Just in case you ever become a famous novelist

Carol

Carol

The book section in the online Times has an item about first drafts, in this computer age they apparently don't survive- not too sure about that.
So just in case you become world famous for your books...
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article1746989.ece

SilentTony

I don't know, maybe you could switch the Word reviewing option on and print out a copy with all your corrections highlighted.

Tessa Tangent

My first draft has stayed as a first because I save the second draft edit and amendments/additions as Draft 2 which not only gives it another title so I can pick it out but keeps the first one intact.  Am I pedantic, or what?!

Carol

No I don't think you are TT.
After all there could be a great idea in that first draft -which you could use later in another story, but don't use in the second draft- delete it and the idea could be gone forever.

M. Welshman

I have saved my first draft of Pets in Prospects as it had some chapters about animal incidents that I felt could be taken out without jeopardising the script; and it still left me with 85.000 words or so. This means I have some story lines for the sequel to fall back on.

Carol

A lesson to us all then to save our first draft.

Liz H

I must admit I have more than one draft, several in fact. Having lost it all once I am almost paranoid about doing so again.

I also have an odds and ends file which contains paragraphs I have taken out of my novel, (to reduce the word count!) but don't want to delete in case I can use them another time. It also saves me searching through an old version of the entire novel.

Stirling

My first draft of 'bound', then called 'Double Platinum' was so bad I burned it.  Enough to ruin a reputaion I think.

SilentTony

"My first draft of 'bound', then called 'Double Platinum' was so bad I burned it."

That is brilliant. There is probably a story in that incident alone. I hope it warmed your hands if it never burnt you with passion.

Stirling

LOL ST.

Oh I was passionate about it, I just couldn't write.  God only knows why I sent it to agents.  It was so badly written, the only thing it retains now six years later is the characters.

Badly written and badly plotted.  I hadn't developed the writing skills I needed to make it work.

Jay Mandal

Thanks, Carol. (They've published my comment online.)

Carol

Yes I saw it, and one from Rose in Ryde on the Isle of Wight. (Was that you Dorothy, or someone else?)