Good Prose, Bad Structure

I have a problem1. I am a discovery writer2, meaning when I write I usually do so without a big plan or outline, so my first drafts are often huge messes. Plotlines go nowhere. Characters grow inexplicably. When I have ideas for something that will make it better, I don't go back to make the change, I will just continue writing as if the change has already been made. Structure signposts are nowhere near where they need to be. Pacing is all over the place. It's just a mess. This makes it really difficult to revise, because often times I need to start from scratch. BUT--and this is the big problem--I am pretty good at writing prose in my first draft. So while the structure is chaos, the prose itself is pretty good. Which also makes it hard to revise. Last week I started reading my 2023 November novel, to see about revisiting it to remove a major element, and found I just really like my own writing. (Not actually surprising, I feel this way with most of my projects between 2019 and…

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