Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Let’s revise that one more time. Okay, but will it be better or just different?

Revisions. Edits. That is what writers do. Many prescribe to the notion that the first draft is practically nothing. The real work of the writer begins when the revising and editing begin. And how many revisions finish the writing?

Let’s revise it one more time. I just thought of something different. Let’s put that different idea in there. Okay, done. But wait, one more…

Each revision makes the piece different. Does each revision make the piece better or just different? Perhaps it was already good enough. Perhaps it was already good. Perhaps just one more idea, just one more edit, just one more go through this only results in one more patch stuck to the top of a pile of patches.

Perhaps it was good at the end of the first draft. That may sound sacrilegious to some teachers of writing. Sometimes, however, the fresh idea written carefully is the best idea and results in the best piece. Let’s consider that sometimes. We can do better.