Index: wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php
===================================================================
--- wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php	(revision 25734)
+++ wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php	(working copy)
@@ -585,11 +585,12 @@
 
 	if ( $drafts && is_array( $drafts ) ) {
 		$list = array();
+		$content_length = apply_filters( 'recent_drafts_content_length', 10 );
 		foreach ( $drafts as $draft ) {
 			$url = get_edit_post_link( $draft->ID );
 			$title = _draft_or_post_title( $draft->ID );
 			$item = "<h4><a href='$url' title='" . sprintf( __( 'Edit &#8220;%s&#8221;' ), esc_attr( $title ) ) . "'>" . esc_html($title) . "</a> <abbr title='" . get_the_time(__('Y/m/d g:i:s A'), $draft) . "'>" . get_the_time( get_option( 'date_format' ), $draft ) . '</abbr></h4>';
-			if ( $the_content = wp_trim_words( $draft->post_content, 10 ) )
+			if ( $the_content = wp_trim_words( $draft->post_content, $content_length ) )
 				$item .= '<p>' . $the_content . '</p>';
 			$list[] = $item;
 		}