I can now say that I’ve finished draft 5. New prologue and all. I learn something new from each draft, but one element that really became obvious is how sparse I am when it comes to description. I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing, it’s just a fact. I tell myself to add more, but end up taking out. My very first rough draft was around 98k words (give or take, I have the numbers saved somewhere). The first draft rewrite clocked in around 90k. The next one was around 79k, followed by around 90k again. Current draft is complete at 83k.
Of course, now I need to do a continuity read, because I edited out of order and things might be screwy in places. But that will wait. For now, I will celebrate and get over the cold that finally got around to me. (I thwarted it for a good two months)
I tend to make the mistake of editing as I continuity read; changing half the sub-plots and orders! Congrats on completing the draft!
So do I! I forced myself to read a digital copy this time and write down notes just so I could resist the urge to edit.
If only I had the patience/self-discipline to do that! I’ve gotten much better now I use track changes to be like “change this” and then move on QUICK!