre expect. What's the core experience they're looking for? What promises does your story need to keep?
• It's understanding your protagonist. Who are they at the start? What do they want? What's the internal struggle that's going to drive their arc? How will they be different by the end?
• It's seeing the shape of your plot. Not every scene, but the major turning points. The moments that shift everything. The peaks and valleys that give your story momentum.
• It's being clear on your theme. What is this story really about beneath the surface? What question are you exploring? What do you want readers to walk away thinking about?
• It's clarity on your central problem. What's the core conflict? Who is the antagonist? What's at stake? What will resolution look like?

When you've done this thinking, you're not locked into a rigid plan. You're oriented. You have a destination and a general route, even if you take some detours along the way.

And here's what surprises most writers: this work doesn't take that long. We're not talking about months of preparation. For most of my students, it's a matter of weeks—sometimes less. And that investment pays off exponentially when you sit down to draft.

What It Actually Feels Like to Write This Way

One of my Notes to Novel students told me she used to dread her writing sessions. Every time she sat down, she felt the anxiety of not knowing if her story was working. She'd write a few hundred words, then stop to second-guess everything. She'd get stuck in the middle of scenes because she wasn't sure what needed to happen next. Eventually, she'd abandon the draft and tell herself she'd figure it out with the next idea.

Once she did the foundational work first, everything changed. She wrote 100,000 words in under 90 days—and for the first time, she actually enjoyed the process. Not because she'd suddenly become more disciplined, but because she wasn't fighting her own uncertainty anymore. She knew where the story was going. She could trust the foundation she'd built.

That's what drafting with clarity feels like. You sit down already knowing what the scene needs to accomplish and why it matters. You're not asking, "What should happen?" You're asking, "How do I bring this to life?"

Instead of staring at a blank page, paralyzed by infinite possibilities, you're solving a creative puzzle. Instead of dreading your writing time, you're curious about it. Instead of wondering if you'll have to throw everything away, you can feel the story coming together.

You write faster—not because you're rushing, but because you're not constantly stopping to figure out where you're going.

A Different Way to Think About Your First Draft

Your first draft doesn't need to be full of perfect prose. It will still need revision—dialogue sharpened, scenes tightened, descriptions refined, subplots smoothed out, etc. That's normal. That's what revision is for.

But your first draft does need to be a story. 

A beginning that sets something in motion. A middle that builds and complicates. An ending that resolves something meaningful. Cause and effect between your scenes. Characters that change. A through-line that holds it all together.

When you do the thinking work upfront, that's exactly what you get. Not a mess that needs to be torn apart and rebuilt—but a solid structure that's ready to be refined.

And here's what I really want you to hear: once you learn how to draft this way, you don't lose that skill. You carry it into your next book. And the one after that. You stop being someone who starts over and start becoming someone who finishes.

Ready to write a quality first draft? My Notes to Novel course shows you exactly how to build your story's foundation, create your roadmap, and write with the kind of clarity that makes fast drafting actually work. No more wandering. No more massive rewrites. Just focused, intentional writing that produces a story worth revising. Enrollment opens soon, so click here to join the waitlist and be first to know when doors open.

👉 Want more help right now? Check out these free resources:

• Listen to the Fiction Writing Made Easy Podcast for weekly writing guidance
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• Grab my free guide to see how real writers (like you!) pushed past these roadblocks to finish their novels: 5 Writing Roadblocks Keeping You Stuck & How to Break Through