It depends. Sometimes one or two, sometimes 10 or 11. I try to write cleanly and not redraft, but....
Don't worry about how many it takes.
How many drafts does it typically take you to finish a novel?
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It depends. Sometimes one or two, sometimes 10 or 11. I try to write cleanly and not redraft, but....
Don't worry about how many it takes.
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I write a first draft, then rewrite it. I then edit the rewrite and pass it on to my partner's eyes. Once's she's done with it, I revise again and we keep playing pass it on between us until neither of us can find anything wrong with it. By this point I'm about ready to burn the damn thing so I never have to see it again. Then, it's ready for an impartial beta reader.
Sometimes I can do it in 2-3 drafts. Other times it's closer to 10 (or 12...). Generally, I find that the more complex the plot is, the more times I need to go over it, probably because I end up moving so many things around. If it's a more straightforward, linear plot, my editing goes a lot faster.
I have a tendency to spend a ton of time editing as I go. So, I can't really answer how many for the entire work. For example, on my WIP, I rewrote the beginning at least five times. I have thrown out entire chapters and restarted. But this is all while I'm still working on the main body of work. I do spend an inordinate amount of time planning though too - especially character sketches and an outline.
how much do you want to learn?
Remember. A successful, published novelist with a few books under his belt probably has a writing style established. He may not need many drafts, and probably has some good beta's to help.
A beginning writer is still in the learning stage. Your first page isn't as good as the last one. I think I went through my 1st novel over a dozen times.
I wrote, studied, read, and learned. And everytime I learned something I rewrote. It was worth it to me, because (luckily) I felt the fundamental plot and characters were strong, it was mostly the details of my writing that were letting me done.
All that editing you're doing is helping you learn. Getting ready for the next one.
Remember. A successful, published novelist with a few books under his belt probably has a writing style established. He may not need many drafts, and probably has some good beta's to help.
A beginning writer is still in the learning stage. Your first page isn't as good as the last one. I think I went through my 1st novel over a dozen times.
I wrote, studied, read, and learned. And everytime I learned something I rewrote. It was worth it to me, because (luckily) I felt the fundamental plot and characters were strong, it was mostly the details of my writing that were letting me done.
All that editing you're doing is helping you learn. Getting ready for the next one.
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I'm on my first novel, so take anything I saw with a grain of salt. This is what I have planned for now.
1st draft. Just getting the story on paper.
2nd draft. Fleshing out the parts that I know I slacked on (descriptions, dialogue tags) and rewriting
3rd draft. Tightening up and proofreading.
4th draft. More rewriting based on betas' feedback
Repeat until satisfied.
1st draft. Just getting the story on paper.
2nd draft. Fleshing out the parts that I know I slacked on (descriptions, dialogue tags) and rewriting
3rd draft. Tightening up and proofreading.
4th draft. More rewriting based on betas' feedback
Repeat until satisfied.
Took us 5 I think for the novel we're querying now. We did some editing as we went along though, so your experience my vary. I still ask myself if we did enough though.
If by "editing" you mean a final pass to check for word, spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors, then I suppose that's do-able.
For me, revision is usually slower than writing the initial draft. I'm currently about at the midpoint of a novel revision, and I'm managing about 5000-10,000 words a week, working an hour or two most days, sometimes a bit more, sometimes less. That includes writing some new scenes/transitions as well as some heavy edits for plot changes. At the end of each chapter I go back and polish the language as needed.
Anyhow, if everything went well I'd think I'd want to do a good outline, a solid draft, and one revision, then send to beta readers before a final round of revisions and a last polish. In reality, I've spent more time polishing the initial chapters than on the rest of the novel for pretty much every project so far.
So, 2-3 revisions as a bare minimum, and realistically more like 5... but yeah, as many as it takes.
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I'll let you know when I finish it.
Seriously. I'm on the 20th+/- draft, and 6th or 7th total rewrite. But keep in mind that this started as one book, and now has sort of expanded itself into a five-book series, so much of what I had written already will be saved for future books, much will go in the "WTF was I thinking" file, and much had to be written from scratch as a new foundation. So yours may be very different.
If you're a perfectionist like me, you may never feel it's quite "done," but at some point you will have to let others read it. I suggest you do that while it's still in what I call the "baking period." You reach a point where you can't stand to see the MS anymore, then you let your betas have it for a month or two. Then, they will come back with suggestions, and you will have had time away from it.
Just please promise that in all your editing and rewrites, you won't throw anything away . . .
Seriously. I'm on the 20th+/- draft, and 6th or 7th total rewrite. But keep in mind that this started as one book, and now has sort of expanded itself into a five-book series, so much of what I had written already will be saved for future books, much will go in the "WTF was I thinking" file, and much had to be written from scratch as a new foundation. So yours may be very different.
If you're a perfectionist like me, you may never feel it's quite "done," but at some point you will have to let others read it. I suggest you do that while it's still in what I call the "baking period." You reach a point where you can't stand to see the MS anymore, then you let your betas have it for a month or two. Then, they will come back with suggestions, and you will have had time away from it.
Just please promise that in all your editing and rewrites, you won't throw anything away . . .
That describes my drafting process as well. I try to average about 1.5k words a day.
I do distinct drafts. I split my window in Scrivener: old chapter on the right, new chapter on the left. Then I type the whole thing over. When I find myself going pages and pages with only small corrections, I know that section is done.
I would never say "finished", I just can't, rather "I can let this out the door without feeling mortified". Since this is my first time doing this in earnest, I can say the number of drafts required for me to reach that standard is 4.
My novel went through five drafts, but I also started it when I was fifteen, so it was very juvenile. But my gut held on to it, and I'm glad I did.
I listened to an S.F Said a British author, talking about his first book (children's) called Varjak Paw. It is an incredible read, about a cat, with a parable of gang culture in the background.
Anyway - he said it took him 17 drafts before it was ready for publication. The publisher did like the idea, but told him to keep trying, at various junctures through the process. But 17!!! I was shocked at the time and that was before my recent return to writing.
One of key aspects of the book (for him and me), the 7 (ninja-style) ways of the cat - a brilliant device which structures the developnment Varjak Paw in his readiness for the final battle in the story, didn't even appear until the seventh draft. So it just shows that the drafting process can enlighten many new possibilities.
But still....17?
Anyway - he said it took him 17 drafts before it was ready for publication. The publisher did like the idea, but told him to keep trying, at various junctures through the process. But 17!!! I was shocked at the time and that was before my recent return to writing.
One of key aspects of the book (for him and me), the 7 (ninja-style) ways of the cat - a brilliant device which structures the developnment Varjak Paw in his readiness for the final battle in the story, didn't even appear until the seventh draft. So it just shows that the drafting process can enlighten many new possibilities.
But still....17?
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One.
"Draft" is extremely subjective.
I write one copy, and make one pass for copy-edits - like spellchecks and basic grammar. Anything else is for the editor.
"Draft" is extremely subjective.
I write one copy, and make one pass for copy-edits - like spellchecks and basic grammar. Anything else is for the editor.
Clubmonster, I guess he wanted it badly enough to put it through 17 drafts 
I agree that what constitutes a draft may vary.
I agree that what constitutes a draft may vary.
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