Heard someone at the coffee shop say they rewrite their first drafts entirely from scratch

I was sitting there with my laptop trying to fix a messy chapter 3 and this lady at the next table said she never revises, she just completely rewrites the whole thing fresh. It got me thinking maybe I'm wasting time trying to polish a broken foundation. Has anyone else tried the full rewrite approach and did it actually make your story better?

3 comments

3 Comments

gray3144d ago

Wait, isn't that just making double the work for yourself?

angela7284d ago

Three hours is a lot of time to spend on something that might not even work out in the end... I mean, if you're reorganizing your whole system just to save a few minutes later, it feels like spinning your wheels. Usually when people say they have a "system," it just means they keep putting off the actual work. And half the time the fancy method gets abandoned after a week anyway, so it's really just wasted effort. Maybe I'm being too harsh, but I see people overcomplicate simple stuff all the time.

henryr453d ago

Yeah but I think you're both kinda missing the point that some people (like me) actually enjoy the process of setting up systems. It's not just about efficiency, it's like a hobby in itself. I spent two hours last week color-coding my todo list and honestly? I had a great time doing it. It's like how some people enjoy cooking a big meal even when a frozen pizza would work just fine. The time spent isn't wasted if you actually like doing it, you know?