Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book

Allison K. Williams has written the most helpful and organized book on how to edit a manuscript I’ve ever read. By concentrating on one theme per draft—for example, The Story Draft—the writer is given permission to temporarily ignore too many adverbs, word counts and other concerns that can bog the writer down and lose track of the original focus. You need discipline to follow her instructions. It’s so tempting to rewrite a whole conversation when you’re supposed to be looking at why the reader should care about your book. Believe me, Allison will come back to editing dialogue later. She does not ignore any aspect of good, solid writing and loads the steps for each draft with the enthusiasm and wealth of experience that is her trademark as a presenter and teacher. Her humor dissipates any temptation to throw yourself a pity party. She knows it’s hard work and she encourages the writer through every draft. A treasure of a book!

This book set me on a path to devour everything Allison K. Williams has to offer. Seven Drafts left me speechless and wanting more. Thanks to her, I have learned (and put into practice) more than I ever got from my MFA. She is a teacher, guide, and overarching friend to all writers, cheering, shooting straight, and telling it as it is with no smoke, no mirrors. It’s the only book on writing I have ever read (and believe me, there have been hundreds) that I will refer to again and again when I need a kick in the pants, a good laugh, or a steady, encouraging hand on my back.

If you're interested at all in becoming a better storyteller, buy this book. There's nothing else to it. It will make you a better writer guaranteed. It's underpriced. I would've paid $50 for this book.

If, like me, you want to make your writing the best ever but don't know where to start, then Seven Drafts is the book for you. The author, Allison K. Williams, takes you through the various aspects of writing, right from the first or ‘vomit’ draft to tightening your plot or improving your characterization or even finding the right agent. And you don't have to go in order; you can hone in on any chapter relevant to you. What I liked best were the exercises at the end of each section; although some of them were a bit laborious ( like asking you to list the conflict in each chapter, or the actions and events and why they happen), once you finish, you have a much better idea of plot holes or weak scenes.Practical, useful, and immeasurably readable, ’Seven Drafts’ will save you time and money, as it teaches you to do a large amount of the editing yourself before sending on to a professional editor. It's like having a good friend by your side, egging you on to do better. I, personally, have worked through some of the exercises and can say very honestly that my writing improved markedly. The advice is very clear and direct. I also like that she gives examples to make a concept clearer by quoting from books or movies that most of us are familiar with so that we can immediately see the connection.The market is saturated with writing books but In my opinion, this is the best one ever. I cannot recommend it enough.

I own a *lot* of writing books. This is easily the best one.

One of my critique partners recommended this book, and I'm glad I bought it. I've been searching for a manageable way to totally revise my middle grade novel, and Williams's approach is so helpful. The idea of going draft-by-draft to focus on story, character, and technical issues, makes the revision process doable. Plus her exercises provide a way to get into the revision.

Craft books and how-to books on writing are a dime a dozen. You could take your pick. But no, you want to pick this book, trust me! This is the one you want if you want to edit your manuscript yourself. Or if you want to edit someone else's manuscript. Or if you want to edit anything. Or just be a better writer.Seventy-six trombones for this book (if you've read it, you will get the reference)! If you read it you will not only learn so much, you will laugh your way through it. Allison is funny! She is real! She is human! You will want to read this craft book because it is part memoir, part comedy routine, all craft talk. You will cry with relief because editing your pages will suddenly feel do-able and you will yank open that drawer where your vomit draft has been gathering dust and you'll attack it with gusto you haven't felt in so long. You will come away fully convinced that in order to teach writing you should be both a circus performer and a trained playwright.There may be only one person in the world uniquely suited to teach us how to edit our own manuscripts and that person is Allison K Williams. Get this book now!

Allison K. Williams provides wealth of information for those new to the craft or wanting to hone their skills. Her humor and examples provide practical advice and guidance to anyone serious about crafting a strong novel or memoir. As a new author, I gleaned excellent insight on how to make my opening SUCK (read the book to learn what the acronym means ;) I've read numerous books on the craft of writing, and this one ranks right up there with Stephen King's classic On Writing.

Allison Williams played one of the most significant roles in my writing development. I think she even used an example of an early piece we worked on together in this book! I was uncommonly lucky to be able to afford to hire Allison as a managing editor when I first published my own magazine many years ago. And again when I published a digital mini memoir called Love All The Way. Those early essays and the mini memoir was a foundational learning experience for me. While we were revising, Allison was teaching me. At a time when I had gotten much praise, but little sculpting, I knew I could trust Allison to be direct, to be clear, and to be collaborative. Now all that is in a book, which i'm tremendously excited to recommend to anyone working on a manuscript. May the power and precision of the "unkind editor" be with you and your work.

This is the best book I have ever read on drafting, editing and countless well-organised writing tips. It is a highly recommended resource for the author to support and extend a writing practice. Allison Williams surely knows her stuff. She conveys her wisdom as a gifted wrting teacher.

I'm using this book RIGHT NOW to edit my 200 page manuscript. I wish I'd had it years ago; would have saved me time and agro. Readable, usable, thorough. I'm skipping around to read the parts I need now and that's totally doable. I'm ordering copies for my friends who are writing books, or planning on it. So very worth the money!

Loved the book, especially the section on reviewing each character - their arcs, their story beats, the purposes they serve etc

Having read the book is like feeling you have a friend in your corner, cheering you on from the sidelines of this ridiculous task we've set ourselves: writing and finishing a book.You won't regret buying it -- it's funny too!