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If my editors in China hear that I'm working multiple-drafts, they'd probably say that the story's not going to be good. The popular thought there is that if you don't have it in the beginning, you won't have it. Quite a contrast to what people believe here, right? Thoughts?

Eric Abrahamsen

@girzel1

Replying to

@YanGeMay

As a translator, I desperately wish Chinese editors were forcing their writers to do multiple drafts. You may not be able to edit in inspiration, but that is not the problem. No one, in any country, in any language, structures their novel right the first time around.

12:09 AM · Oct 3, 2020Twitter for Android

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and

Long-form fiction is exhausting, and disorienting. Needing help, or time, or multiple attempts, is perfectly normal. To me that's basically a dismissal of the craft side of authorship, and Chinese fiction NEEDS BETTER CRAFT.

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There have been more than a couple of quite established writers who told me they don’t allow the editors to change even one punctuation of their manuscripts... (I suppose it’s a social status? ) 🐮🐮🐮 Can’t say no more 🙊

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