The Art of Long Revisions

Over on Substack, I was honored when recently asked to write a guest post by Winston Malone of The Storyletter XPress, a popular newsletter on writing and everything of value to the writer, including community, contests and tips.

My essay, which is available here, is called ‘The Art of Long Revisions.’ In it, I take a leisurely retrospective view over my formative experiences as a professional writer in the past 20-plus years, and make the case for why it can actually be beneficial for writers (of both short stories and long novels) to take plenty of time and let the story ‘tell itself.’

This is not just a hypothetical recommendation, as in the article I discuss a recent real-life case study in which I finally got an ending tight that had eluded me – hiding in plain sight – during years of revisions and rejections.

I recommend the article to anyone struggling with doubt or concern over their own writing process, and the obvious pressures of haste in a world driven ever more by speed of ‘turnaround’ and literally robotic influence. I also recommend anyone interested in writing to sign up for The Storyletter at the above link.