How To Write a Novel: The 5 Draft Method

Draft 5 - The Polish Draft

    You've made it! One little draft left to go. One more draft and you are done with the manuscript that you've had in your pocket for who knows how long now. Years maybe. Months at least. So what is the final draft all about? Polish. Making the book shine like a new penny so when an agent or a publisher gets a hold of it they see gold. So how do we accomplish this feat? Well, you read your story. All the little things you have corrected over the last four drafts are going to stick out. Make sure the commas are right, make sure capital letters are capital. Read through it with a fine tooth comb. Don't read it as a story or a book, read it as installation instructions for a 20 piece stereo unit. Its not fun, its work. So make it work. Don't read the sentences, read the words. Make sure everything is perfect. Make sure “too” isn't “to” and make sure there aren't extra spaces between words. The best advice I can give this draft: go extremely slow. When I am in a polish draft, I read every sentence three or four times. Each time I look for something different. I don't ever read a whole paragrpah and I force myself not to get into the story. I, personally, try to polish edit 50 pages a day. It gets old, it gets boring, but it has to be done.

    You have done all the hard work, now you just have to apply the spit shine. Buff it out, and guess what? You are done!  This draft should take you about a week to complete. Give or take. But you do have other options. Check online for copy editors. Send your script off to be edited by a professional. It can get pricy (especially for a full manuscript line edit) but it is worth it, if you can afford it. If not, get help where ever you can. Critiques are pointless to you at this point in the game. You need editing help. So stay away from family and friends (unless they are English majors or copy editors). Every word must be looked at and scrutinized. It will be painful to let go, but you need too. Be mean to yourself here. You have come a long way. This week of editing will be the most daunting you have ever done. When you are done, cap your red pen and toss it in the drawer. Open up your computer and start your new document. Edit Draft 4 and create Draft 5 with your final, polished changes.

When you are done, you can stand proud. You are officially a writer. You have written an actual novel and it is worth reading. Congratulations!

So. How do these edits look?  With my method it is quite drastic. Here is an example.

My screenplay (Ghost Target) had a rough draft written in a notebook. The first scene, the opening scene in draft 1 looked like this:

Fade In:

EXT. CHICAGO SKYLINE – NIGHT

    Camera pans in from Chicago skyline down to a quiet, dimmly lit road. The road is dirty and deserted. Closing in and focusing on a neon sign that says “Jimmy's”. Sign turns off.

INT. JIMMY'S BAR – NIGHT

    A man is behind the bar cleaning glasses and the bar top, talking to a man, who is sweeping the floor. A third man is putting up chairs.

{begin dialogue}

That was it. That was the opening scene for my movie. The idea is there. That's about all that is there though. There are tons of errors, screen writing faux puas (such as directing and telling the camera man what to do - BIG Hollywood no-nos). But what happens when it goes through my 5 Draft Method?

By the Pollish draft, this:

FADE IN:

EXT. CHICAGO SKYLINE – NIGHT

    An inky night sky is the backdrop to the jagged Chicago skyline. Some of the buildings are a deeper black against the night like sleeping giants, while others have sparkling little beacons of light shining from them like gems against dark velvet. Slowly the beauty of the skyline gives way to the seedier side of city life. Dingy, windswept streets full of trash, graffiti, and the empty husks of broken down cars wind through the slums like clogged and scarred arteries. The only twinkling beacons in this darkness are the neon signs blinking spastically in the windows of seedy bars and neighborhood pool halls and the only gems are the bits of broken glass in the gutters. In a hulking one story structure of tired brick a large neon sign that says "Jimmy's" suddenly winks off and heavy red curtains are pulled across the dirty plate glass windows like the drowsy eyelids of some strange, squat beast.

INT. JIMMY'S BAR – NIGHT

    Dim lighting cannot hide the greasy, used-up look of the bar's interior. Mismatched chairs are stacked upside down on small, scarred tables, and stuffing is poking tiredly from several of the worn red leather booths around the perimeter. The bar is long and narrow, with several missing stools along its length. Contrary to the rest of the decor, the bar itself is gleaming and its surface is highly polished. Standing behind the bar, shining glasses with the same care he applies to the bar top, is a tall, clean shaven man. He has broad shoulders and the narrow hips of an athlete. He is dressed in a designer silk T-shirt and pleated slacks. Not a hair is out of place, and yet he exudes a quiet air of danger and a coldness that would intimidate even the drunkest, most oblivious patrons. A small, frigid smile touches his lips as JIMMY holds the glass he has been polishing up to one of only two bar lights still burning. His low voice carries effortlessly across the vast room to TONY, who is busily sweeping broken beer bottles and peanut shells from under one of the tables near the entrance. Despite his short, burly physique, Tony moves gracefully from table to table, using the broom in short, efficient sweeps. His custom three piece suit should seem out of place in this tired beer joint, but it fits him well and there is not so much as a wrinkle to give away the generous cut made to conceal the holster he wears under his jacket. His voice is loud, not carrying quite as well as Jimmy's, as they banter back and forth. A third man, GUIDO, is stacking the last few dilapidated chairs on wobbly tables. He is skinny, almost to the point of being skeletal, and he moves with his shoulders hunched as though expecting a blow to land across them at any moment. Unlike his friends, Guido is dressed in cheap slacks and a badly made Hawaiian style shirt in colors that almost hurt the eyes.

{begin dialogue}

Quite a change huh? A much better read, and you not only just read about whats going on, you can see it, you can feel it. You can do it too. Follow your heart. Follow your passion. Write like you love it. If this 5 Draft Method works for you, I'd love to hear about it. Drop me a line, leave a comment and let me know how it goes for you!

Good luck, Writer!