One writing and publishing adage I’ve always believed in: “Writing is rewriting.”
Fiction writer Amina Gautier’s approach is similar. For her, revising is the best part. Over at the latest Glimmer Train bulletin, she offers tips on unlocking the joy of revision. She says:
Revising encourages and liberates the writer to “make mistakes.” It rewards mistakes; each “mistake” teaches one something about the story one is writing and gets one that much closer to the story one is meant to write. Revision reconciles the competing versions of the story that the writer carries in his head. Until the writer has gotten the story down on paper or onto the screen, he often cannot tell the difference between what he actually wrote, what he thought he wrote, and what he hoped to write.
Go read the entire piece over at Glimmer Train. Also take a look at Michael Varga’s “Find the Seeds in Your Own Biography.”
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
Yes, yes, and yes. The first draft is just preparation. It is the revision and editing process that the work is made. And that draft needs to be messy and bloated–you should just let it all hang out. And then you go in with a knife and craft the piece–and that is where the fun begins. Love working after making that draft. As Pascal said, I would have written less if I had more time. There is nothing worse that trying to make a 10,000 word article from a 5,000 word draft.
I have no problem with revisions. In fact, I have the opposite problem. I can’t stop revising. I learn more everyday and I know I can always make something better. At some point I have to force myself to stop and move on to something else. But it’s really hard.
The book is in the rewrite.
Fabulous post. I truly love revising where you can weed out, reconstruct and re-vision the work as you want it to be. And it not only makes for a better book, but helps to keep it fresh in our own minds.
[…] How Revising Rewards Mistakes […]
“Until the writer has gotten the story down on paper or onto the screen, he often cannot tell the difference between what he actually wrote, what he thought he wrote, and what he hoped to write. ”
So well said.
I’m a big proponent of letting the truth take you where it wants.
Just sayin’. This rewrite is killing me.
[…] of Revision: You can find your story/thought by figuring out what it isn’t. Hat tip to How Revising Rewards Mistakes for […]