# What is your Drafting Process like?



## Kyle R (Apr 17, 2012)

I stumbled across an interview from one of my favorite authors. She had this to say:



			
				Jennifer Egan said:
			
		

> I write by hand--usually one long draft that I scribble out quickly (5-10 pages a day) and poorly. I do this almost completely from the gut, with very little sense of where I'm going. It's often in the process of this almost unconscious writing that I discover characters and action. When the first draft is done, I type it into the computer (the parts I can read anyway; I have wretched handwriting) and see what I've got. Not a word of that first draft usually makes it anywhere near the final draft--which, in the case of some chapters (is) *sixty to seventy drafts later*.



Sixty to seventy drafts?! Good lord. Is that normal?

What is your drafting process like?

Cheers!


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## Terry D (Apr 17, 2012)

First draft in Word from 'page one' to 'the end'.  Print it out chapter by chapter and break out the Ginsu knife for the second draft (I like to edit by hand).  Third draft will consist of changes made as I retype the Ginsued second draft.  Probably a fourth pass -- reading from 'the end' to 'page one' this time -- to look for typographical/grammatical errors.  I do the back to front thing because I don't want to get wrapped up in the story while I'm looking for technical problems.


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## shadowwalker (Apr 17, 2012)

Write from start to finish, edit as I go. Chapter by chapter to betas; revise/edit per their comments; done. Next chapter. One last read-through when complete for typos, minor revisions (phrasing, etc). Finito.


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## squidtender (Apr 17, 2012)

Draft one from the heart, begining to end. No editing! Draft 2, begining to end with edward scissor hands editing. Then hand over to betas. Then draft 3,4,5 using feedback from betas and resubmitting to them as it goes. I think I average about 5 drafts. 60-70 on the other hand; There ain't enough beer in this world to make me go that far. I'd admire TD's read from back to front for technical. I might give that a try, although I could see that driving a writer mad (because we're not crazy enough as it is, right?)


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## Jon M (Apr 17, 2012)

First draft is a rush to the end, writing everyday, sometimes two sessions. I do some minor editing as I go, like switching out verbs, structuring a sentence better, or fleshing out parts more, but generally once a chapter is done I don't look at it again until the story is complete. Then I print it out (my favorite part; simple pleasures) and scribble all over it. My drafts are important to me; they show my thought process, stuff that didn't make the final draft. 

Usually the stuff I do for the LM here is about four drafts. Takes that long for me to figure out what I'm trying to say.


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## helium (Apr 17, 2012)

I have never even finished the first draft. For short pieces, I read them once or twice through to fix some grammar, but I usually miss alot of mistakes.


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## johnbaxter (Apr 17, 2012)

I spend a LOT of time on structure, creating a detailed outline, with annotation, a beat sheet, character profiles, etc. In the outline I identify the plot points with comments. By the time I 'm ready to write, I use the beat sheet as my road map and my outline as my travel guide. The process I use is not cast in stone, I can add or delete scenes, or make changes, but I rarely change anything that would affect the basic structure I've architected. This gives me a framework that I can then be as creative as I want in my writing. 

I write very fast and raw following my process. I wouldn't consider my first manuscript to even be a first draft. I then work on it to take it to the first draft level, adding descriptions, character development, enhancing dialogue, etc. I haven't gone as far as a final draft ready for submission yet, but I can't imagine 60-70 drafts, maybe six or seven. But then again Jennifer has a Pulitzer Prize and I don't.


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## starseed (Apr 17, 2012)

I've definitely done more than that many drafts to my novel. That is the main reason why with my next novel I won't be doing this sort of process. I'm outlining and figuring _everything _out before I start this time. I wish I could have done that the first time, but live and learn... going through a 100,000 word manuscript to check for consistencies every time you change one little detail sure gets old after a while.


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## johnbaxter (Apr 17, 2012)

starseed said:


> I've definitely done more than that many drafts to my novel. That is the main reason why with my next novel I won't be doing this sort of process. I'm outlining and figuring _everything _out before I start this time. I wish I could have done that the first time, but live and learn... going through a 100,000 word manuscript to check for consistencies every time you change one little detail sure gets old after a while.



I recommend you look at "Story Engineering" by Larry Brooks. It was a huge help to me. If you have an eReader, you can download a sample chapter to see if it's of interest to you.


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## Daesu (Apr 17, 2012)

Something that i have started doing, and works for me is first writing on paper, then transferring it to word. Not exactly like in the OP, because what ill do is transfer each writing session, later that day or a few days after.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Apr 18, 2012)

Terry D said:


> Probably a fourth pass -- reading from 'the end' to 'page one' this time -- to look for typographical/grammatical errors.  I do the back to front thing because I don't want to get wrapped up in the story while I'm looking for technical problems.



