: Re: Do you always revise your stories or do you sometimes move on? When you finish a story, say a short story, not really intending to publish. Do you go back and revise it or let it be,

It is almost always worth editing. Even if it's Murder She Wrote / Star Wars crossover fanfiction that there will never be a market to publish, it's still worth practicing the art of editing. You took the time to write the story in the first place. Why not craft the best story you can?

I think something that's often overlooked by inexperienced writers is that there are very different skill sets involved with writing a first draft, vs. repeatedly editing that draft into a tight, well-constructed story. It took me years of writing before I really began to see how vital editing is.

It's important to be more than a "first-draft writer". If you find yourself frequently writing a single draft of a story, then tossing it aside, you're missing out on half of the writing experience. I believe that developing skill at editing your work is considerably harder than getting good at writing first drafts. Don't miss an opportunity to practice.

Furthermore, if there is a market out there for your story, you may realize that after a few revisions, it's worth trying to publish after all.

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: Expositing a lack of racial difference I have a story set in a fantasy-Africa, in which the protagonist must make her way from her rural home to a coastal city in order to seek medical treatment

@Cugini967

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: When to accept an editor's rewrite request? So there's an editor who has accepted a story of mine for publication... but he wants me to change the ending. Normally I'm pretty open to editorial

@Cugini967

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: Techniques for writing internal monologue I've seen the thoughts of a character written in a few different ways: Example 1: Indirect Ender liked it better, though, when two boys played against

@Cugini967

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: You've already read a lot, which is a good thing. I suspect what you're missing at this point is reading to learn: taking something that you love which is well-written, and tearing it apart

: Re: Do you always revise your stories or do you sometimes move on? When you finish a story, say a short story, not really intending to publish. Do you go back and revise it or let it be,

More posts by @Cugini967

: Expositing a lack of racial difference I have a story set in a fantasy-Africa, in which the protagonist must make her way from her rural home to a coastal city in order to seek medical treatment

: When to accept an editor's rewrite request? So there's an editor who has accepted a story of mine for publication... but he wants me to change the ending. Normally I'm pretty open to editorial

: Techniques for writing internal monologue I've seen the thoughts of a character written in a few different ways: Example 1: Indirect Ender liked it better, though, when two boys played against

: You've already read a lot, which is a good thing. I suspect what you're missing at this point is reading to learn: taking something that you love which is well-written, and tearing it apart

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