A little survey about drafts

WannabeWriter · Dec 3, 2007

As I'm continuing my first draft, I'm wondering what other people's writing experiences have been with regards to the following:

1. How long does it usually take you to write a first draft of a novel?
2. How many drafts do you do before you are completely satisfied?

amber_grosjean · Dec 3, 2007

Each book is always different. One book took a month to write but I was so into it I couldn't stop lol. I did a few rounds before I felt it was done. My second book took two years from begining to end. The one I am working on now took about 2 months to write the first draft and almost 3 weeks for the first editing round which I'm almost done with now.

I haven't set a schedule for my writing (at least a deadline lol) until now. I'm hoping for 2 or 3 months for each book plus the editing time. If it takes longer, it takes longer. At least I would have a goal to work toward lol.

Amber

Storyteller5 · Dec 3, 2007

I've completed two novels and working on the third. It took me 6 weeks to write one and about a year for the other (mostly because I wasn't as focussed and wasn't writing daily).

I like to let the novel sit for a few months before I consider any edits.

Revisions I don't have an answer for. I don't know I'll ever be really satisfied, but I expect to do at least three drafts on any novel I write. The first one is to get the story down. The second is for fixing errors and tightening up. The third is for polishing up. It takes as many drafts as it takes; some drafts take longer to do than others.

Hmmm, doesn't that sound vague? Sorry.

Zelenka · Dec 4, 2007

I used to be able to complete a first draft in about two months. Haven't actually been able to finish anything for a while so I don't know how long it'd take me nowadays. In terms of when am I satisfied? Never. I have to physically stop myself re-editing the thing and say, query it. Usually about four or five drafts of it.

triceretops · Dec 4, 2007

I've written seven books while a member of AW. It takes from 10--13 weeks to finish a first draft, and that was with all of them. I'll make anywhere from 6--10 revision passes (a few weeks per) on each until I'm satisfied they're polished enough for my agent. Then another week or two for each after they come back from him with line-edits and comments.

So it's safe to assume that from begining to shiny end, it takes about 16 weeks, or four months.

I've only run into trouble with this last 8th book, and completely stalled out. I think I'm suffering from a little bit of burnout, so I don't know how long this next one will take me.

Tri

L M Ashton · Dec 4, 2007

My first novel took, um, 3 years. My second took a year. My third took a couple of months. My fourth took 2 1/2 weeks, and since then, it's been anywhere between that and a couple or three months. It varies.

Partly on how I'm feeling (ill or headaches or whatever), partly on what kind of rewards system I have setup, what else is going on in my life, and so on.

How many drafts also varies. My first three will require major overhauls. The one I'm working on now is the best of the lot and will probably take two passes back and forth between me and my built-in editorial assistant, the hubby. Given that my first drafts are getting better and better with less logic problems and plot holes, it's become a lot easier and therefore less work. Also, some of the Word macros I use help - macros that can identify adverbs, most commonly used words, and things like that - can really cut down on the time it takes to identify problem areas.

But given that I haven't actually felt that anything I've written yet is ready for a publisher, I'm just talking hot air.

scarletpeaches · Dec 4, 2007

My first draft can take me anywhere from a month if I really push myself, to six if I'm lazy.

I usually go through around three or four drafts before I'm mostly satisfied with it, although I'll tweak and fiddle with punctuation marks and various words right up until I print-and-submit.

KTC · Dec 4, 2007

1. How long does it usually take you to write a first draft of a novel?
Anywhere from 40 hours to 5 months.

2. How many drafts do you do before you are completely satisfied?
If I followed the advice of the song, "do it, do it, do it 'til your satisfied", I would never stop doing it. I am never satisfied.

BruceJ · Dec 4, 2007

Hard to tell...

...exactly. My writing is sporadic, balanced against all the other stuff I have going on. Since I'm working on a series, sometimes I'll jump out of my current WIP to write a scene in the next volume if an idea/the motivation strikes and I don't want to lose the thought. My current WIP (~92K) went through three edits and is now in beta. Still needs work. Altogether, though, it's spanned probably 2-3 years to get to this point.

Wish I could be more consistent...

Prawn · Dec 4, 2007

A 90K rough draft takes me ten to twelve weeks.

Revision takes about the same amount of time.

Shadow_Ferret · Dec 4, 2007

My first novel took me 10 years.
My second novel took me 2 years.
This novel will take less than a year.

As far as revisions, the second book has gone through about 8 drafts and I started subbing it after 6.

tallus83 · Dec 4, 2007

My first took roughly three years, as I don't always get the chance to write everyday. The first edit is taking a year. I'm sure there will be at least one more, possibly two. When the first edit is finished I will let it sit for a month or two and work on another project. When I go back to the first my mind will be clearer to spot all the screw ups.

My two other projects are done as time allows, pending the solving of plot problems.

Storm Dream · Dec 4, 2007

I've finished...three or four, I think. One over the course of a year and a half, the other over a summer, one in two months (NaNo and FiMo

) and the other over six months.

I didn't like any of them.

Part of it is because I'm still growing and learning (2/4 were written while I was in my teens), but even looking at my writing today, I've started realizing that I don't like a lot of it. It doesn't matter how many drafts I go through, I'll find something to pick at, which is going to be a problem if I ever want to submit anything.

