I was told once that the secret to success is not the first draft but the numerous redrafts that make it better. When I was a young reporter, I didn’t have time for too many drafts. With a novel, there’s more time to work, but there are times when I’ve wanted to throw up my hands and run screaming into the night. But it’s not always a lonely process. Writers and books are made better with the assistance of a great editor who can see plot holes, one-dimensional characters, flat dialogue, improbable set ups, as well as a sounding board for ideas. (And I have been lucky to work with great editors like Caitlyn!)
The toughest part of rewriting is knowing when to stop and let it go. I don’t know if I’ve even been fully satisfied with anything that I’ve written, and that includes newspaper articles long since forgotten. I’m constantly wondering into ‘shoulda, coulda, woulda’ territory.
