There are many quotes from notable writers to the effect that "writing is rewriting". Although I agree with this to a certain extent, there are many people that take this to an extreme. For these people, writing is a seemingly endless process towards perfection where the writer writes and rewrites what he/she has created going deeper and deeper into the heart of the story. Many claim this IS the way writing should be, and others claim that writers SHOULD do this out of respect for their readers. If you don't rewrite what you wrote dozens of times making it more and more perfect, then you are disrespecting your readers.
I don't get it.
Let me be clear, if you are writing the next "great American novel" and you are aiming for immortality among the all time greats in literature yes, by all means rewrite your stuff a hundred times. Or if you write for a select group of demanding readers, or you can't help being a perfectionist, yes, go ahead and strive for perfection.
But what if your goal is just to sell books? Let me ask you something. Suppose you write and rewrite your book making it say 80% perfect, and you sell an average of one hundred a month. Now suppose you write and rewrite your book even more making it 90% or 95% perfect and you sell the same amount. What does that tell you?
The way I see it, it tells you that within this interval (80-95%) readers don't care for a 10% or 15% increase in the perfection of the book. In fact, the time that you spend writing and rewriting your first book is time that you can spend writing your second book while earning money from your first book. Why rewrite more when you can rewrite less and make money. Doesn't this make sense to you?
Furthermore, by delaying the publication of your book while you make it needlessly perfect, you are denying your readers the pleasure of reading it in a way that would be perfectly acceptable to them. Doesn't this show disrespect for your reader? Why delay and impose perfection on a reader who doesn't care for it? Some people will reply that this is to "educate" them. Wow, talk about respecting your readers! And even worse, after putting so much effort into making your book needlessly perfect you may want to charge more for it. Where is the reader respect in that?
Up until recently the above questions were moot as it was the publishers/editors who decided whether your work was perfect enough to be published. But with the advent of e-books, authors have been liberated from the grind of senseless writing and rewriting of their books. Authors are now free to take their work directly to the readers, and let said readers decide what level of perfection is acceptable.
Of course I understand we all have personal standards, but if our goal is to sell books, then we must also be practical. However, at the same time we should understand that there will be a threshold of imperfection that no story, no matter how good, will manage to overcome. Obviously readers will balk at reading sloppily written books full of spelling mistakes, garbled grammar, and typos.
I believe the maxim "writer know thy reader", should be approached from both ends. Don't overdo it, but also don't under do it either. For me, understanding this is what respect for your readers is all about.
I don't get it.
Let me be clear, if you are writing the next "great American novel" and you are aiming for immortality among the all time greats in literature yes, by all means rewrite your stuff a hundred times. Or if you write for a select group of demanding readers, or you can't help being a perfectionist, yes, go ahead and strive for perfection.
But what if your goal is just to sell books? Let me ask you something. Suppose you write and rewrite your book making it say 80% perfect, and you sell an average of one hundred a month. Now suppose you write and rewrite your book even more making it 90% or 95% perfect and you sell the same amount. What does that tell you?
The way I see it, it tells you that within this interval (80-95%) readers don't care for a 10% or 15% increase in the perfection of the book. In fact, the time that you spend writing and rewriting your first book is time that you can spend writing your second book while earning money from your first book. Why rewrite more when you can rewrite less and make money. Doesn't this make sense to you?
Furthermore, by delaying the publication of your book while you make it needlessly perfect, you are denying your readers the pleasure of reading it in a way that would be perfectly acceptable to them. Doesn't this show disrespect for your reader? Why delay and impose perfection on a reader who doesn't care for it? Some people will reply that this is to "educate" them. Wow, talk about respecting your readers! And even worse, after putting so much effort into making your book needlessly perfect you may want to charge more for it. Where is the reader respect in that?
Up until recently the above questions were moot as it was the publishers/editors who decided whether your work was perfect enough to be published. But with the advent of e-books, authors have been liberated from the grind of senseless writing and rewriting of their books. Authors are now free to take their work directly to the readers, and let said readers decide what level of perfection is acceptable.
Of course I understand we all have personal standards, but if our goal is to sell books, then we must also be practical. However, at the same time we should understand that there will be a threshold of imperfection that no story, no matter how good, will manage to overcome. Obviously readers will balk at reading sloppily written books full of spelling mistakes, garbled grammar, and typos.
I believe the maxim "writer know thy reader", should be approached from both ends. Don't overdo it, but also don't under do it either. For me, understanding this is what respect for your readers is all about.
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