Why Rewriting Matters

I never dreamed that my first published novel in the Henny Penny Farmette series would begin as it did--a marathon endeavor undertaken with friends. We challenged each other to write a novel in a month. I wrote about 30 percent of my first novel (soon to be released)using that challenge, cranking out lots and lots of words.

Having written nearly two dozen published nonfiction books, I soon realized that fiction is a whole other kind of work. Stringing words together is not the same as crafting a compelling narrative with interesting characters and a memorable milieu. Additionally, the story has to work as a mystery. My debut novel benefited from many rewrites.

Finally, my agent showed the work to an editor who said she liked the narrative voice and the "strong" writing, but balked when I broke so many rules of convention for a cozy mystery.

Another complete rewrite later, and the book passed muster. But over the course of developing that book into a viable novel that would satisfy the publisher and readers, I did a lot more work on it. When I note that rewriting matters, I'm not kidding. It can make the difference between prose that sings and a story that hooks you all the way to the end and one that doesn't. Simple as that.