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I started out as a playwright. I was taking a playwriting course with a renowned teacher. I finished my first play in his class. He said it was good and that it was worthy of a reading. I felt great. There was no talk of changes or revisions of any kind. Just that I'd written a good play. So we had the reading.
I thought it went well. He and I had a meeting. He said "Now the real work begins."
To myself I thought "What is he talking about? He said it was good. The reading went well. Maybe there are a few spots that need touching up, but...the REAL work?"
Those words were my introduction to the concept of rewriting. And it boils down simply to this: think of your first draft as the hard work. Think of the rewriting that follows--and it will follow whether you like it or not--as the real work.
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