ARCHIVE FOR Cam Terwilliger

Revising a short story is notoriously difficult. After the trials of the first draft, you’re left with the disheartening prospect of reordering it, deepening it, polishing it—and God knows what else. Faced with this challenge, most writers rightfully stress the importance of focusing on what you have, capitalizing on the work you’ve done so far, slowly improving it step by step. Approaching revision in this way is extremely helpful. First you handle the characters, then the structure, then the dialogue etc. Clearly, this makes things more manageable.