> 'the second draft is where you make it look like you knew what you were doing the whole time' That's why I qualified with "even during the later stages". It

> 'the second draft is where you make it look like you knew what you were doing the whole time' That's why I qualified with "even during the later stages". It seemed to me that OP implied that the book would be completely finalised for publication without the author having gained the required perspective on their ideas. And that would surely defeat the object, since their insight wouldn't make it into the book; otherwise, I agree with your point.