How Many Drafts Must a Writer Draft?

Ian:

Love this!

Originally posted on BREVITY's Nonfiction Blog:

I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be writing right now.

How many drafts must a writer draft

Before you call it a book?

How many times must you read the text

Before your editor looks?

Yes, how many times should it be revised

To get a reader hooked?

The answer my friend is seven.

**

Last week I was invited to speak to Wrimo India, a group of participants in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) who formed their own writing support group on Facebook and also do in-person meet-ups to write, talk writing, and write some more.

We met at a coffee shop in Mumbai and live-streamed the chat through Periscope so non-local writers could join in and ask questions. One of the best questions, though, was after the camera was turned off:

How many drafts do I need to write before hiring an editor?

First, let’s deconstruct. Not everybody…

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