How Many Drafts Should I Write? Is 2 Enough?
What's a good number? I think I should stop at draft 20 right?
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Hello! Welcome to my weekly newsletter!
Enjoy a dose of my playwriting process,
writing confessions, and all the mess in between.
Let me save you some time: There is no magic number.
There’s no secret formula to how many drafts you should write.
No playwright committee is handing out gold stars because you have a hit play in Draft 1.
(But on that note, please don’t stop at Draft 1, for the love of god.)
The truth is this:
Some people finish a play in three months.
Others take ten years and twenty existential breakdowns.
Both are valid processes!
It’s not about how many drafts. It’s about how honest those drafts are.
Some people write Draft 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, others write Draft 1, 1.2, 1.3.
In building the world of your plays, you also build in the processes that work for you.
So ask yourself:
Is this play doing what I hoped it would do?
Are the characters clear? Not just to you, but to others?
Is the structure/elements/dialogues helping or hiding the story?
Is the feedback you're getting new… or just repeating what you already know that you agreed and implemented, or disagreed and discarded?
If people are still confused...
Keep working. They are your audience. Because if only you understand your play… then why write at all, if it’s 100% self-serving.
If you’re only changing one or two words now...
You might be done. Let the director and actors fix those one-words for you. You might even forget its there when it goes to stage.
If you’re rewriting just because you’re scared to let go...
Maybe you’re the one holding the draft back, and not the draft that’s holding you back. Do as Elsa would and <cue music>.
At the end of the day,
it’s not about hitting Draft 5, Draft 12, or Draft 37. It’s about giving your play the amount of care it deserves. And knowing when you’re adding value, and when you’re just rearranging furniture.
So, is two enough?
Sometimes. But sometimes absolutely not.
Numbers after all, are the most boring of shapes.
You’ll know when it’s time to stop. And if you don’t, ask someone.
Do YOU have a magic number? Let me know!