When is a first draft 'finished'?

6+ drafts for me. I'm still getting the hang of it. :X

*UPDATE*

I believe I should answer the question directly: when I've written all that I can about the story and cannot do so anymore. Then, the first draft is done.

Whenever you decide to put it down and start a new one. There's no draft police to check on you. Really. A "draft" is basically when you start from "the beginning" and go all the way to "the end". Once you reach "the end" you can go back to "the beginning" and start fixing whatever needs fixing. That second round is called the second draft. Then you can do a third, fourth, as many as you like. Some authors don't work like that at all. They go back and check each sentence and don't go further until that one sentence is perfected. They don't do drafts at all.

The heroine and hero make a commitment to be together forever, the detective solves the crime, Those Meddling Kids pull the face off the pirate ghost and reveal it's actually Mr. Simmons, the rebel faction of humans send the last of the aliens back to space... It's when the whole story has been told. That's when I call the first draft finished. Sometimes it doesn't end where I expected - sometimes sooner, sometimes later, but it's always when that *done* feeling hits.

ktdude said:

When do you say, 'that's done' on a first draft?

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Logically, when you reach the end for the first time. It doesn't matter what state the draft is in--whether it's tidy and complete, or messy and full of holes, and crying out to be torn apart and rewritten. All that is for the second, third, fourth, etc.., drafts.

When you have a beginning, a middle and an end.

I personally would try to make an ending which satisfies in the first draft, not worrying too much if the ending you work towards means that there are now gaping holes in your story. That's what subsequent drafts are for. I would also suggest you put your draft away for a few weeks and come back to it with fresh eyes.

For me, the first draft is finished when I've wrapped up the main plot and typed "The End."

In my experience, that will be about 50-75% of the total book. I write thin and add a bunch in re-writes. There may be lingering holes in the subplots, or unresolved character issues. I'll deal with them in the second round. If I've given the main plot a beginning, middle and satisfying end, I've done my job.

ktdude said:

I've been writing out of order, so whilst I'm currently writing the end, there are definitely earlier sections that I need to fill in before it will feel 'finished'.

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If you're writing out of order, then you may want to look at it differently. Might depend on how big those holes are. But if they're big chunks of story yet to be written, then you may not feel you've reached the end until the last of those is slotted into place. What @talktidy said upthread would make sense for you: first draft is done when the beginning, middle, and end are all more or less in place.

I don't think of it as a first draft. It's just a work in progress until it becomes the final draft, which is only complete when it's ready to go out to agents and publishers.

I tend to write out of order too (although not every time) so for me that first draft is done when I have all the main beats written out plus whichever subplot points that directly support the main beats. Sometimes this means that I still have ideas for other chapters or scenes I'm considering adding in, but all the main bones have been laid out.

After that I'll start a second draft (saved as a new document/project) and go through beginning to end to start polishing and looking for any plot points I may have missed. I repeat as necessary 'til I have something that I no longer feel I have to add or polish anything else. But, for that first draft I just need to reach a point where I feel like the "story" is complete, even if the execution is still rough or missing some of the finer points.

I don't have clearly defined versions, except that I periodically save a new copy before making substantial changes.

I think I'm like screenscope: it's kind of one moving, breathing beast until it's finished. When it goes to the publisher, the "versions" become whichever file I send for each round of edits.

When you say it is.

Once it can be read coherently from start to finish - even if it's not my best work (which it never is to be fair ha)

I would not consider it done if you have placeholder sections. I'm a plotter and outliner, so I have notes and blurbs about key scenes and milestones laid out first - the bones. Then I go straight through from start to finish and write the story, most of the time deleting the bones as I go.

ktdude said:

Thanks for all your views - I think I'm coming to realise it's about how finished it 'feels'. I think because I'm writing the ending, I am getting a little ahead of myself - there is a fair amount of work to do on parts of beginning and middle. That being said - it's mostly on the secondary narrative which is a much lesser part of the story. The 'main' storyline is pretty much there - in terms of plot points.

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I totally call the 1st draft 'finished' when one third of it is more or less presentable, one third is in the fleshing out stage, and one third is in 'placeholder sketch' stage. Because I do need that reward and feeling of accomplishment. And when I say 'third' I don't mean 'a chunk the size of a third of the manuscript' but rather 'the equivalent of a third, scattered around in a zillion places'.

Then, during the second sweep, the more or less presentable third gets polished up, the fleshed out third becomes more or less presentable, and the placeholder third gets fleshed out.
And so on until it's all presentable, and the start is truly polished. The manuscript flies out on submission missions on the strength of the polished bits at the start, and while we await replies, we polish up the rest. Which is already all presentable and edited for consistency, but tightening a few sentences or rearranging a few paragraphs wouldn't hurt.

That's how I work, at any rate. In waves, with the manuscript being lumpy in some places and threadbare in others at the start, and gradually developing a more consistent texture.

At least in the last decade, who knows what awaits in the future Maybe I'll totally change my ways.

It depends on how you see your work completed as.

I don't think in terms of a particular number version of a draft, because I edit in pieces, rather than in a whole choking big chunk. So I measure things by how well individual scenes seem to come together. More important, methinks, is determining when your project is ready to be submitted somewhere, however many "drafts" that may take.

My only caveat is that, if you are going to show your work to anyone else, say a beta reader, make damn sure your spelling and grammar are up to snuff. Never showcase a "rough" draft.

caw