How Many Drafts Make One?

 

Last week I mentioned that I like to rest my stories between drafts, but that leads to another question: How many drafts do my manuscripts go through? I usually say “three,” but, as with the time it takes to write a book, the answer isn’t that simple.

Basically, I do three master drafts and numerous lesser ones that I don’t know how to count.

Some writers claim to write the first draft from beginning to end without ever changing a word or even a period, but I’m not sure I believe them. In any event, I can’t do that. I am constantly rewriting as I write, often changing the sentence I just completed. Then I send the story off in pieces to my critique partners and incorporate their comments before starting on the next version. So if you want to be technical, that means that what I call the first draft is actually the second or third or fourth or fifth . . .

When I do what I call my second draft, I make the original changes on a paper copy and often refine them while transferring them to the computer. Then, depending on the significance of the changes, I may or may not send that draft off to my critique partners.

That is followed by a quick review to prepare the manuscript for my beta readers. I call that a “polish draft” but don’t put a number on it.

After I get the comments back from my beta readers, I do what I consider to be my third and final draft. Again, I make additional changes as I go along and I may or may not send it to my critique partners.

One more final polish, and off the manuscript goes to my copy editor. Then I make the changes I agree with before submitting it to agents or publishers.

So how many drafts do you count?

A Lengthy Process

 

When people ask how long it takes me to write a book. I usually say “about six months.” But it isn’t really that simple. That’s the average time from start to finish, but I usually have several projects going at once because I like to rest each story between drafts and return to it with fresh eyes. There is also a forced rest while a manuscript is with my beta readers.

It’s also not that easy to know when a particular project begins. I may have the idea months before I start researching it, or I may do a little research here and there before I start working on it in earnest. For purposes of the “six months,” I’m counting from when I start the bulk of the research and immediately follow it up with a first draft.

Knowing when a book is finished is easier. If I waited for perfection I would never finish, so I quit when I’ve reached the point of diminishing returns. That completes the writing process (although a publisher could ask for subsequent edits) and moves me on to the submission process.

The photo at the beginning of this post shows the bulletin board that hangs above my desk. You may not be able to read them, but the four sheets on the bottom are the chapter outlines from two of my works in progress. The one on the left is a book about the Pullman strike, for which I am currently working on the third draft and incorporating my beta readers’ comments. The one on the right is about a trip around Cape Horn in gold rush days. I just finished the first draft and will begin the second after sending my Pullman book off to my copy editor.

I also have a book about a lighthouse keeper’s daughter that is between the second and third drafts. I am ready to polish it and send it to my beta readers, but they just finished one. So I’m going to set the manuscript aside for a while and give them a break.

As you can see, I don’t spend a solid six months working on any one book, but the writing process does average six months from start to finish.

Then I send the manuscript out to agents or publishers, and that’s when the real wait begins.