It's Gettin A Little Drafty... (Part 1 of 4)

This past Monday I put the finishing touches on my final draft for my sophomore novel, The Painted Lady, which will be coming your way this August from Winter Goose Publishing (be on the lookout soon for both the cover reveal and the official plot summary). Being done has not only lifted a huge weight off my chest but it also frees me up for a lot of things I have meaning to do more of lately, one of which being blogging (!). Yes, I do realize I haven't blogged in a while but the book (and family) takes priority, and now that it's done I'm going to try and make up for my lack of posts. Finishing up the latest draft (which actually isn't the final in terms of being the finished book, but I'll get to that in a sec) actually got an idea brewing: I thought I would do a series of posts about the amount of drafts I do for each manuscript and then detail what I do with each pass by providing an example.

When I write, I try to keep to doing five drafts. Some require more (Seeing was actually six drafts - one and two were a completely different - and much lighter - novel; draft three rebuilt the story in a huge way) but it's never less than five.

The first draft is my "Anything Goes" draft where I include every idea and don't focus on having perfect writing so that I don't get caught up on the details and become discouraged (first drafts are supposed to be terrible). Draft two is where I decide what sticks and what has to go (sometimes it's scenes, sometimes entire subplots, sometimes whole characters). Draft two is also completely rewritten in a new blank document. Draft three is shaping up the rough edges and making last decisions on what is essential to the book. Draft four is my "Sale Draft" where I work hard to nail everything down to where all the manuscript should require is a professional editor's pass. The fifth draft is a combination of the editor's thoughts and my own final nitpicks. Then, book.

For the purposes of this blog series on drafts, I thought I would provide an example from The Painted Lady. Looking over the four passes I've done for the book (it's just been submitted to the editor), I found a paragraph that changed in both small and big ways throughout each draft (which spanned from July 2013 to May 2015).

Below is a short excerpt from draft number one:

He stared across the table at the woman - this woman far too beautiful for him. This wasn't one of those instances where Miles was selling himself short; it's just that he wasn't naïve to the point that he didn't realize this. Around the restaurant he'd spotted numerous side-glances of the congratulatory kind - winks and nods - sent his way. Of these he was appreciative. It's always nice to know when people think the one you're with is more than decent enough on the eyes. And not just your own.

This is definitely first draft writing. A bit loose and on the rambling side for sure. There's no real rhythm or cadence but that's to be expected here. Definitely needs to be trimmed and tightened up.

Next time I'll post the version of this paragraph that appears in Draft Two and compare them.

Stay tuned.