I'd say 5. That's not to say that _any_ of a first draft goes unedited, but I enjoy untangling and rearranging the mess that is the first draft, rather than feeling ashamed of it.
When I first finish, I tend to think of it as about a 7 or 8. I come up with the best plots between 11pm-2am, so generally my first drafts are inspired jibberish. Of course, at that point, my mind is on the same wavelength as the jibberish, so I think it's pretty awesome. Then I look at it the next morning and it's anywhere between 1-4 :/ But if I can understand my plot, I generally like at least the idea of it. And it turns into something alright, after a lot of editing
5-6. but I, too, rarely have a first draft because I keep editing the more I read everything over. Right now I have about 5 paragraphs to a new piece I am writing and I have already edited three times and I found more things to change. Haha.
:O I could not do that... When I say I edit as I go, I mean, like, 3 scenes behind wherever I am. If I was constantly editing the very scene I was writing, I'd never get anything done... My method of writing requires a lot of re-reading, to make sure I'm still on course or haven't forgotten something, and so I usually end up editing as I browse up and down the document for a few facts.
First draft? It's the same lump of clay I'm pushing my fingers into, until it finally takes the shape I want. There's no way for me to distinguish a line between first and final draft.
I normally get between 4 & 7. Sometimes I look at my work and I find only minor adjustments that I need to make to it, Spelling and grammer and little things like that. Other times I re-write entire sections because I have a WTF moment. It's a good idea to be able to distinguish between first and final draft. Not only may you find that your revisions are actually making the story worse, but most publishers and agents will not accept a first draft so it's a good idea to keep a copy of the first draft and then you can say to them "This is where I was and this is where I am right now".
Surely though it should be compared to YOUR final draft. MY first draft is 1-3 compared to the goal of 10 for MY final draft. It is not a comparison with others but with the work you yourself produce. Personally I would be very disappointed if my completed work wasn't ten times better than my first draft.
If your first draft is a 6 or above, you either are not doing it right, or your ego is too big and you are not critical enough about your own work.
This is what HorusEye was referring to above, I think, and it also applies to me. Some of us, even in our first drafts, work over each sentence and paragraph as we go until we're reasonably happy with it. By the time we write "The End", it's a first draft in the sense that it's the first time the whole story is down on paper, but every sentence has been revised, and often many times. So the draft will be in reasonable shape - it may even be very good. The problems I have to face in my second or third drafts are usually ones of pacing and bringing the theme into focus. My SPaG, style, imagery, and so on will be very good on my first draft, because I've already done a ton of work on it. I'm not one of those writers who can turn off the editor lobe and just speed through the first draft without caring about quality. I've tried working that way and I hate it. I hate having a pile of crap to show for a day's work. I hate hating my own stuff. So I work hard on making my first drafts good. It means I write slowly, but so what? At least, when I read over what I've written, I like it.
@SashaMeredith: Not necessarily. My first drafts range between a 3 and an 8, depending on circumstances. I recently started and finished a flash fiction story that came out nearly perfect in the first draft. I mean, seriously. By the time I'd reached the end, I just typed "The End," checked it for spelling errors -- I don't recall there being any, although I suppose it is possible -- and then re-read it. I honestly didn't think it needed revising. So, before I could start to worry and doubt myself, I checked Duotrope.com for markets, then sent it off to a pro-rate SF/F magazine within an hour of finishing. The story was accepted within a couple weeks. You can read it if you'd like to confirm my story -- "Picture in Sand," filed under Modern / Urban Fantasy on DailyScienceFiction.com . I can't claim that my stories are always this good, because they truly aren't, but sometimes, for some people, the story comes so clearly and easily to the page that no revision is needed.
I peg mine as a 6. The story, locations, characters are there. It's only dialogue and action that need work. Spelling and grammar needs a bit of ironing and it's mostly down to reworking words and sentences to fit better.
I think 1-4 are pretty much all the same, and 8-10 are pretty much all the same. From 4 to 5 is a reasonable step, but 5 and 6 are two different ways of saying the same thing. There is enough room between 6 and 7 to fit a small planet, and I think a lot of writers who take reasonable care of their first drafts would fall in here. I know I would - I never feel like I have to change everything, and I never feel like I have to change nothing.
I don't write a draft of the whole story at first. I write drafts of scenes, and go back and edit them whenever I get stuck at a later scene. When I finally have a complete story, many of the scenes have already gone through several revisions. I'm trying to change my method, though, since I'm horribly slow. My individual scenes are usually at 6 when I first write them: they're passable, but missing conciseness and are full of minor errors. When I finally have a complete story, I believe it's usually at 7: good, but with flaws. You said it, sister. I'm trying to learn to shut off the critical part of my brain until I have a full story down on paper.
or you're a seasoned writer/pro who's been writing for so long that getting it 'right' easily/from the get-go is almost automatic... or you're a rare 'natural' writer who's been blessed with that ability from the start...
I'm sorry, but I think that is less than broad minded of you. Not everyone subscribes to the "spew crap and then go back with a fire hose to clean it up" approach to writing. Some writers revise as they go, rather than let the kudzu take root and strangle the flowers of the story. Your assumption that the spew approach is the only "right" way to write borders on offensive. I tend to write at the 6 or 7 level, not because Everything that flows from my fingers is gold, but because I don't proceed until I am reasonably happy with the section I just wrote. I still have plenty to do in the revision phase, but it is not because what I wrote during the first pass is horrible.
I use Save As every time I make revisions, so I have older versions of everything -- but that was not my point. My point was that I never reach a point where I have a full "first draft". It's all jumbled WIP until its finished.
I don't like editing mainly because of my limited English-- I sometimes don't know how else to improve a sentence even as I know something is not right with it. But I still edit every one/two paragraphs, read and re-read the edited version, and get inspired to move the story forward. Strong words, but you got a point there. But I won't include 6 because it is quite reasonable. 7 and above can be dangerous and harmful to progress as a writer, specially if you are new to writing. So, new writers, no matter how terrific you think you write, it'll be wise to think of your first draft as somewhere between 5 and 6 at best, and make it a point to find ways to improve it. If it is below 4, your aim should be to produce something between 5 and 6 at least every time you complete a first draft. Because to be able to do that means having a reasonable grasp of SPnG, characterization and plot development.
Manav, thanks. Maybe if I say if it is more than a 6 instead of a six and above, would it sit better? I just know that if I keep on revising what I have just written instead of just getting it down, I will never finish my first draft.
I have the exact same problem here. It is difficult to know what else could be improved. I can write a short story in two, three days (if it's not too short) but I'll take more than a week editing it. Regarding the rating, I believe my work can be a 3. I have a lot of problems with grammar, but not so much with spelling, and I take a long time thinking before writing. My stories may sound a little juvenile because of my limited vocabulary, but it is not unreadable.
Oh, great now I'm an egotistical twit, because I chose 6! Nah, I'm more of a 4-ish. I'm really not that confident yet. I picked 6 the first time around because, "I only have to tweak almost everything” means to me “it’s plain rubbish.” That’s how I took it.
