In the midst of re-writing my novel, Circle of Fire, and several short stories, I’ve come to a conclusion. There are only 3 true drafts to a story.
Yes, you can nitpick and re-write several times. I’ve saved up to 25 different copies of a short story. But copies aren’t the same thing as drafts. Drafts are "done" and "final." Here’s my theory (and I’m sticking to it).
DRAFT # 1 – The author’s draft.
This is the draft where we get to write whatever we want, including all the background / world-building history and character angst that we need in order to understand what’s going on and what our peeps are doing. This draft is about the creative process, the writer’s ego, and just plain showing off our "skill."
DRAFT # 2 – The agent’s draft.
This is the draft we’ve cut and pared, edited and polished so that we can get an agent to sell the damn thing. Sometimes, this is the draft in which we make changes recommended by our agents, but not every writer has an agent and not every writer who has an agent makes the recommended changes. Draft 2 is the "Okay, yes, other people really are going to read this, so I’d better stop playing around / showing off and make it presentable" draft.
DRAFT # 3 – The editor’s / publisher’s draft.
The book has yet to be written where the editorial staff will allow it to pass through the hallowed halls of publishing without changes. This is the one where the author is forced to compromise, make stylistic changes to fit the house rules, or defend the manuscript. Even the well-known money-makers are subjected to this.
So, this is how I’m suddenly viewing The Book Draft. In my opinion, everything else that happens in between these drafts are just draft versions. 1.1, 1.2, 1.5, 2.8, etc. Viewing the process through the lens of this theory, makes me feel so much better about my workload. After all, I’m not re-writing my book 100 times. Just 3, even if I am tweaking things in between those 3 drafts.
