Just hit draft number 50 on my novel and only 6 of them are worth keeping

Ruby Lane · 2026-09-24T13:05:09.028031+00:00

Back in 2021 I started a folder called novel_tries and figured I'd have a clean second draft done in a year. Opened it this morning and there are exactly 50 files in there, some only two paragraphs long, and I've been avoiding the folder like it owes me money. The weird part is rereading them. Six of those drafts have scenes I still like, and one of them has a better opening than anything I've written since. I used to think a real writer just gets it done in fewer tries, but now I'm wondering if the folder is the work. Curious if anyone else numbers their drafts or do you just overwrite the same file every time?

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Just hit draft number 50 on my novel and only 6 of them are worth keeping | Crappy First Drafts - Topic Shares