by Jim
In your experience, how many drafts does a book go through? Your post above seems to indicate four drafts, total. Thanks!
Thanks,
Laura Beth
Hi Laura,
The answer stops being wrong after 3. Beyond that, there is no wrong answer.
First Draft: You just finished writing your book. This is the draft where you literally typed ‘The End.’ No edits, no proofing, nothing.
If you publish this, all I can say is… “Bless your heart.”
Second Draft: You’ve done the first round of edits. You’re confident that you’ve caught everything you can and even run the book through editing software like Grammarly or the horrid MS Office Spellcheck.
If you publish this, you may find a major plothole later, as well as sentences that sounded better in your head than they do to others.
Third Draft: You’ve passed your second draft off to someone and they edit it for you. They make spelling/grammar/coherency checks and give you their recommendations. You’ve made said corrections and are now all set.
This is, IMHO the minimum you need to do before publishing… THE BARE MINIMUM! I would recommend repeating what you did on the second draft and then pass the book off to someone else for additional edits to spelling and grammar, but that’s up to you.
I performed the spelling and grammar checks, and then handed the book off to a friend for spelling and grammar, now I’ve submitted it to my editor for coherency, plot, and additional spelling and grammar checks. When I get it back from him, I’ll probably do the checks a few more times before publishing.
Three is the absolute minimum and I do not recommend it. That’s a pretty major risk and should only be taken if you’re pressed for time. You could reasonably expect your book to go through 5-10 drafts before it’s anywhere near publishable.
Writers, what do you think? How many drafts do you put your work through before you’re confident in its publishability? Let Laura know in the comments.
Thanks,
Jim
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU
Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!
Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!
-Jim
James Harringtons Creative Work 
This is a great question!! I am nearing the end of the drafting process for a novel and it has been exactly as you wrote, James. 1 – had a full manuscript. 2 – read it over and put it through grammarly. 3 – passed to a fellow writer and made necessary changes. 4 – just did a round with an editor. 5 – deciding if I should do another one. Up until now, I wasn’t quite sure how to put a number on the amount of drafts I’ve had! You broke it down perfectly. it’s funny, because after each round I’ve been satisfied, but after pursuing more insight I keep finding there were more things I was missing. It doesn’t seem you can go wrong with more eyes and expertise – as much as you may want to get through it!
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Thanks for answering my question so quickly! Also, I go by Laura Beth, not Laura 🙂
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I haven’t competed a novel yet – 80 or so short stories, but I’m in the process of my first novel, and learning the PROCESS (at least my process) as I go, so take this with a box of salt.
Short fiction was 3 drafts. The original start-to-finish rough draft that Jim mentioned, then a second draft to clean up grammar, inconcistencies, and such. I then sent it off to my reader(s.) Whether they provided feedback or not, I waited 2-4 weeks before revisiting the manuscript so I would see it with fresh eyes and do my first (and final) draft.
My process for a novel: SO FAR I am on at least my seventh draft, and I haven’t shown it to anyone else yet. So far, most of my passes are to strengthen details and characters, looking for inconsistencies, grammar, spellings, etc. I can see at least another three in my future before I show the draft to anyone.
BTW – revisions are hard for me to do, because I see the process as a trap many would-be-writers lead themselves into – if you’re still revising, then you don’t have to show it to anyone, and it can just go on forever, so you had probably best set yourself some limits on how many revisions will work for YOU. We’re all different, and there is no hard and fast rule about this.
Hope that helps!
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I think I have a rare form of OCD that only manifests itself when I consider finishing edits. How do you stop at 3 when you’re a perfectionist?
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I had this problem too – feeling I could devote the rest of my life to polishing one book! In that case, at some point you have to tell yourself it is good enough (to send to a professional). I also had to fight the urge to edit every chapter obsessively before moving on to the next!
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Good advice. I couldn’t tell you how many drafts I went through before the final with the editor. I belonged to a critique group and submitted multiple chapters over a period of some months. I was lucky to be in a reputable group that offered thoughtful, diplomatic comments and I think really helped me revise with both suggestions and corrections. Nonetheless my patient editor showed me it wasn’t polished until she was through with it!
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