No rewriting, please.
If there’s one thing I don’t like about the writing process, it’s editing. Substantive editing is laborious, and though apps like Grammarly and ProWritingAid can be helpful, they’re only glorified copyeditors. They make enough mistakes that they must always be double-checked.
I do not do rewrites. While a school of thought says all good writing is rewriting, I disagree strongly. I approach every story as if this is my only chance to tell it. Relying on rewriting — and this is merely my opinion, not gospel — is an invitation to sloppiness. Why bother putting effort into your work if it’s headed for a rewrite anyway?
It’s different if an editor asks for changes. That’s part of the business, but why torment yourself and potentially handicap your writing by inflicting revisions you might not otherwise have to make?
The most significant change I was ever asked to make was rewriting the back half of Walk Away. I reluctantly did it, but I did it. Like the draft they bought, I wrote it once and submitted it. Anything else is a waste of my sweat. I could write something new in the time it takes to review what I already wrote, and I don’t see the point.
As usual, this is my approach; it needn’t be yours. If you love rewriting, then knock yourself out. Just don’t ask me to join you in this practice voluntarily. I don’t have the time or the energy.