How many drafts does your writing go through before its "finished"?

Question

I'm obsessive about drafts, and I usually have at least three drafts finished before I ask for other people to proof my writing (maybe two or three people).

Most of the time I end up with five or six drafts before I consider the piece finished, though I've had a couple that have only gone through three or four before I'm satisfied.

Just curious as to the tendencies of others regarding this aspect of writing.

Note: I put "finished" in quotation marks because I don't find any piece of writing to ever be completely finished- there are almost always little things to tweak.

I'm not talking about grade school /or/ highschool level English class quality.

If it helps any- I usually go though a lot of drafts for a few different reasons-

It makes my writing stronger- I almost always finish my first draft in a maximum of 1-3 sittings. There are a lot of mistakes, things that need fixing, parts that need trimming, parts that need to be extended.

I go through twice to check for spelling and grammatical errors- I keep both versions so I can see what work I've done.

Then I hand copies of the same version over to two or three people for mark ups, critique and suggestions.

I revise and give them to two other people to look at.

They give me suggestions.

I revise again. Usually I do a final proof to catch grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors. Like missing the apostraphe in the word "it's" in the question.

Just a little run through. I'm not lacking confidence in my writing- I enjoy showing it to others.

Answer 1

It depends on howe I write the book but as for a minimum I would use this drafts:

First is all the adds ons and removal you think on after you have done the original script.

Second is for spell, grammar and other misstakes like planting a knive when the murderer is with a gun or calling a carracter the wrong things. I think you know how much stupid things you write in when you write the first edition, dont you?

Third is a complete read through where you put yourself in the readers seat when writing. Its also a good chance to check for new and all spell and grammar error as well as chapter postcard writing.

This is a minimum of course but you can always do it more times but remember that the more times you do it the less time you have to write on other books. I like to bealive that the bookmakers and agents would let you go through at least one more rewrite untill your book hits the bookstores. Johan

Answer 2

You're absolutely doing the right thing when you rewrite a lot, or what some people consider a lot. I go through my "real" writing more often than you mention yourself going through yours. To me it's necessary: in order to tighten it up and make any changes that present themselves, do the grammar and punctuation, be sure I'm writing in an active voice.

For years as a journalist I did very little rewrite, relying on accuracy of facts mainly, as well as getting the whole story in the first sentence when possible! I was taught that, and just made sure I turned in my five pieces a week! [and let the editors do as they would].

On Y!A I get in a lot of trouble spending too much time looking over what I write, because after journalism came a play and a lot of short stories, with which I learned to be selective about words, curious about all spelling and grammar.

Someone once told me "drop most of those prepositions" and it made a world of difference!

No, nothing is ever finished. Isn't it funny how you can read the same piece and love it or hate it, depending on what kind of audience you're being for yourself? Years later, I mean.

Enough palaver. I write on Y!A like a yahoo! Yahoooo!
Good luck in all you do!

Answer 3

I try very hard to limit it to one - two at most. At that point, if I cannot get it the way I want it, it's time to turn it over to a professional for a more thorough cleaning up. Becoming obsessive over drafts often hurts more than it hinders. You can end up throwing the bathwater out with the baby. Pax - C

Answer 4

First novel went through 7 revisions before I got it accepted, then 2 more before it was published. I'd still like to revise it again since I know so much more now.

My seventh book went through three revisions before it was published and another revision when it went out of print. I'm looking for a new publisher for that one and it is as close as I can get it to perfect.

Answer 5

I'm like you. I go through about three drafts before I'm comfortable showing it to others. And I also have that feeling that nothing is ever actually finished - even if it's already published somewhere.

Answer 6

Just 1

Answer 7

I do a lot of drafts, because to me they're the "fine tuning" part of writing, and I like doing that. The part I don't like is the blank page.

Answer 8

I usually compose most of my ideas in my head before I put anything on paper, so only one rough draft & then the final draft.

Answer 9

about 5 drafts

Answer 10

the answer is "as many as feel you need to" or until an english teacher says enough already