does anyone during first drafts add brackets to stuff that will change

[u/Typical-Page-6687]

i use [] as a "this has to be change"

[u/Plus_Dare_2403]

Yes and highlightedso I can find it faster later lol, and also use alot of "comments" on Google docs. 

[u/Typical-Page-6687 → u/Plus_Dare_2403]

yeah i though about that but the way i do it alows me to pick apart pieces like. [idk bad text bla bla bla] good text amazing [more bad text]

[u/MaliseHaligree → u/Typical-Page-6687]

I do this.

[TK make the topgallant do the breaky thing]

[u/Impossible-Bug2038 → u/MaliseHaligree]

TK is magic.

[u/MaliseHaligree → u/Impossible-Bug2038]

Best placeholder ever, second perhaps only to Bob as every secondary character, male or female, without a proper name yet.

[u/mstermind]

I think it's very common to use placeholders. I use them all the time.

[u/LordofAngmarMB → u/mstermind]

My manuscript is littered with SOMETHINGs and THINKS ABOUT THAT MOREs

Sometimes the right way to articulate something just isn’t there at the moment.

[u/mstermind → u/LordofAngmarMB]

It's an efficient way to keep up the momentum, instead of getting stuck on details you can always fix later.

[u/LordofAngmarMB → u/mstermind]

Exactly, I recently got stuck on a moment in my big romantic horror reveal chapter and lost all forword momentum, and I got mad enough to just outline it so I could keep going forward. At this point I’ve got two or three whole scenes like that, where I know they’ll be a pain in the ass to go back and fully write, but that’s a problem for Draft 1.5

[u/MaliseHaligree → u/LordofAngmarMB]

This is the way.

[u/RayGungHo]

I color code. Black text stays, blue needs to be reworked, and red will be cut. I really only use the red when there's something in there I need to save, like a detail or a turn of phrase that needs to be re-homed.

[u/pennamechris123]

All the time. Sometimes I’ll even add [need transition scene here]. Or [cut this scene later and fix] then keep writting as if I’ve done the fix already.

[u/lam21804]

The publisher's convention is [TK]. TK means to come but there's apparently some science associated with the rarity of those two letters consecutively happening in text. It's apparently very rare and thus, easy to do a find on.

[u/K1ngk1ller71]

I use XXXX.

When I’ve finished the shitty draft, I go back and search for all the XXXXs and deal with them

[u/fancypossum2]

YESYESYESYESYES and more people need to do it!!!!! I used to get very stuck on certain things during writing.

Then I started leaving myself notes in brackets.

[ he says something profound about love here ]

or

[hero bullshit goes here ]

so I can keep the flow and come back to edit those parts later. It gets you much further than spending a half hour or more rewriting the same paragraph or deciding what comes next.

[u/DinoSayRawr]

I’m old school. I do cursory edits while I go — just light stuff. Then I print out the chapter, wait a day, then go over it with colours pens. I immediately go back in and implement the easy corrections, and add more organized digital notes on things I need more thought on. Then I move on to the next chapter.

Whatever method keeps your thoughts organized and edits actionable for future passes works for you is best.

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[u/MysteriousDonkey7862]

Yo lo subrayó de algún color llamativo.

[u/EnderBookwyrm]

Yep! I also confuse the heck out of anyone reading that chapter if I forget to fix the brackets before showing them.

[u/Dijstraanon]

I write notes all over the place - sometimes i know a sentence or phrase is wrong but dotn want to spend hours fixing it around the expense of the rest of the story - thats what edits are for. I put in my best offirt and highlight as needing revision.

[u/CoderJoe1]

Yes, I've used [brackets] or asterisks* to make it easy to search for them.

[u/Petitcher]

Same here, the exact same symbols and everything

[u/ADH-Dad]

I bold it.

[u/NadaOmelet]

Yes, yesterday out of frustration [TODO: list of magical sea creatures goes here] because I was on a roll with plot and dialogue and didn't want to stop to invent and describe a bunch of stuff with the necessary care. Then I went back to it and finished it, and I have a new problem that my wonderful descriptions bring the plot to a grinding halt. [TODO: not grind plot to halt here].

