Are good books made in revision rather than in a fast first draft?
Since 2009 John has said books are made in revision: he cut most of a draft of his own book, and all writing is rewriting. Hank agreed in 2015 that a good book comes from writing a bad one and fixing it, and in 2020 described a big revision that rewrote the book. In 2023 John said even the first act of writing is a kind of rewriting for him.
Axis: books are made in revision ... the first draft is the book
Positions by date: 9 records in 9 videos. The position did not change in these records.
John
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-11-01 | first on record | John argues that no great book is written in a month or in a first draft; books are made in revision, as his own novels show. | NaNoWriMo!!! 00:01:29 |
| 2010-05-10 | restate | John tells a viewer to rewrite half her novel: he cut 55,000 of 62,000 words from his own book, and all writing is rewriting. | Advice on Dumb Boyfriends, Going to College, and More 00:00:59 |
| 2021-03-30 | restate | The book has long been finished and John is only futzing with commas and sentences, but he takes pleasure in making and remaking the million little choices that form a book. | I did it! 00:03:23 |
| 2021-12-14 | restate | John says all writing is rewriting first because most of what is good in a story emerges in revision: he has never written a paragraph, let alone a novel, that didn't need extensive revision. | MAKE. BELIEVE. 00:00:29 |
| 2023-11-07 | restate | John says even the initial act of writing is a kind of rewriting for him, because he turns ideas that exist in nebulous forms in his head into language. | NaFaDoYBIMSCoM 00:01:45 |
Hank
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-06-26 | first on record | Hank says the only way to write a good book is probably to write a bad one, see why it's bad, and make it good. | How to Get Good at Everything 00:03:21 |
| 2018-09-21 | restate | Nothing prepared Hank for half a decade with the same lump of clay: making it a pot, hating it, punching it back into clay, and again. | The Parable of the Perfect Pot 00:02:09 |
| 2019-10-31 | restate | What resonated with Hank from Orange: you have to be a reader of your own work, experiencing what you made as with any art, and enjoy it. | Book News! 00:00:29 |
| 2020-01-10 | restate | Hank says the big revision basically rewrites the book: 50,000 words come out and 40,000 new ones go in. | The Thing I would Like to End 00:01:21 |