How many times should you edit your manuscript?
By: Beth Van Der Pol
Tags: Creativity, Editing, Writer, Books, Writing

Writer’s Blog

Is there a cutoff point? How many drafts are too many?

When I first started writing, I somehow managed to pluck the magical number of three from thin air. Maybe I got it from an article or maybe from chatting with writer friends, but I always thought that three drafts was the number to aim for.

This was before I had ever even tried to write a book.

Those of you have written a book, or have even only just started to are already laughing at me. Three drafts? Only three? That’s ridiculous! To be honest, even I am laughing at this number. I’m sure some writers manage to finish their projects in three drafts, but I would say that the majority of us need a little bit more time and a lot more editing!

I’m drawing near to the end of my first draft now. I call it my first draft, but I’m pretty sure that it technically counts as my second.

I started off calling it my first draft until I realised it would be way too short even to try and call a novel. So what did I do? I renamed it! I called it my fast draft, and I began describing it as a very detailed outline. In a way it is, I started using dialogue, got a better feel for my characters, fleshed out my scenes a bit more, and now I have a better feel for the emotional tone of the book.

This draft came to 18k words. That doesn’t quite hit the fantasy word count goal. It was my insecurity about the word count that made me change the name of my draft. But why? Well, because a good writer was only supposed to complete their book in three drafts, right?

Now I’m coming to the end of what I call my first draft. It’s 40k words. Guess who is trying to come up with a new name for the first draft so that she doesn’t feel shame around her word count. Yep, it’s me again.

I think I figured out why.

It’s because I’m scared.

I’m scared of being a failure because finishing this book is going to take me more drafts than I had originally planned for. Does this make me a failure? No. This is my first book. This is supposed to be the one that I make mistakes in. I’m supposed to be messing up, getting a feel for how many plot points I need to make a good story. It’s all part of the learning process.

Don’t worry, by the way, I do have a plan for reaching my word goal, and it doesn’t involve padding my novel.

I don’t know why we new novel writers think that we will just get it right the first time. I was straight out of the gate and gunning to win the race even though I hadn’t put any time into conditioning.

Sure I write full time, but I only write short pieces, there was bound to be some time needed to adjust.

So do I still feel word count shame?

Absolutely I still feel shame! How can I not? It will take me a while to reject the rediculous standards and goals that I set for myself.

My book won’t be completed in three drafts, and while a part of me understands that it’s not only okay but completely normal, the other part of me is angry that I’m not accomplishing everything I want to do straight away! I guess that comes part and parcel with being a workaholic perfectionist… maybe it just comes part and parcel with being a writer.

My writing partner made a huge difference when it came to getting past this shame. He got me to the point where I am able to write this article and ‘confess’ to you. He said something that was useful to me and I hope will help any other writers struggling with their number of drafts.

He suggested that I shouldn’t think about my work in draft forms. I should simply keep going until my book is finished.

Well, that’s all it took for me. I felt free from the weight and the burden of drafts. No, I’m kidding, though I am inspired! I’m hoping that the weight of this arbitrary number three will eventually be lifted from my shoulders. Maybe someday I will feel successful enough in my own writing that I won’t care about the standards other people set.

Every book takes a different amount of drafts to finish. That’s just fact. Some plots are messy, some have potholes, and some are almost perfect the moment you type them out (not many, but I’m sure that some are). Sticking to three drafts is silly if your book needs more.

That’s like taking a cake out of the oven when it’s still gooey because the recipe said that it should be ready by now.

Don’t hold yourself to someone else’s guidelines for success, because that’s all they are, guidelines. There are no hard and fast rules in writing so take as much time as you need. Ultimately, the most important thing is that you are proud of your book and excited to share it.

As always, I cannot wait to see you on the bookshelf!