I've only heavily revised one of them, though (usually I go "screw this" and find another project - another bad habit), and it went through...hmm...I think I'm on my fourth rewrite. We'll see how far I get.

virtue_summer · Dec 4, 2007

The rough drafts for my first three novels (unpublished) took anywhere from a week to a month, writing during every free moment (which I had a lot of, actually, while I was in high school). The revisions took about a month for each. I think I was still trying to figure this thing out, though, because in the end I think they were still too messy to be publishable. The current novel is a completely different story. It's taken about six months to write the rough draft (there's been a lot of personal stuff going on, though, that led to periods during which I couldn't write at all) while the revisions that I'm currently working on look like they're going to take about two months. The funny thing is that this novel, although taking longer, flows better and is coming together in a way that the others didn't. I don't know if it's just natural growth or if it also has to do with taking more time to think things through. For instance, I'm not as impatient so I don't hesitate like I did before about throwing out scenes and chapters that don't work, or rewriting others.

Jersey Chick · Dec 4, 2007

It takes me anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months to finish a first draft, depending on how much into the story I am. Sometimes it gets put on hold indefinitely (I have a few of those - they're the someday stories

).

As for revisions, I average 7 drafts before submission. Some are fewer, and I have one book that went through 10 revisions (I ended up changing 90% of the book halfway through the revision process.) I usually let a manuscript sit for a few weeks before looking at it and by the end, I'm so sick of it I don't ever want to see it again.

Gary · Dec 4, 2007

My only "complete" novel took about 3 days for the first draft. The second draft doubled the size, and took about a month. I've been making minor changes for over a year, but I promised myself I will stop fiddling with it before January 1st. I might be typing like crazy on New Years Eve!

DeleyanLee · Dec 4, 2007

1. How long does it usually take you to write a first draft of a novel??

Anywhere from 9-24 months, depending.

2. How many drafts do you do before you are completely satisfied?

Generally, two. Rough/first draft and a revision draft, then read the entire thing aloud to fix typoes and get it out the door.

Soccer Mom · Dec 4, 2007

My total process from start until polished result takes about three or four months.

Shady Lane · Dec 4, 2007

1st draft--1-2 months
2nd--1-2 weeks
3rd--1-2 weeks
4th--1-2 weeks

That's usually all it takes.

funidream · Dec 4, 2007

I don't write drafts. I basically work each segment (usually by chapter, but it can be as little as a sentence) over and over until I think it's perfect. Not the usual method, I know, but that's what works for me. The advantage is that when I'm done, except for very minor tweaks, I'm done. My MIDWIFE book took me 3 years of sporadic, hobbytime writing. Being that I write historic fiction, I also have to do a lot of research pre and during the the process, but I pretty much began querying right after I wrote "the end". It turns out I am pretty thorough, as MIDWIFE came back to me with very little in the way of copy edits, and my editor has mentioned that my writing is very "clean".

The moral to the story is, find whatever method works best for you.

KarlaErikaCal · Dec 4, 2007

I'm not a draft kind of person it seems. I never finish a first draft. If I don't like what I've written so far, I write a completely new draft. I went up to Chapter 10 for a first draft. After 5 months or something around that, I ended up despising every bit of it and went on to write another draft. I went up to Chapter 6, hated it, moved on. I probably did that 8 times and I finally had a finished draft that I completed on my birthday. What a wonderful surprise for myself. Anyway, I hope to eliminate the editor part of me from doing that and to let the writer part do it's work. After I'm done, then it's time for the editor part. I haven't started a new novel, but once I do, hopefully I abide by that.

The rest of you who finish within a couple of months are lucky. I wish I could do that. But school is still my number one priority. Maybe it's because I'm still young and in high school and inexperienced could be another reason. But hopefully the Iowa Young Writers Studio at U of Iowa will help me write better. :]

C. L. Richardson · Dec 4, 2007

1. How long does it usually take you to write a first draft of a novel?
Years. But I'm slow. I only write about two days a week if that.

2. How many drafts do you do before you are completely satisfied?
That depends, but it's usually a lot. I don't always write entire drafts. I just go through it several times and make changes here and there. (It's easy for me because I always use a computer, no hand-written drafts.) Sometimes the changes are small and sometimes they're plot-altering. All in all I'm sure I make a hundred or more changes per story.

By the way I'm not published yet, so this is no expert talking. lol.

WannabeWriter · Dec 4, 2007

I'm on the first draft of my first book, but given my work schedule coming first, the rate I'm writing may lead me to finish my first draft in a total of three months. Given the variation of time required, I guess three months is not unreasonable then.

Andre_Laurent · Dec 4, 2007

First draft takes around 10 - 12 weeks. Edits take about 2 - 3 weeks each round...for however many rounds it takes.

Madison · Dec 4, 2007

First draft: two - five months. I'm aiming for two exactly for my current

Editing: five bouts, hopefully no more, about a week each

A little survey about drafts

AW Addict

Say something...

Going home!

crazy spec fic writer

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Me and my Muse

Writing is finite,revising infinite

Court Jester

Into the blue memory

Always learning

Up all night to get Loki

Writing Anarchist

Crypto-fascist

my name is hannah

YA romance writer in love with love

summertime...