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Do you need ideas, motivation, or someone to sit in your doc / watch your screenshare to stop you getting distracted? Do you want to share your WIPs for feedback or hype? Or maybe you’re looking to help others with these things?

If so, hop into the cosy crime discord server on Wednesday 1st July to join our Septembleford community day!

We’re also planning on playing Gartic Phone writing-only mode for inspiration at around 6:30pm BST, which is always fun (and often unhinged gjshfjd)

Saturday 1st August

Saturday 15th August

Saturday 29th August

Guide: What to Do in Each Draft

Most stories, especially longer fiction, are written in drafts, starting with the first draft or “rough draft” and ending with the super polished final draft. Like most things related to writing, there are no rules about drafting. The number of drafts you do and what you do in each draft are entirely up to you. 

How to Draft - Write your story from beginning to end, and you have a first draft. Read through it and make notes about things you want to change. Changes can be adding things, removing things, fixing things, fleshing things out, or moving things around. You might even choose to get the opinion of an alpha reader--someone close to you who enjoys reading your writing--to see if they have any light/general feedback. When you revise your draft and implement those notes, you have a second draft. And so on...

You might not think of pre-writing as part of the drafting process, but I do. This is where you do all your planning, plotting, and figuring out your character and your world. You might do an outline--a beginning to end summary of your story--a scene list, timeline, or anything else to help you get your ideas organized. Some writers are “pantsers” meaning that they do very little pre-writing and sometimes none at all.

Your first draft, or “rough draft,” is the first time you actually write your story from beginning to end. It’s called the “rough draft” because it’s extremely unpolished and probably a mere glimmer of what the final draft will be. I like to think of this as an exploratory draft, where I’m getting the bones of my story all laid out, but also trying to get to know my characters and their world.

The second draft is where you take the rough lump of clay that is your first draft and try to refine the shape. In this draft, it’s a good idea to focus on structure, making sure you’re hitting all the right notes, that you have all the scenes you need, and that those scenes are in the right order.

Some writers may only need two or three drafts total, but others need more. If you used the second draft to get your story’s structure into shape, the third draft is where you’ll want to make sure your character arcs and subplots are sound, as well as paying attention to things like pacing and flow.

Whichever draft ends up being your final one, this is the draft where you focus on polishing. Eliminating filter words, tightening up sentences, making sure dialogue flows well and you’re not overusing dialogue tags; also, making sure there are no errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation. If you’re formatting your draft for querying or publication, you’ll want to do that here. Your final draft is the one you’re going to actually post, publish, or hand to a publisher.

One Last Thing - As you go on, you’ll start to find your own rhythm in your drafting process. You might have very specific things you cover in each draft, or you might just try to make each draft better than the last one. If you need help on the different kinds of things to focus on in each draft, the following posts might help, and you can also find great lists online, such as “filter words to cut when editing.”

Guide: The Different Types of Editing

Ten Ways to Cut Your Word Count

Avoiding Repetition with Dialogue Tags

Basic Story Structure

How to Move a Story Forward

Scene Lists

Story Arc vs Subplot

Creating a Detailed Story Outline

Character Arc Tips 

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There’s a strict deadline to find or escape Whumper and Whumpee’s the only one who can give them enough details about them to ensure a victory.

Medic whumpees having to explain to the rest of their team how to treat their wounds because they’re far too injured to do it themselves but the team have no medical experience.

Powerful whumpees being the only person capable on the team of taking down the enemy, even though they’re severely injured.

Caretakers injured on a rescue mission that just have to keep pushing through because what Whumpee’s going through is infinitely more painful than this.

Magic whumpees being the only ones who know a certain spell or ability having to perform it even though it’ll likely exacerbate their injuries further.

Whumpee’s already extremely wounded and traumatised, but they still have to be used as bait to lure Whumper into a trap because there’s no other solution to capturing them. Everyone worries that if their plan went South, Whumpee wouldn’t be strong enough to fight back.

1. Slow down at emotionally important moments.

Big emotions need space to land. If a scene feels rushed, pause the plot briefly to show how the moment affects the character.

2. Add reactions, not explanations.

Instead of explaining what a character feels, show it through physical responses, hesitation, or small actions that reveal emotion naturally.

3. Ground every scene in the senses.

If a scene feels thin, add one or two sensory details—sound, texture, smell, or temperature—to make the moment feel lived-in.

4. Let thoughts interrupt action.

A line of internal thought can deepen a scene without slowing it too much. Thoughts show stakes, fear, longing, or conflict beneath the action.

5. Expand consequences, not events.

You don’t need more things to happen—you need to show what matters. Focus on how events change relationships, decisions, or self-perception.

6. Strengthen setting where emotion peaks.

The environment should echo or contrast the emotion of the scene. Setting is not decoration—it’s emotional reinforcement.

7. Add specific details instead of general ones.

Underwriting often relies on vague language. Swap “they argued” for one sharp line of dialogue or a specific breaking point.

8. Let dialogue breathe.

Short dialogue exchanges without pauses can feel flat. Add beats—silence, gestures, interruptions—to give the conversation weight.

9. Show transitions between scenes.

If scenes jump too quickly, readers feel disoriented. A brief transition helps establish time, mood, and emotional continuity.

10. Clarify stakes early in the scene.

If readers don’t know what can be lost, scenes feel empty. Make sure the character wants something specific and fears losing it.

11. Use the “what are they feeling right now?” check.

After each major beat, ask what emotion is dominant in that moment. If it’s missing on the page, the scene is likely underwritten.

12. Expand scenes that feel “too clean.”

Do you need ideas, motivation, or someone to sit in your doc / watch your screenshare to stop you getting distracted? Do you want to share your WIPs for feedback or hype? Or maybe you’re looking to help others with these things?

If so, hop into the cosy crime discord server on Wednesday 1st July to join our Septembleford community day!

We’re also planning on playing Gartic Phone writing-only mode for inspiration at around 6:30pm BST, which is always fun (and often unhinged gjshfjd)

No one knows who's responsible for the three week coconut hunt, other than the three involved.