Maybe I am weird, but I don’t do “drafts” for my longer stories and novel-in-progress (sorry, Ernest.) It never made sense to me to write a whole story and then go back and re-write it over and over. Maybe it’s semantics, but I do what could be called continuous editing.

I write one chapter or scene. Then I re-read it and make edits. The next writing session, I re-read it and make any more edits I think it needs. Then I write the next chapter or scene. Then I re-read what I have just written and make edits. If what I wrote affects an earlier part of the story, I immediately go back and change what needs changing, before continuing. The next writing session, I re-read what I wrote the previous session and make any more edits I think it needs. Then I write the next chapter or scene.

I repeat this method until I finish the story. By then I basically have a “final draft.” I don’t need to re-write the whole thing again. I re-read and make any small tweaks it needs.

Of course, none of this applies to my short humor or fiction which I crank out all at once. Which could usually use some more editing. But I often publish it anyway.

Have I been rambling… Sorry.