Drafts

I'm starting to understand myself better as a writer on book two.  I know I need lots of drafts, and so far they're listed below...

Discovery Draft: this is the first draft, where I write a chunk of words every day and refuse to edit and see what comes out.  It is basically an outline, except, since I dislike huge outlines and I like writing fiction, it is long.  When I finish it, I can call it my first draft, but don't be fooled.  It is a fancy way for me to discover things.  Which leads me to...

Plot Draft: this is the second draft, where I take all the characters and ideas from the first draft that are worthwhile, think about them, and then write another draft that is more interesting, has more tension, and reaches a (hopefully) satisfying conclusion.  This one looks more like a book, and I can call it my second draft.  Which leads to...

Detail Draft: I've been thinking about things like character and world building and setting all along, but this is the draft where I focus in on each scene, each character arc, each magical element.  I mark up my hard copy with different colors for each, taking copious notes and rewriting in the margins.  Once I'm done, I type, read aloud, and type.  This is where the book gets polished--and it technically takes at least two rewrites, one to add all the details, another where I reread each chapter aloud to catch other things I miss.

I may need more than that, because right now I'm technically on the Plot Draft of book two, which means I'm not sure how the Detail Draft will go.  My first novel floundered a bit more than this (for example, I took six months off from writing the winter after I had my firstborn) due to me developing good habits (and adjusting to the shock of having kids).  Still, so far with this book my Discovery Draft took from May to August (3.5 months or so), and my Plot Draft has gone from August to now (but it's only halfway done, although all the way planned), so drafts get done and books get closer to being readable (and hooray for my brave beta readers who read early drafts...they are truly courageous!).  Whew!  And now, for a honey badger break...