The First Draft
I started to write a piece about the leaked draft of the impeding SCOTUS decision on Roe v Wade, but thankfully veered away from the lightning rod of American Politics.
What got my attention was the attention paid to a draft and the misunderstanding of what a first draft is.
From what I have gathered, the copy was a draft, but it was unclear where in the process the document was. Writing fiction and SCOTUS rulings can only be compared in that they both have a process from the initial thought to the finished product. This process happens through drafts.
I remember reading, though I can’t recall where, that first drafts are like writing with the door closed. They are personal and always change. No one is looking over your shoulder and you don’t have to please anyone but yourself. Each author has their own level of refinement for a first draft. Some write without revision. I revise some as I write. That doesn’t mean it’s done though. Before I even open the door and show the draft copy to my editor and beta reader, I do two more edits. Each changes something, often extremely consequential.
Once these folks get into the document there are always comments, questions, and refinements. I add these without going through the entire manuscript, much like the judge writing the decision would do after receiving comments from their peers. Once these are incorporated, my editor has another go at the manuscript after which I reread the entire book, noting any final changes. This process incorporates about five edits into the manuscript. In each case, I not the step with a chapter notation. For example 2-3 means second chapter, third revision.
Some drafts hold up well, others don’t. Storm Force had two women interacting with Mako Storm. One was a protagonist (good guy), the other the antagonist (bad guy). During the second edit, I changed their roles. That’s a pretty drastic change.
A first draft of the court’s decision is written as a starting place, a beginning point, not the end. Each justice will interact with the document, making suggestions that are often incorporated into the final decision.
I’d hate to see one of my first drafts released.