What to Do When Your Draft Isn’t Working

A Writer’s Guide to Not Spiraling

Every writer has a few moments in the drafting or revising process where they stop, stare at the manuscript, and think, Oh no. This is a disaster. You know the moments I’m talking about: your plot veers off in twelve directions, your characters are suddenly acting like they have minds of their own, or your pacing has the energy of a turtle moving through peanut butter.

It’s easy to treat these moments like emergencies complete with panic and existential dread. (Maybe a dramatic flinging of myself onto the couch for good measure.)

But over time (and after many, many crappy drafts), I’ve realized that there’s a process to wrangle the chaos, steady your breathing, and turn the “This is a mess” feeling into actual, forward progress.

Here’s the five-step method I come back to every time my manuscript decides to throw itself off a cliff.

Panic… then exhale

Look, the panic is inevitable. You care about your work. You want it to be good. And when you realize something significant isn’t working, it’s normal to feel that hot rush of “I can’t do this.”

Let it happen. (Dramatically, if needed.)
Then exhale.

Remind yourself that every writer, even the best-selling, award-winning kind, has these moments. A messy draft doesn’t mean failure. It means you’re writing.

Once your heartbeat regulates, you can start fixing things.

Clean up the “low hanging fruit”

Before you dive into major rewrites or deep plot surgery, start small. Tidy the corners. Fix the easy stuff.

This includes things like:

adjusting character names you’ve changed three times
deleting filler scenes that don’t serve the story
patching obvious holes that don’t require big rewrites
smoothing dialogue that’s clearly not working

Why start here? Because quick wins build momentum. Once you clear the clutter, the bigger issues become much easier to see.

Plus, it’s surprisingly motivating to turn “sloppy copy” into something a little less wild.

Tackle the big changes

This is the stage where you pull out your metaphorical sledgehammer.

Plot threads need restructuring?
Character motivations need rewriting?
Entire chapters need to be reordered?

This is the time.

It’s also the step writers tend to avoid the longest because it feels overwhelming. But here’s the truth: big changes become much more manageable once the easy fixes are out of the way and you finally know what’s actually wrong.

This is where your story transforms. I start with a second (or third, or fourth…) draft outline. My favorite tool for this is Scrivener which makes it really easy to move things around. I’ve also used Trello for the same thing. This gives you the chance to see that story from a bird’s eye view and look at it as a whole.

Go back and tweak

Once the heavy lifting is done, you’ll inevitably have new inconsistencies, awkward transitions, and sentences that read like they were written by a sleep-deprived raccoon.

That’s normal.

The tweaking phase is where you smooth everything out again: polishing character arcs, refining emotional beats, adjusting pacing, and making sure your newly updated story flows the way you envision.

This step often involves coffee, chocolate, and the kind of micro-editing only writers understand.

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Ask questions

This stage is essential. ASK QUESTIONS. Of yourself, of your manuscript, and, most importantly, of other writers.

Things like:
• Does the character’s motivation make sense?
• Is this emotional beat earned, or am I trying to force it?
• Does the pacing work?
• Am I holding onto a scene just because I love it, not because the story needs it?*

(*This is something I am personally REALLY working on.)

This is also when critique partners, beta readers, or trusted writer friends become invaluable. Sometimes you’re simply too close to the story to see what it still needs, and someone with fresh (objective) eyes can shine a light on those blind spots.

Asking questions isn’t a sign that you’re unsure. It’s a sign that you’re growing.

Final Thoughts

This five-step method has saved me from dozens of meltdown moments. It’s a cycle I return to every time I hit that familiar “oh no” wall. If you follow it—panic, clean up, tackle big changes, tweak, and ask questions—you’ll not only survive the mess, you’ll make your manuscript stronger than before.

So take a breath.
Take it step by step.
And remember: crappy drafts are proof that you’re creating something worth fixing.

What stage are you in right now? Panic? Big changes? Endless tweaking?
Tell me in the comments! I want to hear all the chaotic writer energy.