Character sheets are ruining your first drafts, here's why

I used to spend 3 hours building lore and backstory for every side character before writing a single scene. Last month I ditched that whole system for a one line note per person and my 40 page draft got finished in 5 days. The blank page energy goes into the actual story, not into spreadsheets. Nobody cares that the bartender has a dead sister unless it matters in chapter 6. You can always add depth later once the plot is solid. Anyone else feel like prep work is just procrastination with a label on it?

2 comments

2 Comments

stella_scott962d ago

Whoa, 40 pages in five days is insane, but that one line per character trick sounds wild.

elliot_roberts2d ago

Totally stealing that line trick for my next draft...