On Rewriting

[Argent'horn]

Steve, you have been making a point about not rewriting as part of your yearlong plan to become a better writer. Not all writing can be done this way. As a research mathematician, I often spend weeks, months, or sometimes even years solving a problem before I can begin writing. When I do begin writing, it is rare for me to get a manuscript that anyone else can read in fewer than ten rewrites. I have written as many as twenty. Not all of my colleagues do this, but I get a lot of compliments on how easy to read my papers are.

And no, I am not a perfectionist who is never satisfied. I am
always satisfied that an article manuscript is the best I can make it when I send it to an editor. In 37 years of writing mathematical papers, I have only two or three times had a paper returned for revisions; they are generally accepted outright.

I only rarely write stories. When I do, I notice that they would probably benefit from my many-draft rewriting habits. I have not had time to do it, so I doubt whether I shall ever publish one.

Certainly my methods are not satisfactory for someone who is paid by the word, but if I wrote any other way, I doubt whether very many mathematicians would read my work; as things stand, I think my papers are more widely read than those of the vast majority of my colleagues, at least in part because people know that they will be able to understand them.

[Steven Barnes]

Let's look at the formula, which is intended to get FICTION writers published:

1) Write a story a week, or a story every other week. Don't have much time? Write slowly? Then write shorter stories.
2) Finish what you write. That means that however much polishing you need, it needs to be complete within that 1-2 week period. Again, that might mean short-short stories. No problem.
3) Put it in the mail. You have to submit. Expose yourself to failure as often as possible.
4) Keep it in the mail until it sells. When (not IF) it comes back, just put it in another envelope and send it to the next on your list.
5) Don't re-write except to editorial request. You will learn vastly more by writing a new story than by re-writing an old one.
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and, BTW if you think that writing short stories won't help you write novels or screenplays, you are sadly mistaken.