Chris is encouraging a student as she writes her first big short story assignment. They’ve talked through the basic idea of her story, choosing a main story problem and brainstorming ways to solve the problem, and it’s time to write a first draft.

Here is Chris’s advice to her as she sits down to write a first draft:

“Write as fast as you can - don’t worry about it, just write. It’ll most likely be completely thrown away, so write quickly, as long or short as you need to get the story down and done.”

And then?
“Put it away for a few days, then come back and ask yourself a few questions:
What did I learn from this?
What did I like about this?
How is this different from what I thought originally?

“As you answer the questions, you’ll see what was most interesting to you. You can ask, what is the real problem in the story? Is it what I thought, or is there something different? What is true for my story?”

Then you take all that information - the first draft, and what worked and what didn’t, and then you can put it into an outline, and begin writing again.

As you go through this process of drafts, revisions, and more drafts, you’ll find a process that works for you.”

So there you go. Advice for your student writers: Get your basic details in order, and then write your story quickly. Take a break from it, and then go back to it with fresh eyes, being open to seeing what works, what doesn’t, and what you find interesting. Reorder and plan your story, and then write again. You can do it!