Looking at the above, it may confuse you that I have both ‘rough’ drafts and ‘first’ drafts. My draft labelling system works like this:

Rough Draft – Scrawled, terrible, unfit for eyes human or otherwise

First Draft – Prose fixed to become legible and most glaring inconsistencies addressed. Suitable for brave beta readers.

Revised Draft – Issues raised from First Draft addressed with close line edits. Suitable for skittish beta readers. Repeat as necessary.

Revised drafts consist of three stages: a chapter by chapter sweep; addressing notes made during sweep; and the printed-out line edit.