The constant bane of all writers is without a doubt the simple fact that one cannot will an idea on to paper.
I know; I can feel you rolling your eyes at me. But, please, bear with me for a moment…
When I started out in my writing career, my daily goal was to reach 1000 new words in a day.
Now, my daily word count goals reach far higher. For typing raw narrative: 1000 new words an hour, for many, many hours. For dictation: 3000 new words an hour. Again, for many, many hours.
As years of practice honed my production rate, so I kept refining my editing skills, too. These days, my daily editing word count goal is often higher than 10,000 words per day.
The thing is, the constant bane of my personal writing experience is that I’m not actually a good writer. Instead, I am a very good rewriter.
Let me show you what I mean by the numbers. The second edition manuscript of Earth Song is sitting right under 99k words. However, the whole project including all its discarded elements, is 162k words. For the record, I wrote ten drafts of Earth Song before you got the final version of the story, though those ten iterations had many of the same words just in very different orders.
Earth Song reflects my rewriting process closer to the start of my career. Tide Song, my fourth installment of Lucky’s series, is another beast entirely, and shows off the rewriter I am now.
The most recent draft I got back from the editors is 155k words. The whole project, including discarded elements and the three distinct main drafts that have preceded this version, is a whopping 451k words.
My stories have grown with my skill, but that is pretty normal for writers and rewriters alike. However, I got so frustrated keeping over 400k words all straight in my head, and that is only a fragment of the larger story at hand. Being good at rewriting, though, means Tide Song is only going to get even bigger if I do my job well, and if I don’t… well…
So, I was preparing myself for the usual pep talk when I got my last round of edits back: I can do this. I can do this *again.* I can do this even better *again.*
Imagine instead that as I opened the email, my eyes scanned through the first few lines of feedback looking for critique. I knew what to look for, too; my editor and I have a great working relationship.
But I didn’t see the ways I could improve. My usual weaknesses were nowhere to be found.
So, I read diligently, and I found the words… exemplary. The best I could have hoped for. Really proud. A chef’s kiss.
You are lucky to be reading about this triumph rather than having been in the room with me, because I squealed so loud and so long with giddy delight that my furry overlord shot out of my lap in disgust.
There were so many days and nights when the words blurred in my memory and on screen. I had pushed through doubts, struggled through tough decisions, and drafted almost 30k words of new material that had never even been beta read before going to my editor.
It was all worth it. Every minute giving up sleep. Every rewrite ripping up polished lines for the sake of better story.
Totally, completely, exhaustingly worth it.
And you know what? I’m going to do it again. And again, over and over, because I just can’t stop rewriting. Even when I’m frustrated. Even when it feels like an insurmountably gargantuan undertaking.
Rewriting is what I’m good at. So, I’ll just keep getting better.