Book Review: Seven Drafts by Allison K Williams

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In the interest of continuing education, I recently took a course on developmental editing led by long-time editors Allison K. Williams and Jane Friedman. It was during this three part class that I became familiar with Williams’s no-nonsense tell-it-like-it-is editing style.

I also learned about her recently published book Seven Drafts: Self-edit like a pro from blank page to book.

As both a writer and an editor, I thought this book sounded like a great tool to add to my toolkit. I ordered the print version, knowing I would likely be thumbing through it back and forth as a reference. I was right.

I think all writers of book-length manuscripts would benefit from reading this book.

About the Author

Williams has served as editor and book coach for many authors who have been published by the Big Five publishing houses. She also works with indie authors, and is an author herself.

Is this Book for You?

Because Williams is a long-time editor primarily of memoir, the numerous examples she provides are of that genre. However, since memoirs operate on many of the same principles as fiction, the examples in the book give fiction writers great insight. Biography and other nonfiction writers will also find the tenets of this book useful.

About the Book

Seven Drafts is written to teach writers how to revise their manuscripts. It's not enough to write the first draft of a book and then check it for spelling and punctuation and call it good. A writer needs to take a look at the nuts and bolts of their story (fiction or nonfiction) and see what is structurally sound and what needs shoring up. Besides having a strong foundation, the story needs to have enough interest to keep readers turning the page.

Allison K. Williams leads authors through their manuscripts layer by layer fixing each draft in a different way.

So what are these seven drafts?

Draft One —The Vomit Draft

This first one is the original draft where the author spits the story onto the page. It’s the "shitty first draft" as renowned author Anne Lammot has dubbed it.

Draft Two—The Story Draft

Here's where the writer makes sure their draft contains the basic pieces all good stories should have: a main problem, clear protagonist, action, stakes, obstacles, and a goal. Williams gives us almost a hundred pages of advice on how to add or enhance these pieces as we go through the manuscript this second time.

Draft Three—The Character Draft

Here, authors are instructed to look critically at their characters and their motivations. Point of view and setting are also brought under scrutiny in this round of revision.

Draft Four—The Technical Draft

This section is the longest in the book. It's chock full of the kinds of things a professional editor will look for. Now is when the author gets into the nitty gritty of scene crafting. She explains what makes a scene a scene and how to craft them so they keep readers engaged. In this chapter Williams also addresses sentence structure, discussing things such as passive voice, dialogue tags, and filtering. This is the time to address "show don't tell" and replace weak adverbs with strong verbs.

Draft Five—The Personal Copyedit

In this round of revision, Williams shows writers how to format and clean up their manuscripts to get them ready for others' eyes. She also gives a handy overview of all those pesky punctuation marks.

Draft Six—The Friend Read

Also known as a beta read, this round is when someone else is reading your manuscript. Williams gives pointers on how to make the most effective use of the feedback you get from another writer’s critique of your book.

Draft Seven—The Editor Draft

This editor draft might be done by an agent. Or the author might hire an editor to do a manuscript critique. Williams makes a good point that even having just the first three chapters critiqued by a professional editor can provide the author with valuable insight which can be applied to the rest of the manuscript. Revisions from this kind of professional feedback can really strengthen a novel or memoir.

My Thoughts on the Book

I have found this book helpful in my own writing and self-editing. I think it is a handy resources that all writers should have in their toolkit.

You can learn more about the book by following this link to Amazon.

You can learn more about Allison K. Williams at her website allisonkwilliams.com. She also writes for the Brevity blog.

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Happy Writing!

—Tiffiny @The Pink Pen