I’ve been shocked over the past year to learn that a fair number of writers choose to rewrite a first draft from scratch rather than revise it.

That’s because to rewrite a first draft would never occur to me–not unless I’m trying to work with, say, the failed draft of my very first novel that is far too poor a story to revise. Unless it’s a desperate situation, I would never rewrite from scratch.

To be clear, I’m not saying writers SHOULDN’T rewrite their first drafts. There are very, very few “shoulds” when it comes to artistic process. I’m saying it’s not my thing.

Rewriting a first draft feels like unnecessary work to me, and like wasting what foundation you’ve laid. But if that’s what works for some writers, there’s nothing wrong with it in theory, for sure.

If it’s what a particular person prefers, they should go for it, definitely! Some processes are slower, some faster. Some have more work on the front end, some on the back. It’s all give and take.

But here’s what I would do if I rewrote a decent (for a first draft) first draft:

-I would constantly want to compare it with the other draft

-I would worry about losing or forgetting gems of a phrase or a scene or something.

-I would feel like the first draft was a waste of my time and effort, since I’m not even using it to build on.

-I would losing great opportunities to play around with grammar and learn how to stretch myself artistically. This is a great part of the fun of revising/editing.

That’s how I am. I LOVE revising and editing previous drafts of one of my novels. It makes me feel accomplished as I see things improve.

I’m weird in my love of editing, because few like it as much as I do! But still, I can’t fathom personally rewriting a first draft from scratch if I didn’t have to–if I didn’t completely lose it or something like that.