#1 Secret of Great Writers: Rewriting

Good writing means rewriting and lots of it. Good writing requires many “writing” steps: outlining, drafting, revising, rewriting, editing, proofreading. Unfortunately, many harried legal practitioners simply do not have time for multiple steps in the writing process beyond drafting and proofing. For some, “writing” is simply drafting and submitting.

Great writers aren’t great because they write the right words the first time. Good writers don’t rewrite or revise because they made mistakes in the first version. These writers rewrite because it is the rewriting process itself that transforms good (or less than good) writing into excellent writing. Rewriting is not a punishment or a reprimand, it is an essential part of the entire writing process.

Great writers are great because they rewrite, sometimes again and again until the words are right.

Consider Earnest Hemingway’s comments in a 1956 interview in the Paris Review, “The Art of Fiction,” on writing Farewell to Arms:

Interviewer: How much rewriting do you do?

Hemingway: It depends. I rewrote the ending of Farewell to Arms, the last page of it, 39 times before I was satisfied.

Interviewer: Was there some technical problem there? What was it that had stumped you?

Hemingway: Getting the words right.

 

Maybe 39 times is excessive, especially for busy practitioners who have hours to crank out a motion or client letter. But one or two rewrites? Necessary.

The bottom line is that if your finished product is the first version, it’s a rough draft. Don’t kid yourself. Rewrite it.