Imaginative Writing: Development and Revision

"As poet Paul Engel famously said, 'writing is rewriting what you have rewritten.'"  (Burroway 207)

This is the part that I look forward to least when I write something.  It's a necessary evil.  It seems like you've been working on a piece forever, only to read the so-called finished product aloud and trash most of the story line.  It is terribly time-consuming, but it must be done if you want your story to be up to par.  Rewriting countless drafts is probably what got most writers published, so it must be worth it.