How does this work? Do you go a sentence at a time? A paragraph? A chapter?


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## Tee Bee (Apr 18, 2012)

I write the first draft from start to end than just keep going over and over it from start to finish and edit as I go. If I think of something that needs changing and I'm not at that part of the story in my current edit session, then I make a quick note in a different document and include it in my next run through.


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## Robdemanc (Apr 18, 2012)

I write the first draft on my laptop in a few weeks and make it up as I go (although I do have an idea of the ending beforehand).  Then I work through it again and again until I am satisfied.   But my problem is that I am never satisfied and have not finished rewriting anything yet.


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## Sam (Apr 18, 2012)

Write today. Edit next morning. Write again. Keep going until the novel is done. Edit a month to two months down the line. Finished.  

This is the process by which I write all my novels. No sixty to seventy drafts. Are you kidding me? How many times can you write one chapter? I must be the only writer in the world who has two drafts. Rough and finished. That's what I was taught in school. Get it down roughly first, and then edit it later. Rewrite once if necessary, but not seventy times.


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## Terry D (Apr 18, 2012)

Gamer_2k4 said:


> How does this work? Do you go a sentence at a time? A paragraph? A chapter?



I do it sentence by sentence.  It's really boring, but taking the sentences out of context let's me focus on the structure.  If I do it in sequence I start thinking more about plot and all the stuff I should be done with by the fourth go-round.


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## Kyle R (Apr 18, 2012)

Previously my drafting process was slow and laborious -- more tortoise than hare -- as I worked to construct each paragraph as an individual unit. This resulted in only a few paragraphs each day, though I would spend over an hour on each paragraph, rewriting and changing it until I felt it was flawless and magnificent, before moving on to the next bunch of sentences.

I discovered that this approach quickly sapped my motivation, and distorted my perspective of the story, as well.

Now I'm trying a pure first draft approach.. straight writing, minimal editing. I'm going for pure speed now, just to get the story down.

After discovering there is a group of people who set out to write a novel in A WEEK (Book-in-a-Week | Where Writers Write Together), I realized that I'm just working way too slow. I should be pounding out several pages a day, not several paragraphs a day 

So, now begins my first true experience with a pure first draft. No worrying about prose, or style, or even if the story makes sense. I can fix it all later. Right now I am just going to slap that lump of clay onto the table and give it a general shape.

Oh and, I like your method of proof-reading in reverse, Terry! Very cool, and something I also will probably try, when the time comes.


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## shadowwalker (Apr 18, 2012)

You seem to have gone from one extreme to the other there, KC! 

But just a note - although I agree spending an hour on most paragraphs is a bit much - your writing speed should not be compared to anyone else's. And writing fast doesn't mean writing good, any more than writing slow does. Some days I can pump out pages and pages - other days, a few paragraphs. But I'm just as happy with either result.


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## Kyle R (Apr 18, 2012)

That's good advice, shadow.

Very Bruce Lee-ish, actually. "Be watah, my friend."

[video=youtube;nIX3p-1tOik]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIX3p-1tOik[/video]

_Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash. Be water my friend. - Bruce Lee_


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## Bloggsworth (Apr 18, 2012)

Get up really close to the car in front, then pop out at the last second...


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## Euripides (Apr 19, 2012)

*pales at the thought of 60 to 70 drafts*

I don't think my thesis even went through three revisions.

When I'm doing technical writing, like for an assigned paper, or a project report, I do all my research up front. Let it sit until it's about 72 hours out for due date. And then sit down in a caffine and sugar induced buzz and write like mad. I reread through once, fix stuff I find, then hand it in.

I'm finding trying to story write, eventhough the stuff is in my head, I am having to approach it like a research paper. Write the background stuff down, character stuff, general plot outline etc....almost got all that out. Soon I think I'll be able to start the actual writing process. 

I wonder if it would work to power through it just to get it out, or go at the actual writing bit more methodically.

(The OP's query is one of main wonderings about this whole process)


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## garza (Apr 20, 2012)

I've adapted 'field mode' to fiction. We'll see how it works in the end. With short pieces I write out the story, do a line edit, and file. With the novel I started a few months ago (The Missionary's Tale) I write out a chapter, do a line edit, and file. All the writing is in Notepad.   When you're in the field with an impatient editor at the other end of the wire you don't have time to agonise over copy. Get it done right and get it out fast.


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## Lilly Davidson (Apr 20, 2012)

Hi 
wow! 60-70 drafts seems excessive to me. 

