Get that First Draft down

Every book I write I wonder if I've lost something along the way. Will this be as good as the last book? Have I covered all the bases? What am I missing? This doesn't feel right.

"A funny thing happened on the way to the forum." Well, that's the line that comes to me, at any rate. As I finished my first draft, I muddled over all the details. The story line. The back stories. Something wasn't quite adding up. 

That's what first drafts are for. In my mind, they're like a very detailed outline. Get the story down. It can take a whole book before you know your characters well enough to known what triggers them--both good and bad. 

Just when I was ready to believe this next book was going to be a clunker, I started going over some of the backstory in my head (not advisable to do this when you go to bed--makes it hard to sleep). I had the basics, sure. You can't write a story without them. But then more came through. I started to understand my characters. Why did they do that? What caused this to happen? And as is often the case with me, I went the long way around the block. Added way too many detours when the direct route was a much better option. Suddenly, the stakes were raised. The conflict was more intense. The resolution was more achievable. It made a whole lot more sense. 

Yes, I tend to research things that have no place in my book, or over research things that can be handled simply. It might make me crazy, but it also adds more dimension when I finally "see the light." I can cut out all the extra nonsense, but I have a deeper, more rounded sense of how I got there. 

So yes. Even Stephen King tells you to get the first draft done. You can fix it later. But until you get that first draft done, you haven't really gotten to know your characters. You don't really understand why they're responding the way they do. Instinct and intuition will guide you a long way, and you can lean into that later when you need to clean things up. Many times I find that I've laid groundwork I wasn't even aware of and everything comes together once things make more sense--once you've gotten "all the words" out. Yes, sometimes that leaves a mess to clean up, but at lease you've cleared the path to follow.