How to Finish the First Draft of Your Novel
Most first drafts stall in the middle. Ten practical ways to get to “The End”, with a word-count plan, stuck-scene fixes and how to handle edits.
Disclosure: I work on NovelGPT, a novel-writing app. Everything here works with a notebook and a pen.
Starting a novel is exciting. Finishing one is a different skill. Somewhere around the second act, the opening’s energy has worn off, the ending still feels far away, and a shiny new idea starts whispering. That’s when most first drafts get quietly abandoned.
These ten habits are what tends to get writers through, whether it’s November or any other month.
1. Redefine “finished”
A first draft is finished when it has a beginning, a middle and an end, even if parts are thin, inconsistent or full of notes to yourself. It doesn’t need to be good. As Terry Pratchett put it, the first draft is just you telling yourself the story.
2. Pick a target length and do the maths
Choose a realistic length for your genre (many adult novels land somewhere between 70,000 and 100,000 words, though genres vary) and divide by the days you can actually write.
- 50,000 words: 1,667/day in 1 month (30 days); 770/day in 3 months (~65 writing days); 385/day in 6 months (~130 writing days)
- 80,000 words: 2,667/day in 1 month; 1,230/day in 3 months; 615/day in 6 months
- 100,000 words: 3,333/day in 1 month; 1,540/day in 3 months; 770/day in 6 months
(Three and six months assume five writing days a week.) Choose the number you can hit on a bad day, not a good one.
3. Know your next three scenes
You don’t need a full outline, but you do need to know what comes next. Before you stop each day, jot down the next three things that happen. Plotters can use a chapter plan. Discovery writers can keep a rolling list.
4. Stop editing as you go
Rereading and polishing feels productive, but it spends the energy you need for new words. Try:
- Read only the last paragraph before you start.
- Leave a bracketed note instead of fixing: [CHECK: sister’s name], [ADD: harbour description].
- If you change the plot halfway, write the change at the top of the document and carry on as if it had always been true.
5. Write in timed sprints
Fifteen to twenty-five minutes, timer on, no internet. Small, regular sessions beat occasional heroic ones.
6. Stop mid-sentence
The Hemingway trick: end your session when you know exactly what comes next, even mid-sentence. Tomorrow you’ll start with momentum instead of a blank page.
7. Get through the sagging middle
The middle is where tension should rise, and where it most often goes flat. When it sags:
- Raise the pressure. What’s the worst thing that could happen right now? Let it happen.
- Ask what your character is avoiding, and force them to face it.
- Add a midpoint reversal, something that changes what the story seems to be about.
- Set milestones at 25%, 50% and 75%, and celebrate each one.
8. When you’re stuck, find out why
Writer’s block in the middle of a draft usually has one of three causes:
- “I don’t know what happens next” (missing plan): list three possible events and pick the most interesting.
- “This scene is boring to write” (wrong scene): skip it. Write the next scene you’re excited about.
- “Something’s broken but I don’t know what” (a wrong turn earlier): go back to the last scene that felt right and try a different choice there.
You’re allowed to write out of order. A placeholder like [FIGHT SCENE: she loses the key] keeps you moving.
9. Track what you’ve decided
By chapter 20 you’ll have made hundreds of small decisions: eye colours, ages, who knows the secret, what’s in the lamp room. Keep a running one-page list (a story bible) and add to it after every session. It saves you from rereading the whole draft every time you forget something.
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This is also where software can help. Some writing apps track these facts for you. NovelGPT, for example, keeps a story memory and flags contradictions, so your notes don’t have to be perfect.
10. Use AI to unstick yourself, not to replace you
If you use AI, use it like a writing friend at the café table:
- “Give me ten things that could go wrong for [character] in this scene.”
- “I’m stuck between these two directions. What does each one cost the story?”
- “Summarise chapters 1 to 10 so I can remember where I am.”
Keep the decisions yours. A draft you shaped is a draft you’ll want to revise.
How long should a first draft take?
There’s no right answer. Some writers draft in a month, and others take a year or more. Pick a pace you can keep. 500 words a day finishes an 80,000-word draft in about five months of daily writing (160 days), which is less than a page a day.
What to do the day you finish
- Type The End. Back the file up in two places.
- Put it away for at least two weeks.
- Then read it all the way through as a reader, with a notebook, before you fix anything.
Related reading
FAQ
How do I finish my first draft when I’ve lost motivation?
Shrink the goal (15 minutes or 300 words a day), skip to a scene you’re excited about, and set a nearby milestone such as the next 10,000 words.
How complete should a first draft be?
Complete in story terms (beginning, middle and end) but not in polish. Gaps, bracketed notes and inconsistencies are normal. That’s what revision is for.
Should I edit while writing my first draft?
Generally no. Leave notes and keep moving. Editing now uses up the energy you need to reach the end, and you’ll edit better when you can see the whole book.
How do I get over writer’s block in the middle of a novel?
Work out the cause: no plan (list three possible next events), the wrong scene (skip it), or a wrong turn (go back to the last scene that worked and choose differently).
How long should a first draft be?
Aim for around the length your genre usually expects. Many writers’ first drafts run long or short and get adjusted in revision.
Written with AI assistance and edited by the NovelGPT team.
If keeping track of your story is what slows you down, NovelGPT keeps your people, places and promises in story memory while you write. It’s free to start: novelgpt.app.
