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Writing a first draft is where the biggest mistakes happen — and most of them are avoidable. As a developmental book editor, I can't tell you how many times writers have said to me, "If I had just done this from the beginning, I would have saved myself a huge rewrite.” But you don’t know what you don’t know, right?

Today, we’re changing that. I’m sharing the biggest mistakes writers make when writing a first draft so you can catch these pitfalls early and avoid having to restart from page one.

1. Not Outlining at All (Biggest First Draft Mistake)

I work with both plotters and pantsers, and I've seen incredible stories come out of both approaches. There's no right or wrong way to write, but it's generally true that pantsers have to do more heavy lifting when it comes to developmental and structural revisions after writing a first draft. That's because the first draft is often them just discovering the story. Then, they have to go back and refine and shape it.

Plotters, on the other hand, will generally know the main story beats before they go to write. Once they put pen to paper, they know where they're going. That doesn't mean that pantsers can't have a great first draft or that plotters don't have to do major structural work. You need to choose the method that suits your creative practice.

I know some writers who can only pants their novels because that's what energizes them creatively. If that's you, then go for it. But if you have any inkling to try to plot your novel, give it a shot. If you don't know where to start, I have a very simple, easy framework that'll help you nail the key elements of your story.

2. Choosing the Wrong POV

This first draft decision affects every single sentence in your book, so think carefully about it before you start writing a first draft.

I cannot overstate how important POV is because it shapes your reader’s entire experience of the story and affects how you approach every single sentence. Most writers don’t think nearly enough about POV when writing a first draft. But if you get the POV wrong, you’re pretty much going to have to rewrite the entire novel.

Before you determine whether to tell the story in first or third person, you need to take a step back and ask a broader question — whose POV should the story follow? If I had to choose the most important decision you would make with your novel, it would be this one, because determining which characters we’re going to follow shapes the entire story.

If you haven’t yet thought super carefully about your chosen POVs, think about it right now. Do we follow just one character or a handful? Or do you think you’re writing an omniscient POV? If so, I would proceed with extreme caution. If you have eight-plus POV characters and we’re hopping between them at random mid-scene, the story could likely be significantly streamlined by reducing them.

Whose POV is actually integral to telling this story? Only once you determine which POVs we should be following can you make the decision of whether to write in first person or close third person. The choice comes down to your personal writing style and whether you feel you can adopt the voice of the character in first person.

For example, a recent client of mine was working on a dual-POV novel with one male and one female protagonist. He had written the male POV in first person but was really struggling to adopt the first-person voice of his female character. I suggested changing it to third person and seeing how that felt. Once he switched to third person, he was able to flesh out her storyline so much more smoothly. He then went back and revised the man’s POV to also be in third person.

If you’re writing your first draft and uncertain of whether to use first or close third person, there’s no harm in writing one scene in each, then reading them back and seeing which one sounds better. Which one had better flow? That’s often the correct choice.

3. Not Tracking the Timeline

Skip this step when writing a first draft and you’ll end up with a messy plot that takes hours to untangle.

What day, month, and year is it when the story starts? And how long does your story cover from beginning to end? And how much time passes between individual scenes? Just like your reader needs to stay oriented in the physical place and setting of your novel, they also need to be oriented in time. If we don’t know how much time is passing in the story, we’ll get confused, and you’ll also erode the suspense and momentum.

I recommend mapping out your story’s timeline before or during your first draft. Even if you decide not to outline the whole thing, try to at least figure out the timeline — over how many months or years does the story take place? As you do that, look for opportunities to condense the timeline. Does that investigation that takes a month really need that long? Or could the next clue be found the next day? Condensing the timeline is often an easy way to make your story swifter and more propulsive.

4. Not Knowing Your Character’s Goals

Even in a first draft, your protagonist should have a clear objective from the beginning of the story — something they desire deep in their bones, something they’re working toward actively, something that means something to them. A character that has no goal will feel aimless, passive, and ultimately just not engaging.

But goals shouldn’t be given only to your protagonist. Every character in your story should have a goal of some kind that they’re working toward.

If you haven’t mapped out your characters’ goals yet, do it now — ideally before writing a first draft. That goal should inform every single action they take, everything they say, and everything they think. Strong character objectives can transform your story, and I talk about them all the time with my clients.

5. Obsessing Over Word Count (Major First Draft Trap)

I see so many authors sit down to write and decide upfront that they’re going to write a novel in a specific genre with an exact word count. That can be helpful if you’re breaking your writing goal into manageable chunks so you hit a certain length by the end of a set time period.

But too often, these word count goals become overly rigid, and writers end up getting way too stressed about them.

Maybe they planned for their romance novel to be 80,000 words, but now they’re 70,000 words in and the story is basically done, so they’re freaking out. Or they planned for it to be 80,000 words and now it’s creeping toward 90,000, and they’re worried it’s far too long and no literary agent will want it. Either way, panic sets in.

When writing a first draft, I recommend detaching from word count and letting the story take the length it needs. In later drafts, you can always refine toward a specific target, expanding where necessary or trimming things back. As long as you’re within the general range for your age category — for adult fiction, roughly 60,000 to 90,000 words — you’re fine. Don’t stress about hitting the perfect number, because it’s almost certainly going to change in future drafts anyway.

The one caveat is that you should pay attention if you find yourself going far beyond the standard range for your genre. If you’re writing a romance first draft and you hit 200,000 words, that’s a sign something is off. You probably either have two novels in one or one novel with a lot of extraneous material that needs to be cut. A first draft that’s far too long often leads to major rewrites or splitting the story in two. Stay generally aware of your word count, but don’t let it control you.

6. Having Too Many Characters

I see so many first drafts packed with secondary characters, subplots, and side quests. A lot of the developmental work I do involves paring all of that back to streamline the story and refocus it on the central conflict.

Don’t overcomplicate or overcrowd your novel. You can always layer in additional subplots in later drafts if they’re truly needed. If you’re writing a first draft and find yourself going down a rabbit hole with a secondary character, it’s okay to explore that for a bit, but don’t let it take over the main storyline the reader is here for.

And if you truly can’t let that subplot or character go, maybe it’s a story all on its own. This is why outlining — knowing what you’re writing toward — can save you a lot of overhauling later.

7. Querying or Self-Publishing Before Your First Draft Is Thoroughly Revised

Revision is where the magic happens. It’s where your story becomes the best version of itself. Writing isn’t just writing a first draft — It’s rewriting.

Give yourself the time and space to go through multiple rounds of developmental and structural revision after your first draft. Don’t shy away from big-picture changes that will take your story to the next level. Push the story as far as you can on your own, then get feedback from critique partners, beta readers, or a professional editor. They’ll point out things you’re simply too close to see, and that’s how your story reaches its full potential.

If you’re experiencing any of these regrets as you’re writing a first draft, don’t worry — your fellow writers have been there too. These mistakes are part of the learning process, and they help you write a stronger second draft or an even stronger second novel.