My first draft was up at about 110,000 words. Today I completed the fourth draft, and the word count is down to 93,743.Not every one of those 16,000-or-so cuts hurt... but a lot of them did. Still, the story is a lot sharper and stronger as a result--which, of course, is much more important than word count.
Draft Four is now in the hands of my First Reader. Will there be a Fifth Draft?
