Do you keep all your old drafts? Once you deem a work to be "finished", is there a point in keeping the versions from every stage of editing? I find myself doing lots of editing, so I wind up with lots of drafts, but once the piece reaches a certain stage, the drafts become clutter. Hard copies, especially, but files too. For example, I sometimes print copies of short stories to edit with a pen. It becomes an essential document to have around for a while, but as soon as the new draft is typed up, the printed version is obsolete, even though I always feel I should keep it just in case I change my mind about something and think "how did I have that before?"
I destroy hard copies (shred, burn) but always keep electronic copies, and resave my work after EVERY significant edit - I have my own rudimentary system of version control, whereby I simply add the current date to the filename when I save it at the end of the day. I rarely make more than one significant edit per day, but if I do end I will save it as v.2 Yes, my c drive is spammed up to the eyeballs with minutely different edits of my work, but there have been occasions (many) when I've changed my mind about an edit and gone back to a previous draft - and I can pretty quickly find the exact draft I'm after. I don't know what I'll do if/when I eventually publish - perhaps I'll delete most of the early drafts, but keep the more recent edits. You never know... one day you might be asked to prove you didn't plagiarise your ideas, and having hundreds of drafts is pretty compelling evidence.
I have CD back ups of old versions of all my novels. Partly it's security, in case the computer dies. But it's also useful in ase later on someone comes and says you stole this book from me etc, then I can provide evidence of the book's development from start to finish. Cheers Greg.
The ones I have printed I save and the ones I have on the computer... well I save them too, just for fun.
it's always a good idea to keep your first 'idea' notes along with your first draft and at least one middle one [in hard copies, with your handwritten editing notes on the draft/s]... this will be admissible-in-court proof that the work is yours, should its authorship ever be in question...
I like to print a hard copy and do editing by hand. It becomes sort of a journal entry -- insight into my process, what I was thinking at the time, etc. I save all drafts and put them together with the finished draft in a plastic sleeve in a 3-ring binder. I never, ever, toss a draft, and I don't like making substantial edits on the computer because once things are deleted they are gone with no trace they ever existed. Crossing things out by hand, however, still lets me see what I crossed out.
I recently came across some printed-off sections of an earlier draft of my book. The final version I've saved onto a USB stick. I also have a couple of notebooks, and various loose sheets of paper with lyrics etc from my teen years. Otherwise, not much. Some stuff was lost. I don't like keeping lots of clutter (physically or on the computer.) Never worried about someone nicking my stuff.
Mine are all on my hard drive and backed up as well. I can't bring myself to throw out any of my writing.
I don't think I will be doing that in the future... seeing how in every draft there is a change and I think that you can "salvage" every draft at least a bit.
A full manuscript, 100K words in Word, won't take up more than 1Mb. I have a 16GB USB stick with ALL my work on it and room to spare. Every time I rewrite/edit an MS significantly, I will give the MS a consecutive number, so I don't lose sight of which version is the latest, but I keep all my drafts. And I have printed/typed pages of my pre-computer MS versions.
That is why i always make a copy on my computer and make the changes in the new copy rather than the "original" one. That way I can see what the previous version was like at any time.
I edit as I go along so I mostly destroy my first ideas. I've recently started sending a copy of submissions to my mother, and e-mailing them to her as well. She keeps the unopened envelopes (about 8 so far) in case I ever need to prove copyright. I keep other stuff on USB sticks, but they are really easy to mislay. We once lost two computers in a robbery as well, so I don't recommend having that as the only place you store work.
I delete a draft if it's only a slightly different from my finished story. But if it's a totally different idea (i.e a plot line I rejected, or a character I developed and decided was superfluous) i keep a copy of that chapter/paragraph in a word file dedicated to odd ends and bits.
I'm rounding the corner of finishing my first draft and I had that amazing "OH MY GOD, I'M SO IN LOVE WITH WRITING AND CREATING THIS AMAZING WORLD" and now I'm feeling that overwhelming "Oh my word, this novel needs all the help it can get" feeling. I know the main culprits are dialogue, telling rather than showing and wondering how much conflict is TOO much conflict. I'm in that stage where I know I have a great story to tell and characters that are begging to be heard, but how do you overcome that feeling of self-doubt and how in the world do you start fixing and revising when you feel overwhelmed by all the changes needed?
You do it chapter by chapter. It's really the only way. Self doubt is helpful, just don't get carried away.
This is one of the reasons I revise as I go. I can't face trying to edit and rewrite a whole novel after I get it all on paper. It's depressing to look at a stack of hundreds of pages of garbage that needs a ton of work. But if you revise as you go, that stack of hundreds of pages isn't garbage - it's darn good! Sure, there's still editing and rewriting to be done, but you're starting from a good place, and you don't feel overwhelmed by all the changes needed, as you put it.
Hi hankesj, This might sound obvious, but the only solution to this is to write. You mentioned that you doubt your abilities, and that your story needs overwhelming amounts of changing. Well, how are you going to improve your abilities without writing? It may seem like too much, but it isn't infinite. With time and persistence, you'll eventually get there. As you improve, your self-doubt should go away, and small once-in-a-while changes will start to pile up. Everyone has problems with their writing in the beginning, but only the determined manage to fix them. How? They write! Draft after draft. Sorry for not being too helpful, I also struggle with this problem at times. Good luck!
I strongly recommend you find a few critique parnters and start trading pages. It works wonders and myself personally it's easier to let someone else point out the issues. I tend to look at my story with rose colored glasses.
+1 to what Minstrel and Amy said. Do a little revising as you go (I know, not much help to you now) and find a partner who's willing to look over it with you. The latter will surely help you feel a little less overwhelmed.
I am not a fan of revising as I go, but it's a matter of personal choice. Like a lot of other writing issues, the answer to dealing with this lies within: ultimately, you just have to keep pushing. But first, realize that the fact you know already what has to be revised (and they are very common edits!) means that you've already overcome the first hurdle - which is admitting that it does need work. Moreover, you don't have to struggle with recognizing the items to be corrected - they will probably jump off the page at you. My advice is to finish the first draft, then take a break of at least several weeks. Use the time to recharge your creative batteries. I usually use such time to catch up on my reading or engage in other creative pursuits (music, cooking and photography). If I have ideas for another project, I might sketch them out a bit, and if I have an old project that needs some polishing, I might do that. Then, when you feel you're ready, get that first draft out and go to town with it. Having a review partner can help, but I personally like to wait until I'm sure I've done everything I can to make it as good as it can be, then I show it to someone else to see what they have to say. Also, if the subject matter involves something with real-world references - a historical, or something with a lot of technological references, for example - I would show it to someone with in-depth knowledge in that area to make sure I got it right. Good luck.
Hi! Im currently working on my first draft of my novel and im wondering is it ok that its awful? For the first draft I really just want to get all of my ideas out there and form the outline of the story, then for the future drafts polish it up into something that resembles a good novel. Is this a good strategy or should I try to make my first draft a little neater?
I usually do that. Since I don't like note making, bullet points organizing, I tend to just write and ideas come to me whenever. So, I don't think it's a bad thing to just write down the story simply to put the whole idea down, when you edit it afterwards you might change many things and add more. That's my opinion. I do the same thing you do and I find it okay. Just one thing, sometimes when I get lack of inspiration or feel less likely to write, I go over the parts I already wrote and edit them. Makes it easier to future reviewing since it helps you keep track of what you wrote. Some writers might see that as a complete disaster though. :3
