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Is there such a thing as over-writing?

How many drafts is too many drafts? I know you can never have too much fun. And drinking liquor until he/she passes out is how much is too much for some people. Is it crazy to rework a novel or essay or just a short piece into five drafts? When asked Jackson Pollack (sp?) Said he knew when one of his paintings was done--you know that paint droppings method of his--i figured when he had run out of paint.

I wonder how many people work and rework their drafts--some who publish have had to have their agents wrestle the novel out of their hands because, they rework their galleys to death. It can be maddening to put in a comma in the morning and then go back that afternoon and take it out. I am working through this problem and wondered if I am the only one who works like this?

Soon, I'm going to have to rewrite my novel for the 4th time (*sigh*) I think you should rewrite it as many times as it takes to get you satisfied with it. If you need to, you can take a break, so you won't get totally sick of it.

-Savannah

I'm on the fourth draft of a story of mine, actually. I've never actually gotten to the end because I keep getting dissatisfied with the plot. I have two protagonists, and one of them is being such a pain that I have half a mind to just go and make him secondary.

But, yeah. The first draft wasn't serious or anything, just pure fluff and angst. Then I tried to rewrite it with the same plot and characters, just 'better', but I realized it was still pure fluff and angst so then I tried to rewrite it again, but I cut some characters and added some and changed some situations. It still diverted back to fluff and angst, so then I changed the point of views to first person and cut out a character, added one, brought one back to life, and changed some other stuff.

Currently it's better, and one of my characters, Fred, he's doing great. I love how everything is going with him, but my other character, Nick, is being a very bad character and I can't figure out what I want done with him.

you know, i really thought the whole effin' point of story write was to be able to post a totally crap story that you wrote and then ask a bunch of other people to help you re-write it to make it less crappy

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Normally I wouldn't be too busy to help someone else write their story or help with the editing but, why waste time if they won't make the changes?

It's like shoveling against the tide, it'll just keep coming back to you. I would help someone edit their story once, but when the same person keeps asking the same story to be edited and "can you read this one more time because, I did do SOME editing" I kind of want to tell them to find someone else to help them: and it's all I can do to be polite about it.

I give my stories One season to flourish and then rewrite it numerous times but, if the rewrite doesn't seem to improve it then I just toss it. Six months or a year is the most I will spend time on a book, I've read that some people will work years on a book. Years? Who has that much time or want to dedicate that much time on something that clearly doesn't want to get written?

While I rewrite my own work, I am hard pressed to have someone reread something I have edited time and time again...it strains the friendly relationship and people start to play the avoidance game "Gee, I have to go clean the bathroom." (yet, again) and sign off quickly. I know I have done that to other people myself.

I don't think I've ever written more than one draft. I just tweak sentences so they flow better, get rid of any typos, check my sources if I've done any research, and shuffle paragraphs around.