I am right at the beginning of my writing journey and am thrilled to have joined this forum. I have done various pieces for my creative writing course with the open university and don't feel confident yet to show anyone my work. 
I found so far, for short pieces of up to 2000 words, mainly short stories, I re-draft maybe up to 6 or 7 times. I have a lot to learn though!


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## WordVector (Apr 20, 2012)

I kind of do what the lady in the interview does, but all I've written so far is short stories. I hand write a terrible rough draft (although fairly legible) and then type it all into the computer. It's when I type it up that I do the heaviest editing, then I read through it making little fixes (_mostl_ preference things, or stylist, but grammar and plot too) until I can read all the way through it without stopping and fixing something.


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## Notquitexena (Apr 23, 2012)

squidtender said:


> Draft one from the heart, begining to end. No editing! Draft 2, begining to end with edward scissor hands editing. Then hand over to betas. Then draft 3,4,5 using feedback from betas and resubmitting to them as it goes. I think I average about 5 drafts. 60-70 on the other hand; There ain't enough beer in this world to make me go that far. I'd admire TD's read from back to front for technical. I might give that a try, although I could see that driving a writer mad (because we're not crazy enough as it is, right?)



This is pretty much the way I do it, except that sometimes I will get a great idea for improving an earlier scene or setting up something for a later scene and will go back to and earlier point in the novel before I am done.


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## Newman (Apr 26, 2012)

KyleColorado said:


> I stumbled across an interview from one of my favorite authors. She had this to say:
> 
> 
> 
> ...





It actually sounds pretty normal.

Consider how many times you go over each chapter to perfect it.

It might even be an understatement.


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## shadowwalker (Apr 26, 2012)

I know I've never made _that _many changes to any chapter, ever. Personally, if I were finding that it took that much change to make the book solid, I'd seriously rethink the idea of 'just get it down and rewrite it later' philosophy. Well, if I used that philosophy to begin with.


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## Jeko (Apr 26, 2012)

I write a scene/part of a scene on paper, all at once or in bits, and then I read over it, and make adjustments. Then, before I type it up, I read over it again, and if I don't like it anymore, I rewrite it on paper. Once I'm happy, I type it up, and make more adjustments if I need to. I might not like it and completely retype it.

Then, when I need inspiration to write some more, I re-read something I've typed up and possibly make more adjustments. This all happens over a variable period of time, but never all in one day.


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## Lilly Davidson (Apr 26, 2012)

Indeed, it is so important to read your work actually printed out. Somehow mistakes on the screen seem to often be invisible!


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## Theglasshouse (Feb 21, 2020)

I think this a good thread to revive. I made many drafts of the same story. While not seventy it certain was not alloting to close to that. But it made me feel the writer was being humble in what they said.

Printing out supposeldy helps everyone, reading outloud. Editing to withhold information in your plot.


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## Cephus (Feb 21, 2020)

I plan completely beforehand. I finish a first draft in less than a month typically. It is entirely readable without editing. I do one pass for plot continuity, then pass it to alpha readers. I make another pass with their suggestions and it goes to betas. I do a final pass before it goes to my final team, then it goes out into the world and I start all over.


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## gary wedlund (Mar 9, 2020)

My process is generally seat of the pants, though I will do research so I know to add unique detail to the work. Since the research is ongoing while writing, all I need is some facts to liven up the story. For example, I have just embarked upon a novel about a fairy who replaces a baby, so it was critical to investigate what is special about fairies, and thus I gleened material that helps bring that character to life.

The next process is to make an opening that engages plot right out of the box, maximizing reader interest. No backstory, getting to know you, whatever, but fully engaged, page one. If I get that right, i know by page two that I'm good for 100,000 words.

From there I move along, making things worse for about 600 words a day, every lunch time, putting me on track for two novels a year.

Since I write new material at lunch time, all the rest of the time is edit time (other than when I'm working or doing other things). Thus I can store my novels on my B&W Kindle, take notes from those reads and continually be editing one novel or the other. As well, I work in editing the WIP during the write, at least one full pass and several shorter passes of opening chapters, such that by the time I finish the work I will have edited the first quarter about four times, the first half a couple times and the second half once. In the meantime I will have likely edited two or three other novels, which are much more enjoyable to edit after having put them down a while.

Bottom line is, most of my novels will have had anywhere from four to ten edit passes, and the process of putting them on Kindle gives me new eyes, which means I catch a lot more than if I just did a laptop pass that looks the same to me.

