Poll Results: Writing the First Draft
I conducted a Twitter poll over the course of a few days on whether writers tend to overwrite, underwrite, or hit their desired word count in a first draft. Given the small sample size of a little over fifty people, this is not the most accurate test, but I enjoyed hearing from other about their writing process. I did this because I was curious and hypothesized most people overwrite because I hear so many stories about other writers trying to pare down a 200K draft to ~100K. (Eep! Kudos to those who have the wherewithal!)
Indeed, the results leaned toward overwriting, although it and underwriting were neck-and-neck for some hours. It's interesting to me because I personally underwrite. My first drafts tend to be around 65–70K, and I work to add details I left out. This is because I'm stronger with dialogue than with descriptions, and I often need to go back and add setting details and character actions. This is a criticism I constantly need to take into account because I tend not to notice if a scene isn't grounded enough because I picture it strongly in my head, and this vivid image doesn't always translate. If I were to change anything about this poll, I would perhaps put a "It depends" option because some people don't consistently reach certain word counts on each project.
If you write, how do you often perform on your word count?
