I’m going to be rude in this post and just assume that you don’t write perfect first drafts. Right? Your first draft isn’t perfect. I know this because I’ve read tons of first drafts in the slush I know everything. Even this week’s lottery numbers, which is why I don’t buy Lotto tickets, since that’d be cheating.
In any case, the trivial answer to the question is that you should edit after you finish your first draft but before you submit to magazines. In an ideal world, you finish a draft, tweak it slightly, submit, and then get back a glowing response in which the editor begs you to sell them the story. And everything else on your hard drive.
In the real world, things aren’t quite so clear-cut.
While You’re Writing
This really falls under the category of “unavoidable differences in author processes.” Some authors need to have a complete draft before they can edit. Other authors will edit as they go – tweak what they wrote before, and then add another page of new material.
I’m sure you’ve heard this before: “You should never edit before the draft is complete.”
Meh. I often go back and make minor edits while I write. These edits make the plot more consistent or add in foreshadowing and character details. I find that it’s more efficient to just make the changes than it is to write myself a note for later. Such is the wonder of the word processor.
The advice against editing mid-draft is primarily to help new writers avoid falling into a black hole of always-rewriting-never-finishing. If you can avoid that loop? Great. If not, then you should either force an ending to the story and fix it later or move on to a new story.
After You’ve Got a Draft! (But before you submit.)
I don’t have to say much about this, do I? Finish the story, edit it, and then send it out to see the world.
I do recommend at least two editing passes, even if all you end up fixing is a typo or two. If you have a first reader or critique group, edit at least once before you send it to them, and at least once after you get their comments. Why edit before critiques? The cleaner the draft you give to your critique group, the easier it will be for them to see any major structural issues in the story.
That might seem like it goes without saying, but this advice is based on having seen way too many stories up for critique that still need a spell check.
After You Submit
You’ve just sent your story–and two days later you realize exactly how you should have ended it. Now what?
I strongly recommend against beginning to re-edit a story that is currently on submission.
Here’s the thing–editors read and decide on the story you send them. If you make major changes after the story is submitted and you get an offer of acceptance, there’s no guarantee that the editor will also like your changes (and they probably won’t.) Yes, anything is possible, but at that point, you’re essentially taking an acceptance and transforming it back into another submission. This just makes more work for everybody–and I feel confident in saying that no editor wants to send an acceptance and get back, “Oh, thanks, but I’d rather you bought this story.”
I don’t even open the files of stories that are actively on submission somewhere. No matter how much I like the story I sent out, there’s still a temptation to edit and that can only end in tears or vodka.
After a Rejection
Oh no! Your story has just come back with another rejection. Should you rewrite based on the rejection?
If an editor has rejected your story, you have no obligation to pay any attention to the rest of the email. Seriously. The only part that’s important is that they said “no” to your story. (Okay, okay. Exceptions: If the editor tells you something that is specific to their magazine, keep that in mind for your next submission. You know, like if they say, “FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THIS WORLD NO MORE VAMPIRE STORIES” totally send a werewolf story next. Also, if the editor says “please send me your next story” they totally mean that.)
Usually the correct option is just to send the story on to the next magazine and write a new story. How will you ever have time to write a new story if all you’re doing is rewriting?
However… it is possible to get a rejection in which the editor is willing to look at the story if you rewrite it. In that case it might be worth rewriting, depending on how badly you want to be in the magazine – but keep in mind that there’s no guarantee that the story will be purchased after rewrites. I also only recommend writing to the comments in that rejection if you find that they inspire you. Do you think these comments will make your story better? Then rewrite to your heart’s content! That way, even if the editor doesn’t want your rewritten story, you’ve at least improved what you do have.
Your Turn
Have you ever rewritten a story after a rejection? Did it help?
Early on, I had a story come back from a magazine edited by a writer whose work I very much like with some specific advice. I took it. Even though it felt “wrong” to me. The story (the first short story I’d written since I was a teenager) still hasn’t sold, but it went from coming back very quickly with a form letter to making it all the way to the editor’s desk and coming back (sometimes after a very long wait) with the classic, “I really like it, but it’s just not right for ___,” rejection. That one rejection really did make me a better writer, because it caught a genuine problem I had with my craft at that point.
For the most part, though, I don’t rewrite to every personal rejection I receive. A story that isn’t right for Publication A may be perfect for Publication B and vice versa. If I rewrite to the editor of Publication A’s tastes and then submit to Publication B, I may very well have shot myself in the foot. So once I’m confident that it’s a polished and professional story, I let it ride.
That said, if ever an editor says something that I think will make the story better or make me a better writer, I’m all over it. I don’t think I’ll ever know it all.
I try to at least line edit after every rejection. I get the rejection, if there’s critical feedback I think about it. Then I read through the whole story again before sending it out to the next publisher – the story has been sitting for a while so I have fresh eyes. I might only tweak a word or two. I might go DOH! how did I miss that glaring typo? There might be niggles I ignored but am now ready to address. I keep this line edit fast and try to send out in the same day.
Sometimes (though not always) I stop believing in a story after a bundle of rejections. Then I see if I can find fresh readers to critique it… and perhaps restore my faith in the story. The problem with this technique is that I then wish I’d submitted this superior work to the previous publishers, but it does create a stronger story, I improve as a writer and keeps me motivated.
I’ve never completely rewritten a story after a rejection, mostly because all the rejections I’ve received are generic with no advice. There have been times where I’ve gone back and made slight tweaks after a rejection, but nothing major.
I’m usually so meticulous in my planning and writing stages that if I suddenly feel like a story needs a major rewrites, chances are I would have written it that way in the first place. Wow I hope that made sense.
I try not to edit as I write–especially with longer pieces. Occasionally I’ll go back and add some description/or strengthen character development, but nothing plot related. For me, plots are always thoroughly outlined in advance–even for short stories.
I don’t typically edit after a rejection, but if an editor makes a specific comment I’ll re-read the story with that in mind. Does it make sense? Improve the story? Nine times out of ten it does, but I recognize that this is my story to tell.
Keeping an open mind is a key element to improving your craft. The flip side of that is knowing when to say “no” to prevent shredding a story in an attempt to please all of the people all of the time.
I’m also someone who edits as they go along. I hate that advice that you shouldn’t edit until you’re done. The few times I’ve tried that, I’ve mostly ended up really discouraged at the huge task of a second draft and never bothered getting it into good enough shape to sent out. I find edits much less daunting if I have a really polished first draft from which to start (I do always go through at least one additional draft, after getting critiques on the first one, no matter how polished it is).
I generally only rewrite stories based on rejections if I’ve gotten similar comments from more than one editor, unless the comments in the rejection are things that had been bothering me but that I let slide due to laziness and/or the fact that my critiquers hadn’t seemed to mind/notice.
I once received a rewrite request from a slush reader, and after considering the requested changes, decided that they were merited. I edited the story, sent it back, and the slusher passed the story up to the senior editor. It was then rejected, but hey, it got to the top of the chain.