Novelists, what are your recs for new writers working on their first book drafts?

Question

Soph · Answer

First draft: you’re telling yourself the story: I do a mix of outlining and writing on vibes for the first draft. The other drafts are for making sense of it. Just write the story first, stick loosely to a 3- or 5-act structure, and leave yourself [fix later] notes instead of stopping. Sometimes the first draft is how you figure out what the story actually is.