Darlene Chan of the Linda Chester Literary Agency Recommends...

“The only kind of writing is rewriting.” —Ernest Hemingway

I recommend something quite simple: rewriting. Authors often stick with their early choices, and when they don’t deeply question or hone their writing, their work can turn out underdeveloped. Authors tell me they rewrite three or four times before submitting their manuscripts. Editors do not have the bandwidth to develop multiple versions; they want drafts that are, at best, two versions away from being published. Agents are limited in the amount of time we can devote to developing a novel.

So, the author must be an editor, too. Submissions I respond to positively have been rewritten more than a dozen times before they reach me. Only through successive drafts and close examination can a writer notice long dialogue passages replacing a strong narrative. Or that they’ve done such a deep dive into a side situation that the pace of the main story is disrupted—or that the best moments belong to the minor characters. Successful authors I know rewrite many times. Author Joe Ide questions every chapter, every paragraph, and finally every word in succeeding drafts. Don Winslow will do a verb-only rewrite. The more you rewrite, the clearer and sharper your writing will be.

All artists must rewrite one way or another: Dancers find a unique way to emphasize a phrase as they perform. Painters will work on one figure repeatedly. Talent and skill are two different things. Talent alone will not get you to the finish line; rewriting is a skill that will get you there. Even the most talented writers need to master the skill of rewriting.

—Darlene Chan, literary agent, Linda Chester Literary Agency