Thread: How many drafts?

FIIIIIIGAROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoO

I write the story. Run it through spell check and one slow re-read. Put it here. Wait for the usual suspects to point out typos and such. Fix 'em. That's it.

Depends on the piece. Sometimes it's just comes together and it's one draft, spell check and such, then done. Then there are times when I write it over and over. I will come back to the piece months or years later and re-write it again. One piece I can think of I have re-written no less than a dozen times. No specific practice, each story is different.

One.

About a month after I finish, I'll read the entire novel again. I might change a word here, comma there, but 95% of my first draft ends up in my finished one.

Hey Sam, is that somehow connected with the reason why you self-publish?

As I go through the editing process, I make multiple documents for each "draft" (though many of them have only minor changes). I like having a record of my progress. Generally I have 6-8 different documents by the time I'm finished.

That said, almost all of my rewriting is just wordsmithing or adding depth to places where I feel I rushed during the first draft. Over 90% of my first draft is probably still in there at the end, just with a little spit and polish maybe. The story, characters, plot, etc., are pretty much the same all the way through.

I'm not sure going through nine billion drafts is indicative of quality. Overediting can kill a piece as surely as underediting, IMO. For me the challenge of editing is making things read better without killing the voice or energy of the original. I think I'd rather underdo it a little, than overdo it.

For my novel, there are three folders in my computer pertaining to formal drafts, but that's not really right either. I've probably put it through more like ten drafts by now, informally. I would say that... maybe 50% of the original draft remains in the new one, and I don't think I've reached the over editing point yet. Everything is becoming very tight, as I find threads to tie (what used to be) disconnected ideas and plot points together. If it weren't for the fact that I'm growing sick of looking at it, I'd probably put it through another drafting phase.

I'm not sure this is a "normal process" for me, or anyone, really. I've been writing this novel disjointedly over five years, so it may have afforded some extra polish. Different strokes for different street walkers, I always say.

For short stories (< 2,500 words) I usually write about three drafts. The first draft is prose siphoned from the wreckage that's left over from the brainstorm. The second draft is where I take all that paint and make it into a picture, and it focuses on organization, pace, character(s), dialogue and style. Third draft is always the grammar and spelling check, which I most definitely do not leave up to the computer.

Longer stuff usually has its way with the rewrites.

I write a draft, then I stamp it with a big rubber stamp that says "draft." Then I bury it in the back yard for six months, then dig it up and read it. I write another draft and edit out approximately 1/3 of it. Then I mail it to myself and rewrite it backwards, removing every third comma. Then I put it in the oven at 350 for twenty minutes, rip it up, then put it back together with Scotch Tape. I reread it, while smoking a pipe and wearing a tweed jacket and a mortarboard. I repeat this until satisfied.

With that method, Joe, I hereby elect you to write directions for shampoo bottles and tourists.

I'm with Kat, depends on the piece. My novel has been damn near insatiable in its needs for rewrites, restructuring even regurgitation of stuff I cut out months earlier.

FIIIIIIGAROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoO

Every time I look at a story, it needs a little tweak here or a little tweak there. That doesn't stop me from sending it out, though - and I guess it should.

I write everything by hand at first. When I go to type it it's also my first revision. Then I do one more combover to check for typos and I'm ready to show other people.

Joe - Your system can be improved in one way. After baking and ripping, re-assemble with paper masking tape instead of cello tape and you can edit right across the seams. Also, it's important to have leather patches on the elbows of the jacket, otherwise the final edit will lack the appropriate scholarly flavour. And do be careful what's in the pipe.