Draft #3 of the Grove is finished…but no, its not done.

Draft #3 of The Grove is finished, but��all that means is it is ready to be sent to my first reader. This first reader is NOT my publisher. She is a friend of mine who loves fantasy–especially urban fantasy–which is why she is the one who gets��to read it. She also has a good sense of humor about reading books before they go on to the next draft and then off to publisher.

When is it coming out? I have no idea. While everyone tells you to get your book out yesterday, if I try to write rushed ��I write a bunch of crap. Besides even if my first reader LOVES it, I still have to sell it.

Other Systems took seven drafts before it was sold.

I tried to do less with The Light Side of the Moon, but then it went through a full rewrite. It was accepted for publication, then during editing I was told to change��some more things. If I add those in, I did about seven drafts.

This is how I create a novel:

Step��1: My outline.

Now this is a loose story written in a fews day with��major scenes and plot points.

Step 2: My first draft which is very rough and fast. I do about a chapter or couple scenes a day. I don’t worry about grammar. I sometimes don’t even add description or do research. There was actually a��tag that said: LOOK UP HOW WICCANS CAST A CIRCLE. Another said, DESCRIBE THE SOUND OF THE SEA

Cape Lookout Oregon State Park is inspiration for The Grove

Draft Two is when I��do research and ��add it into the manuscript.��Dialogue becomes crisper. If the characters want to not cooperate with the plot this is where they will change things.

Draft Three is where I make sure the character’s motivation feels real. I also look for TELLING��spots such as:Oliver visibly relaxed��and change it to something like: Oliver flopped onto his velvet couch��and unbottoned his fly, allowing his soft belly to fall over his waistband. (No this is not a real line in the book, but I think its funny.)

The final part of Draft Three is a self��copy-edit so the reader isn’t disgusted and confused by mistakes. Now��I can give it to a first reader and get some feedback.

Draft Four is where I add the feedback and change the story as needed.

Draft Five is��a heavy self copy-edit. This is also where I am going to start sending it out. If I happen to get any more feedback I use it to make the manuscript even better.

And on it goes.

So that’s my process, how many drafts do you go through?