Rewriting, Revising, & Editing

Mike Cooper - March 1, 2026

To some, these three words mean the same thing, but I like to look at them as different processes. If you look back a couple of months at The Forge blogs, you’ll see in a discussion of workshopping the idea that “Writing is rewriting.” I believe that’s true. I also believe that “Writing is revising” and “Writing is editing.”

To rewrite, put simply, is to write again. We have an idea—usually something fairly vague—like: Why don’t we live forever? or What if someone ate only M&Ms? or What would it be like to live under the sea? and we scribble away for a bit about that. We’ll come up with something, possibly go down some strange rabbit hole, maybe wander completely off topic, and possibly hit a wall. But while we’re doing it, we’re thinking and experimenting and learning and fabricating a world—or the idea of a world—and we’re taking all the things we know, and have ever known and experienced, and creating something new. We push ahead and come to the end and say, “That’s interesting, but it needs something.” And so we write it again. Start over. Maybe we keep some parts and definitely we add some new parts, and we get to the end again. Maybe it’s the same ending with a different middle, or maybe the ending is new. And we go again.

Revision means to “see again,” which comes from the French révision, which means “to see again.” I used to think that seemed pretty simple: “Take another look at it.” But recently someone made me see that differently. We have a “vision” for our work. In our vision, it is finished, significant, and says something important about the human condition, but what if  that vision changes? What if the significance changes? It will. Our visions always change. And what if that new vision holds deeper meaning, deeper truth? And so we revise.

Editing is a back formation of the word “editor” who is the person who creates the “edition” (from the French: édition) which, according to Merriam-Webster, is “the form or version in which a text is published.” To edit is to prepare for publication. To line edit is to go through line by line and make sure every sentence is how we want it to be. To copy edit is to make sure that the spelling, punctuation, and grammar are exactly the way we want them to be. And so we edit and send our work off into the world, pat ourselves on the back, make a sandwich, and put our feet up. Ta-da!

And then we get another idea.

And if you’re looking for ideas, or already have one and are looking for help with your writing (or rewriting—or revising—or editing), get in touch with us at The Forge: theforgewriting@gmail.com. Our next 10-month session starts this September.