Razor's Project Hope (Assignment Two, I think)

[Razor7826]

Heinlein was also talking from the age of typewriters, so rewriting and revising were often one in the same. However, in the age of computers, a rewrite, in my eyes, actually retyping the entire thing, using the original as a mere reference that can be stuck to as closely as desired. Revising, in my eyes, is editing with an axe, willing to chop away and restructure things as deeply as necessary.

So, I guess they are kind of a matter of degree.

Heinlein's full list- (http://www.sfwriter.com/ow05.htm)

1) You must write (VOLUME)
2) Finish what you start (You need to see the entire piece before you can build a sense for what works and what doesn't)
3) Refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order (Stories are never truly finished- learn to abandon them and call them 'done'.)
4) Put your story on the market.
5) Keep it on the market until it is sold.

The more I think about it, the more those rules seem like the path I need to follow if I want to write for a living. As I've said numerous times, I've been writing fiction for less than a year, and I've never taken a creative writing class, and only one college level composition class. I need to write more. I need to finish more so I can see the big picture of what works and what doesn't, and then I need to move on and see if I can build something better. Editing and revising are still necessary, but, from my perspective, it has diminishing marginal returns. After enough editing passes, it is time to drop it, get it out there, then move on to something newer, and hopefully better.

With that said, I do think I need to spend more time developing a better editing eye; this work especially had a ton of misplaced or incorrect words, things that really should have been caught in my revising passes.

[Mad Lews]

1) You must write (VOLUME)
2) Finish what you start (You need to see the entire piece before you can build a sense for what works and what doesn't)
3) Refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order (Stories are never truly finished- learn to abandon them and call them 'done'.)
4) Put your story on the market.
5) Keep it on the market until it is sold.

Oh yeah in context I see it.
Rule 1 is on everyones list, gonna be a writer you need to write.
2) is sometimes a tough one but usually if the story is worthwhile it has the legs to sustain it.
3) I take the last part to heart. A story can always be improved and at some point you need to say "enough!" I'm not sure if that means you must refrain from rewriting or revising especially since the muses have given us computers that make it so much easier than in the golden years of the Smith Corrona and the IBM selectric.
4) yes when your pleased with your work and the volume is sufficient go for it.
5) well it's a slow process at least on the print side so be patient, without being just plain stubborn. At some point you need to look at your work and look at what's published and do the old contrast and compare. then its back to the old story board.