Draft Two

On Wednesday, I announced draft two was done via Facebook. I may have jumped the gun a little. A few hours sitting with what I’d written, I decided it wasn’t in good enough shape to be considered a true ending. Too many loose ends had been left unaddressed. Even after two days fixing it, I think there’s one thing left to be addressed. But it can wait until the next round. I’m not fiddling with this any more.

So now, with no further ado, I can say that draft two is officially in the bag. This book has a solid beginning, middle and end.

Someone asked how many drafts I do. That question is a bit complicated. The true answer is as many as is necessary to get the best book possible. After twenty something books though, I’ve got the process down to an artform. Generally speaking, it’s three drafts before I send to betas and my editor. Then I make their changes and send it to a proof reader. After that’s done, I re-read everything once more to make sure nothing got messed up. I’m looking at you, Devon’s eye color.

After draft two, things start moving a lot faster. The time spent on drafts gets shorter and shorter because by this point the only thing I’m worry about is how pretty my words are. Most of the hard decisions have been made. Every once in a while I have to rename people or things because there’s a Sara and a Sariah, but mostly it’s cosmetic.

For now, I’m going to take the rest of the weekend and Monday to play with my children and read some books. I think I’ve earned some time relaxing.

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