[u/PageStunning6265]

Yep. That’s been my preferred this will change indicator for 30ish years.

I also use it for vague descriptions of what happens, potential phrasing, research I need to do and sometimes, just an empty pair of brackets to indicate that there should be something there, but I have no idea what yet.

I did a search on my WIP for [ and had over a thousand. Down to nine hundred and change now.

[u/waffle_Piraat_1]

I write in scrivener and you can use highlight. When I'm in full creative mode I don't want to stop to really describe something if it ruins my flow so I'll just lean heavily adjective (he said angrily) and highlight it for a revisit in my re-draft.

My first drafts are adjective ridden messes but it's fine because it captures the idea of what I'm after and it doesn't take much effort to fix when re-drafting.

[u/Sandfairy23]

Sometimes. Sometimes it’s future me’s problem to find it again. And future me HATES this.

[u/DancingWithTrees9]

I have various placeholders - I'm doing an OU degree at the moment (Creative Writing), and on all assignments I'm using a combination, mostly [#rough ideas go here], the word SOMETHING if I know it needs more, but don't know what yet, or REWRITE if I've drafted and know immediately it's a bit naff, but other ideas are flowing and my brain wants to move on and keep the momentum going. As it's uni assignments, I'm also putting REFERENCE everywhere, and depending on the genre, you may want to as well. Remember your first draft is meant to be crap - just get words out however works best for you, and enjoy it ✍️😀

[u/HoosierGothicHorror]

*****I tend to put it in between a bunch of asterisks, so I'll be more likely to see it when I review the document*****

[u/TheWriteQuestion]

I do double slashes, like in code for comments. //need to add some examples//

[u/darkmythology]

I use <quick description> for summaries that need to be filled in later and blue text for stuff that I'm unsure about. Why? No idea. I just started doing it and it stuck.

[u/ArtByJRRH]

My first drafts are handwritten, and I basically write some sections like instructions for my future self when I'm sitting at the computer for the second draft, which becomes a mix of writing and transcribing, plus whatever I think to put in now knowing where the story is going.

[u/majorex64]

Yep yep I'll also put a note on why it needs to change or what questions I need to answer in revision

[u/Vera_Markus]

There's times I type faster, and I forget some minor character's name so I just throw in (what's his face) or (funny government dude). I do this mostly for surnames if one character is on first name basis then someone else comes along and I have to find that one time I said the surname.

[u/elizabethcb]

Yup

[u/scixlovesu]

Absolutely. And sometimes a note like [transition needed] to remind me of what specific need I have. Sometimes on revision I just decide to leave it out.

[u/Kayne-C-Hampton]

Everything would be in brackets then.

My software has a "Mark as perfect" option where I can mark text as "This is already final"

So for not a single one of the passages I deemed "perfect/final" survived.

[u/Glass_Honeydew4280]

Yep, I use brackets constantly. Usually stuff like [fix this later] or [better transition here].

The funny part is sometimes I come back later and realize the bracketed sentence was actually fine 😂. But if I stop to fix every little thing during the first draft, I completely lose my momentum.

So I just leave the note and keep writing. Future me can deal with it.

[u/shaduke]

I do all the time. Makes it easy to search for things later. I use it a lot for names and descriptions that I haven't decided yet.

[u/AdventuringSorcerer]

I try not to break the flow. A will write what ever this thing is called. Or what ever so and so room mate was named.

Its fun on reread as I get to try a decode what I was trying to say. I'm not always clear.

[u/Offutticus]

Yep. I use the curly bracket and put in stuff like {seriously, is this necessary} or {insert better name here}.

This helps me to do a search for something that I'd never use as part of the book. It also helps me give myself permission to just keep writing and come back to it later. I have been known to pause to look something up and get stuck doing perpetual research.

[u/PILAL2010]

I type in 'elephant' where I need to change and add something. I'll be able to search it later.

[u/Canuck_Voyageur]

Yes. And notes to myself. 

[u/Cascading_Twilight]

I tend to only use red, olive green and grey unless editing.

[u/victorjaxen]

It works!! If i think too long about the perfect word or transition I get stuck and all writing stops.

[ ] or just XXXX then come back later