Drafting: From Terrible to Publishable

So, you’ve got an idea for a story, now what? 

Time to start drafting! Nearly every author—yes, even the one you’re thinking of right now—starts their story with a first draft. But, what comes after that? 

In this post we’re going to look at what each stage of drafting might look like for an author (emphasis on might because every author’s process is different, and this post is meant to be a roadmap, not a strict set of rules).

Some of the best writing advice I’ve ever been given focuses on drafting. I'd heard it a few times from different sources, but until I started getting serious about writing, I didn’t fully understand it.   

Your first draft is telling yourself the story, your second draft is for the audience, your third and all subsequent drafts are for polishing. 

What does this mean exactly? Let’s break it down. 

First Draft

Your goal at this stage is to make the story exist. You know what happens—or soon will—and this is your chance to get that story into the world. Don’t worry about continuity, plot holes, or missing information at this stage. Just write.

First drafts are almost never perfect, and if everyone tried to make them that way, there would likely be significantly less published media in the world. Novels, textbooks, instruction manuals, movie scripts, etc., all start with the dreaded “terrible” first draft. 

The biggest hurdle at this stage is accepting that your first draft will be terrible. The thing is, terrible drafts can be edited later, an empty page can’t. A first draft is the skeleton of your story—the starting point—often a compilation of your ideas strung together with witty banter and interesting characters, but it’s not meant for publishing.

Quick Tip #1

While it may be tempting, try to avoid going back and re-reading too much of what you’ve already written during the first draft stage. 

Read the last few sentences or the last paragraph you wrote to help get you on track, and then keep writing.

Going back over everything you’ve already written can drag you down into unintentional editing rabbit holes that kill a story before it’s even had a chance to live. If you need to reference past dialogue or key events that is okay, just don’t let yourself get sucked into reading the whole chapter.   

Rachel Sandell, previously a professional editor and now a published author, says in a blog post, Writing Terribly: The First Draft Struggle, “This may sound selfish at first, but the reason I start writing a draft is because I came across an idea that I wanted to explore for myself, and only for myself.” 

Don’t censor yourself at this stage, let those creative juices flow!

Second Draft

You’ve done it! Your first draft is finished, and now that you’re reading back through it you’re finding all of the missing pieces and awkward dialogue. 

Don’t worry, this is normal. 

During this stage, you don’t want to focus too heavily on punctuation, spelling, and formatting; that comes later. Here, you’ll fill in the details that the audience is missing. Where the first draft is the bare bones, your second draft is the meat. 

Quick Tip #2

Instead of editing in your original first draft file, open up a blank document or a fresh notebook, with your first draft open beside you re-write the entire thing from scratch. This may seem tedious, but you’re more likely to find the holes and will avoid editing in circles, meaning it takes less time in the long run. 

Alternatively, if you prefer editing the original, create a copy of the file and rename it second draft, then edit from there. This way you still keep the original unedited draft for reference.

These methods can also be useful for polishing future drafts. 

As you work through your second draft, ask yourself these questions:

• Who is my intended reader?

• What does the reader need to know?

• When do they need to know it? 

  
  

Being aware of your intended reader base can help you decide how and when you reveal information. Also taking into consideration the genre/subgenre you’re writing for can also help with understanding how to pace the information revealed, especially if you plan to follow specific niches or tropes. 

Third Draft and Beyond

Great! Now that you’ve filled in most of the information your story needs, it’s time to buff and polish your manuscript. 

At this stage you’re filling in the gaps and ensuring continuity within your story, this may also be where you bring in a professional editor or someone who can provide honest, critical feedback.

There is no magic number for how many drafts a piece should take. Gotham Writers states in their blog, The Writer’s Toolbox, “–a completed novel takes them about 10 [drafts]–” and “–at least a year of real editing.” 

While this may seem daunting, this number isn’t true for everybody, and some of those later drafts typically only have minute changes made with the assistance of an editor or after receiving feedback from beta readers.

Quick Tip #3

When starting your third or fourth draft, change the font of the document you’re copying or editing from to something completely different than what you’ve been using. For example:

If you used Times New Roman to write your first/second/third drafts…

Switch your third draft to something like Arial to write your fourth draft.  

This allows you to see any punctuation, spelling, and continuity errors that you might have skimmed over while working in the original font.   

Polishing a manuscript is often an extremely personal experience, especially if it’s your first novel. You’ve dedicated your time and creativity to see this through, and more than likely your first draft is vastly different from the final draft.

Remember, there isn’t any one way to draft, outline, or edit your work. This is your story, do what works best for you. Experiment with different methods of writing, look up tips from your favorite authors, search pinterest for inspiration, talk to other authors online, and most importantly…keep writing!

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About the author: Hi! My name is River, and I am a passionate, creative book goblin who loves a good plot twist and all things fantasy or dark romance. I am an English major, a playwright and novelist, and last year I read 237 books.