diff --git a/app/models/bubble/draftable.rb b/app/models/bubble/draftable.rb
index 1f2879eeb..0a42856e6 100644
--- a/app/models/bubble/draftable.rb
+++ b/app/models/bubble/draftable.rb
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ module Bubble::Draftable
   extend ActiveSupport::Concern
 
   included do
-    enum :status, %w[ drafted published ].index_by(&:itself)
+    enum :status, %w[ creating drafted published ].index_by(&:itself)
 
-    scope :published_or_drafted_by, ->(user) { where(status: :published).or(where(creator: user)) }
+    scope :published_or_drafted_by, ->(user) { where(status: :published).or(where(status: :drafted, creator: user)) }
   end
 
   def publish
diff --git a/db/migrate/20250206141302_change_bubbles_status_default_to_creating.rb b/db/migrate/20250206141302_change_bubbles_status_default_to_creating.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..004fe75d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20250206141302_change_bubbles_status_default_to_creating.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+class ChangeBubblesStatusDefaultToCreating < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.1]
+  def change
+    change_column_default :bubbles, :status, :creating
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index e81962738..d264baed9 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #
 # It's strongly recommended that you check this file into your version control system.
 
-ActiveRecord::Schema[8.1].define(version: 2025_02_04_211520) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema[8.1].define(version: 2025_02_06_141302) do
   create_table "accesses", force: :cascade do |t|
     t.integer "bucket_id", null: false
     t.integer "user_id", null: false
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema[8.1].define(version: 2025_02_04_211520) do
     t.integer "stage_id"
     t.integer "comments_count", default: 0, null: false
     t.integer "activity_score", default: 0, null: false
-    t.text "status", default: "drafted", null: false
+    t.text "status", default: "creating", null: false
     t.index ["bucket_id"], name: "index_bubbles_on_bucket_id"
     t.index ["stage_id"], name: "index_bubbles_on_stage_id"
   end
diff --git a/test/models/bubble/draftable_test.rb b/test/models/bubble/draftable_test.rb
index 5a13f1f66..648da92d5 100644
--- a/test/models/bubble/draftable_test.rb
+++ b/test/models/bubble/draftable_test.rb
@@ -1,19 +1,26 @@
 require "test_helper"
 
 class Bubble::DraftableTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
-  test "bubbles are only visible to the creator by default" do
-    bubble = buckets(:writebook).bubbles.create! creator: users(:kevin), title: "Drafted Bubble"
+  test "bubbles start out in a `creating` state" do
+    bubble = buckets(:writebook).bubbles.create! creator: users(:kevin), title: "Newly created bubble"
+
+    assert bubble.creating?
+    assert_not_includes Bubble.published_or_drafted_by(users(:kevin)), bubble
+    assert_not_includes Bubble.published_or_drafted_by(users(:jz)), bubble
+  end
+
+  test "bubbles are only visible to the creator when drafted" do
+    bubble = buckets(:writebook).bubbles.create! creator: users(:kevin), title: "Drafted Bubble"
+    bubble.drafted!
 
-    assert bubble.drafted?
     assert_includes Bubble.published_or_drafted_by(users(:kevin)), bubble
     assert_not_includes Bubble.published_or_drafted_by(users(:jz)), bubble
   end
 
   test "bubbles are visible to everyone when published" do
-    bubble = buckets(:writebook).bubbles.create! creator: users(:kevin), title: "Drafted Bubble"
+    bubble = buckets(:writebook).bubbles.create! creator: users(:kevin), title: "Published Bubble"
     bubble.published!
 
-    assert bubble.published?
     assert_includes Bubble.published_or_drafted_by(users(:kevin)), bubble
     assert_includes Bubble.published_or_drafted_by(users(:jz)), bubble
   end