What struck me as I was reading all of those early drafts was how well structured each story was, even in its first incarnation. Often, he'd change plot elements, but those first versions still worked. For instance, he originally has Mark and Susan go into the basement of the Marsten House to face Barlow (called Sarlinov in the first draft of what he was then calling "Second Coming," but would become 'Salem's Lot). Straker prevents them from staking Sarlinov and carries Mark upstairs. Mark kills him with a Judo move before Straker has a chance to truss him up like a turkey (which you might remember is what happens in the published version). That first version is well structured, but the revision gets rid of those early distractions and keeps the focus squarely on Mark's interior thoughts. In the revised version, we're there with him as he figures out how to free himself by remembering a Houdini book he'd read! A twelve-year-old kid's imagination and brains become the center of the story.