

#FINAL DRAFT MEANING UPDATE#
But, it’s easy to end up with dozens if not hundreds of files and you’ll have to decide what constitutes a “patch,” an update and a brand new release ahead of time to stay consistent with naming.

Here, you can always revisit an older version to review details you want to re-emphasize in rewrites. Draft 2.0.1: Rewritten rough draft with a minor tweak (or “patch”) to the protagonist’s motivation.Draft 2.0: Rough draft fully rewritten with feedback from critique partners.Draft 1.5: Rough draft with some rewrites.Smaller changes are like patches (the version’s third number) and rewrites might be closer to updates (the second number) rather than a new version release/new draft (the first number). It takes cues from software versioning, noting that not every change means a new draft. While this started as more of a joke between writers on social media, it’s a great middle-of-the-road way to think about drafting. Plus, for larger projects like novels, you need to divide your manuscript into parts and have a file system in place to keep track of your revisions. But you may risk losing details from earlier drafts because of the repeat saves. The advantage here lies in simplicity: you have fewer files to juggle since you’re saving to the same file over and over. Which means when saving a manuscript to a file, you wouldn’t alter the file name until you completely rewrite that chapter, section, or piece.
#FINAL DRAFT MEANING FULL#
By this definition, only full rewrites of a piece count as a true draft. Keep reading for more on how this draft spectrum works.