Since I have been at this a while I tend to have very few content edits (a huge time taker). Earlier works required a ton of content editing, taking the edit chore into the years range. Newer work is almost alway free from needing content editing to any degree, allowing me to go almost directly to the copy edit stage. Thus I could technically have a novel ready for the publisher in about six months of writing and two of editing. I'd prefer to sit on the novel for years, doing one pass after the other (maybe one pass every eight months), honing it.  The goal is to have the publisher's editor tell you that she almost forgot she was editing the book.

Finally, the most important part, for me: I have a rule that the day that I finish a novel must be the same day that I start the next one. I consider that part of my drafting process.

After a while you stop fixing copy edits and find yourself just adding clarity or making the phrasing nicer, and you know that  you have a work, then.


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## RWK (Mar 9, 2020)

I build a support document with the concept, tentative plot arc, and basic research.

Then I hammer it out, doing necessary research along the way.

Then I review it on the computer, paying particular attention to lot continuity.

Print up a hard copy, and hand it off to my editor.

Review the hard copy and my editor's input.

Make the necessary changes.

Publish.


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## bouboule (Mar 13, 2020)

Hi, 

I have a very important essay due for tomorrow and I'm totally stuck, please help !​[-o<

This is the topic ... 

"Develop a thesis that establishes a relationship between Francis Bacon’s essay ​_Of Revenge_ and Edgar Allan Poe’s short story ​_The Cask Of Amontillado_.

Using direct quotations from both texts, present an argument that connects the two texts in a meaningful and insightful manner, focusing on the topic of revenge.  Issues you may choose to explore include motivation, justification, methodology, and outcome of the revenge.  Alternatively, students may choose to explore the relationship between and characters of Fortunato and Montresor, with specific reference to Bacon.  Students are free to develop any topic that clearly illustrates a relationship between the two relevant texts. "

please help !​


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## BornForBurning (Mar 13, 2020)

Both pieces discuss the topic of revenge, but in a completely different fashion. One is an essay, one is a short story. I would use the essay as my backbone. Identify what Bacon's core argument is regarding revenge, than extrapolate that onto Poe's work.


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## Ralph Rotten (Mar 13, 2020)

My process is something I have come to as a result of having written more than a dozen books, and scores of articles for magazines. Some of it may not make sense unless you have also walked those same miles.

My drafting process:

If this is a complex, nested, storyline (like Calizona) than I will usually do a fair amount of research first.

Once I begin writing, I usually write the first 100 pages or so, until I really know my characters, and I go back to the beginning and take that knowledge and apply it there where the characters are the thinnest. I not only illustrate the characters during this *doubleback*, but I tighten up the plot and story. When I am done, I continue writing.

Then every 100 pages or so I *doubleback* and make sure the story is on the right track.

By the time I am done with the book, it will usually have been through several of these *doublebacks*, so by the time I do my first full read-thru, the book is actually quite polished, which means it is pleasing to read, which means that I get an emotional lift at a critical point in the process (you need the boost to get you through the editing & publishing phase...)

After the first read-thru, I make successive passes until I am confident that the story is perfect. I used to do a dozen or so passes, but now I do *doublebacks* I need less editing passes. Also, with *doublebacks*, there is rarely the need for major organ transplants because the process keeps the story on track.


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## Nicholas McConnaughay (Mar 19, 2020)

Generally speaking, I *draft as I go *and *after I finish*. I am a scatter-plot brain and I occasionally fall in and out of projects, and, when I do, I read everything over again so that I am up to speed. 

For instance, right now, I am writing a novella, but I also have 40,000 words on a *fantasy *novel, 40,000 words on a *mystery novel*, and *50,000 words *on a *crime-drama*. Once I finish that novella, I will return to the fantasy novel. But, since it has been a few months since I last looked at it, I need to re-read (and re-edit) everything so I don't forget any key points. 

Once I finish the fantasy novel, I usually have my *older brother *read through the draft, and then, when that is finished, I read through it again myself, and then, I have my *fiancee *read that draft (with her, I am searching more for continuity and structural criticism), and after that, I publish.


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## EternalGreen (Jul 24, 2020)

I make a folder with one word doc with the "latest draft" status and several other word docs with names like "notes" and "graveyard. 

"Notes" are a mixture of thinking aloud and bits of narration and dialogue and "graveyard" is anything that didn't make the cut into a higher version.

Once I finish about a sixth draft of something it starts to look okay.


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## Turnbull (Jul 26, 2020)

I am not usually that organized.  I have been.  For one story, I was creating a story based on a song, so I listened to a bit of the song, wrote some notes, listened more, wrote more notes until I finished the song and had a long numbered list of what was supposed to happen in what order.  From there, I wrote it out as a full story, then got betas, then edited accordingly.  

Most of the time it's improvisation, with some research if necessary to continue the plot.


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