When I began to write and used a typewriter, I went through three drafts of a book before showing it to an editor.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I have to re-write a lot. I couldn't tell you how many drafts I write, but I know I've done at least twenty rewrites on each book.
In my office in Florida I have, I think, 30 manuscript piles around the room. Some are screenplays or comic books or graphic novels. Some are almost done. Some I'm rewriting. If I'm working with a co-writer, they'll usually write the first draft. And then I write subsequent drafts.
I'm not one of those writers I learned about who get up in the morning, put a piece of paper in their typewriter machine and start writing. That I've never understood.
Every book is like starting over again. I've written books every way possible - from using tight outlines to writing from the seat of my pants. Both ways work.
I've written under the radar for quite some time, and I always looked at editing as writing.
I don't write drafts. I write from the beginning to the end, and when it's finished, it's done.
When I had worked on my first book, I had readily shown bits and pieces to everyone - for encouragement, to force myself to write.
I type most of my books for the first chapter or two - I use a manual typewriter for the first 50 pages or so - and then I move to the computer. It helps me keep the work lean so I don't end up spending 10 pages describing a leaf.
All novelists write in a different way, but I always write in longhand and then do two versions of typescript on a computer.
I always write my first draft in longhand, in lined notebooks. I move around the house, sitting where I like, and watch the words spool out in front of me, actually taking a lot of pleasure in the way they look in my strange handwriting on the page.