Some writers may complete their novels within five drafts, while others spend years working on countless drafts. But you don’t need to worry about those writers. How many drafts does it typically take to write a novel? Every book is different, so there is no right or wrong amount of drafts. You won’t know your book’s number until the story is complete.
Utilize the Stages of the Creative Writing Process
While you don’t need to try to complete your novel within, for example, five drafts, having a ballpark goal is a good idea. But where do you come up with this number? The stages of the creative writing process are an excellent place to start.
First, let’s discuss these stages.
Prewriting
Writing
Revision
Rewriting
Editing
Pre-Publishing
Marketing
Publishing
Will you use all these steps in order? No, maybe not. Every writer writes differently. Your process is going to look different from someone else’s.
For now, we’ll use this process to calculate the potential number of drafts. (Yes, writing does involve math sometimes.)
Prewriting
This stage is often meant for outlining your book. You plan the characters, settings, and plot points. Research is also most commonly done here to save you some time later. No actual writing technically happens during this step.
However, there are many outlining methods you can use for your book (see these posts about outlining). Some writers summarize scenes and chapters. They’ll create a lengthy bullet point list of the story's events from the beginning, middle, and end.
Sometimes, this is labeled as draft zero.
Writing
Now we begin the writing, giving us the beauty of the first draft. The first draft may or may not utilize the outline you created. Sometimes the characters have a mind of their own and take over.
Overall, the first draft is simply you telling yourself the story. It can be anywhere between bare-bones information and as much detail and filler as you want. The first draft is one of the most important drafts, but it’s flexible because you know the revision stage is coming up next.
Revisions
Yes, revision is typically the next step, which is different from editing. Editing is broken down into its own set of steps, whereas the revision process focuses more on logical changes in the story’s structure, organization, and fact-checking.
Technically, you’re not writing anything during this step. You’re making changes, adding some sentences, and deleting others. So, whether you count it as a new draft is entirely up to you. It can still be considered the first draft, or since changes are being made, it can be the start of draft two.
For me? I like to label it as draft 1.5.
Rewrites
Once the revision stage is complete, it’s time to piece your manuscript together with the changes. This draft, draft two, is about implementing the revision changes while prepping it for the first round of edits.
Editing
As mentioned before, editing has its own set of steps. It’s also tricky because you’re not the only one editing your manuscript. In addition to your edits, you can also hand your manuscript over to a group of beta readers and hire a professional editor.
Ideally, you’ll want your manuscript to be as polished as possible before handing it over to a professional. So, go through the edits yourself first. Then, if you choose to get beta readers, hand it over to them. They’ll catch whatever you didn’t.
Finally, when the manuscript is ready, you can hire a professional editor for any stage of the editing process.
What Are The Stages Of Editing?
The first stage is typically developmental editing. During this round of edits, the editor will take a closer look at the settings, character development, find plot holes, fix any narrative issues, and ask the big questions that’ll make you think outside the box.
Next, there’s copyediting. During this step, the editor improves the story’s clarity. For example, they take a closer look at the manuscript's consistency, correctness, and coherency.
Line editing is typically the next step. This particular step ensures that every sentence serves its purpose within the story. Also, line editing provides the overall flow and connection between each sentence, paragraph, and chapter.
So, how many drafts are we up to now? If you go through each round of edits yourself, then send your manuscript to a group of beta readers and then a professional editor, you’re probably up to at least five drafts now.
Self-Editing: Draft 2.5
Self-Editing Rewrites: Draft 3
Beta Reader Edits: Draft 3.5
Beta Reader Rewrites: Draft 4
Professional Editor Edits: Draft 4.5
Professional Editor Rewrites: Draft 5
If you count each step of the editing process for yourself and a professional editor, you may have as many as nine drafts. That’s about three rounds of self-editing and then three rounds of a professional editor combing through your story.
Proofreading
Lastly, we have the final stage of writing a book. Proofreading is the last hoorah before your manuscript is ready to be published and shared with the rest of the world. This step looks at spelling, grammar, inconsistencies in layout and formatting, and general typos.
Even though this is the final stage and doesn’t sound as intense as any other stage of the writing process, this can also be considered its own draft.
The proofreading round can be labeled as draft 5.5. Then, when you rewrite the manuscript to fix any typos or inconsistencies, that’s considered draft 6, also known as the final draft.
You Can’t Put a Number on Manuscript Drafts
There is no right or wrong number of drafts to complete a manuscript. Some writers go through the editing process with a fine tooth comb while others don’t. In addition, some writers work with a group of beta readers, and others don’t. Many writers go through multiple rounds of self-edits before hiring a professional editor to look at the manuscript once.
Overall, it depends on what you feel is needed for your manuscript. If it needs many rounds of edits, do that. If you can afford to hire an editor a few times, then definitely do so.
Finally, it also depends on how you write your stories. Some people follow different creative writing processes. As writers, we have unique styles and voices. No two books are written the same.
If you follow the layout presented in this article, you’re looking at having at least six drafts. However, it is entirely possible to have more drafts, depending on how many rounds of edits and revisions you think your story needs.
Don’t Stress About Draft Numbers
If your manuscript is nearing draft twenty, that’s okay. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Every writer needs to take their time when writing their book. Some genres and ideas will take longer to write than others. Overall, utilize however many drafts you need to tell your book’s story.
About Rachel Poli
Rachel Poli is an indie author, podcast producer, and content writer working on her debut cozy mystery novel.
Although she favors mystery, Rachel is a multi-genre author with too many ideas and characters in her head, often experimenting with short stories and flash fiction.
When she's not writing, she's reading, organizing something, or playing video games. She currently resides in New England with her zoo.
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