In Praise of Draft Zero

Or, 3 Reasons to Embrace the Terror of the Blank Page

This post is dedicated to all of the wonderful creative writers out there who've just started their NaNoWriMo sprint for 2024! For folks who don't know, NaNoWriMo is a pledge made by writers from all over the world to draft a full-scale novel (i.e., 50,000 words) during the month of November.

If that sounds challenging, it's because it is. However, it's also incredibly rewarding. I've already written one full NaNoWriMo novel (and several aborted ones!) and am starting on the edits to my second.

Due to a combination of life circumstances, I'll be pushing back my NaNoWriMo push till December this year. However, the start of November got me thinking about one of my great lessons learned from my last attempt at NaNoWriMo: the draft zero.

What is a draft zero?

A draft zero lies somewhere between what might be traditionally thought of as an outline and a true first draft. Think of it as a "rough sculpt": a draft where you can patch in and take out pieces of the writing building blocks that will eventually make up the longer work. They're the bare bones of your ideas around plot points, character traits, and settings that you'll fully flesh out later, but a step up beyond bullet points (or sticky notes and stringboards if you're anything like me!).

Draft zeros are typically much shorter than your full length work. While a full fantasy novel typically clocks in at around 80,000 - 100,000 words, a draft zero might be closer to 30,000 - 50,000 words.

It's also important to note that you can use draft zeros in many different types of writing, not just novels. I've used draft zeroes on scientific articles (and my dissertation), sketching out the results and conclusions that I wanted my readers to engage with in the final work. I've also used draft zeros while mocking up professional reports, using them to pick out key ideas and themes that might be important to my final clients, while also getting feedback from my colleagues.

Why should I consider using a draft zero?

If you're on the fence about how (or whether) a draft zero might be appropriate for your next writing assignment, here are three key reasons why I personally enjoy using them:

1. Draft zeros remove some of the activation energy for writing

   As a writer, there is nothing more terrifying to me than a cursor blinking on an empty page. I've found that I am personally a much better editor than I am a drafter. That means that I struggle to turn off my inner copy-editor and engage in the creative flow needed to get thoughts onto paper.

   
   

   By calling something a "draft zero", I give myself permission for that draft to be "bad". It's my way of telling my inner reviewer that it's time to take a hike, and focus on getting ideas onto the page.

   
   

   Once I have a working draft, I can save a copy of it (another pro-tip for getting around the inner editor that is screaming about killing your darlings!) and start chopping up the text, moving it around, adding, and deleting as needed.

   
   

2. Draft zeros are a great way to get initial feedback

   As an engineer, I'm a big fan of prototyping, and in many ways, that's exactly what a draft zero is.

   
   

   From personal experience, it's much easier to get feedback once the reviewer has something to critique. Especially for projects where I know I'll be working with a larger team, I like to block ideas out on the page so that we can work together on how to refine them and move forward.

   
   

3. Draft zeros can lend themselves to serendipity

   All writers have probably had the experience of their story starting to write itself in the middle of their first draft. In my first novel, a bit character who was only supposed to take up a page or so ended up growing into a major antagonist that helped to catalyse a significant portion of the plot. If I hadn't given myself the creative freedom to step outside the bounds I'd set in my outline and let my characters find their own voices, I might have lost an important aspect of my final novel.

   
   

   This experience is perhaps more relevant for writing fiction, but I've definitely also had the surreal experience of the data "telling its own story" as I tease out what my graphs and charts actually mean in the context of a larger report. And indeed, this creative serendipity is part of the active ideation process that is incorporated into good brainstorming activities. In the early stages of developing a new concept or approach, there are "no bad ideas".

   
   

Some final thoughts...

While there are some contexts where draft zeros might not be appropriate (e.g., shorter work with a tight deadline), they are a useful writing tool that can help improve the quality and creativity of your work.

So for your next major piece of writing - creative or otherwise - consider using a draft zero as part of your process. And if you do I would love to hear about your experience in the comments!