Craft & work

How much rewriting or revision do you do?

46 answers answered between 1932 and 2026 one of 3 in The Art of Fiction

Originally asked

The Paris Review, to novelists and poets, The Art of Fiction

A recurring Art of Fiction craft question, sometimes asked about daily rewriting and sometimes about the number of drafts.

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On the record

Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Barbara Browning American academic, novelist, dancer, and cultural critic
It was devastating. That’s really the only word. I was looking for another one. It was devastating on a number of levels, but mostly because I had to confront the fact that I had hurt this person so much that they would say that to me. That was the devastating thing. The rewriting was … once again, I’m not sure if “therapeutic” is the word, but it did feel something like a penance.
Recorded Mark Sussman, The Creative Independent interview source ↗

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