How many drafts...

[TimAkers]

Hi there,

First, I am not as active as I'd like to be, but I am still starting out, and that's okay. Obviously, I am still considered a "Newb/Noob" here. But, for those who have been coaching me along, a huge thanks goes out to you. In order to keep things honest, I will not include names, but, if you've posted on any of my previous posts, in the writing section, that's who I am directing my gratitude.

Okay. Without further ado:

I am on page 147, around 32,000 words, and have divided it up to 14 full chapters on a manuscript I am working on, just started chapter 15. I started this on Monday, May 20th, 2013. I am using Microsoft Word, and have set it up as a "novel/book" template that I created using some of the automatic formatting options. There are professional templates that I can download from Microsoft.com, but their word counter doesn't work without messing up the rest of the format. I am setting it up so when I am finished, I can just export it as a .pdf so I can upload it to CafePress.com or some place that I can print it out as a book later. I am not finished, and predict only about half way.

Here is the question:

Remember, I have a strong background in programming, and technical writing. But, even when I stare at thousands of lines of code, I still often overlook simple mistakes as not closing code out with proper brackets or semicolons, things that common are to miss. Well, it's the same as book writing, I could read this thing five times and still pass up the same mistakes; it's easy to do for those who know what I am talking about.

I am in the first draft only, currently. How many drafts does it take before I fork money out and send it to an editor or book doctor to help me fix any simple mistakes, like seen/saw and things like that, that I may have missed along the way?

My second draft is for going back in and filling in detail that I may have missed that brings substance back to the story to help support that particular sequence or event. For instance, I usually leave out specific character attributes until I know for sure how they are going to look through the whole story, then I go back and fill in those details.

My third and fourth draft is for extreme editing with a fine tooth comb. Is that right? How many drafts does it take?

Thank you for any advice,

Tim Akers

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

My third and fourth draft is for extreme editing with a fine tooth comb. Is that right? How many drafts does it take?

Thank you for any advice,

Tim Akers

In the olden days, people with OCD or allied symptoms would get jobs in the publishing industry, performing such duties as copy editing, proof reading, and typesetting. These days, in the modern era of Publish-It-Yourself, one has to perform this form of slow death torture one's self.

The Wife had a 'simple' project, where most of the text was provided, and she just had to integrate pictures to illustrate the text. It took about 5 iterations... and the 'text' portions have been written and reviewed in various forms for 5 years now... It also didn't help that the woman who is acting as 'editor', has some pretty hard set ideas about how the book is to be laid out, with little or no real understanding about graphics, and such effects that say font size, style, etc. have on the actual 'user/reader'... The book is very hard to 'read', as it is intended to be an instruction book, and all students, of which we were some who used the 'spring' version of the book this past semester, hate the book and only grudgingly use it... and the woman could not 'stand' to have her authority question about how unclear the book is...

I suspect it will not 'sell' to the teachers who would use such a book in general, but only be sold to the students in the class of the author...

 

[Rolf Silber]

As for the "olden days": I think that copy editing and proof reading still are jobs best performed by others. The wife I know works as editor in the "Hunnish" language since decades, fiction department of a middle size publisher.

What I learned from her: never, ever edit a text on screen alone. Yes, sure, while you are still "kneading the doe" - if this is an acceptable expression in the Anglosaxon dialect ;-) - you sure work on the screen. But really sitting and working it over - do it on paper. Eyes "slide" on screen. And as you know your own text too well and assume a sentence will end like it should have, you may sub-consciously jump over it and miss a mistake or a metaphor that doesn't work.

Also the very analogue sensation of having your book on paper helps you to come to terms with understanding better, where you are in your story. One can easily lose orientation, even if your program tells you on what page you are on. That's abstract in a way. Why is that so? Because we are analogue beings, I believe.

And: An editor should be like your trainer. The editor does not need to be a writer or the better writer (if the editor would be that, he/she would write and not edit). he/she is you first critic, your first audience. So it is important you find one that understands what you are heading for but also tells you what works and what not. And why.

The most fascinating thing with writing a novel is the tremendous free space the empty pages provide you with. It's also the most dangerous thing because you may get lost like in a blindingly white salt lake and die. Good luck!

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

Yes, sure, while you are still "kneading the doe" - if this is an acceptable expression in the Anglosaxon dialect ;-)

I don't know how many people have access to a female deer (doe...) to be able to knead... on the other hand "Teig"... "Dough"... would work... well if the reader realized that one has to knead dough for bread... (As for Anglosaxon... yes, because most of the words having to do with home and hearth have cognates in German, one has 'kneten'(Gr.) and 'knead', and 'Teig', 'Dough', where the consonants have a certain stability, vs. the vowel changes... but I digress...).

 

[Egg Born Son]

Of course there are no rules...but if you are seeking publication:

2nd draft isn't an edit (correcting spelling mistakes, finessing prose etc). It should be a total ground up rewrite. After the first draft you sort of know where you are at. You know what your story is and who your characters really are: draw up a structural plan, reorganise in the plan and then rewrite from scratch to this template. Avoid the temptation to speed things along by cutting and pasting from the first draft, think of it as a throwaway. If you have some passages and turns of phrase that you are particularly proud of in the first draft, highlight them and maybe if they still fit you can put them back in the third draft.

3rd draft onwards is time to edit. Edit the characters, remove anything that doesn't fit with the characters anymore. Edit the plot, remove anything that no longer fits. Insert plants for later payoffs, where dramatically appropriate telegraph future plot points. Examine the dramatic flow and massage the plot for better rise and fall of tension. Eliminate the boring bits. This will take several passes, it can be useful to focus predominantly on one element in each pass. Half a dozen to a dozen passes will dramatically raise the bar. More than this may make things even better or you may start to edit the life out of it.

Final draft. Now it is time to worry about spelling and grammar. Work through bearing in mind character behaviour, dialogue and arc, overall plot and dramatic flow for a final polish.

Final final draft. Put it aside for at least two weeks. Re-read. Make any necessary corrections. By this stage you should just be picking up on the occasional word missed in the previous stage. If you haven't done so in the previous stages make sure this edit is done on paper, corrections marked in red pen.

Give it to someone else to read.

Submit.

Sit back and wait for the rejection letters, the shattered ego and lasting depression!

 

[Rolf Silber]

Ha! Made a fool out of my cranky old self another time...