I love editing. Not kidding you. I mean, sure editing is one of the hardest things you will ever do as a writer, (you know, not including… everything else) but I love the great rewarding feeling of making my writing better. THAT is why I love editing. I get to watch my writing get better.
But I can’t edit right now. Nope. I can’t rewrite. Why? Because I have nothing to rewrite! I have blank paper. And all it does is make me nervous and frustrated. I hatehatehate the blank page. I’m tired of just writing, I want to rewrite something so I can have that rushing high of editing and seeing that yeah I can actually write something pretty good once I tear it to shreds. So my solution is to write a short story or a novella to get my editing-angst out. I’m hoping that’ll let me get back into the normal mode of writing my novel.
Here is a brief explanation of how I think of Writing and Re-Writing.
Writing: Nothing – > Something
Re-Writing: Something -> Something Better.
I prefer the “something better”. But is there something wrong with me because I love editing way more than I love writing? I’m trying to love writing; that’s why I picked up the typewriter. It slows me down, it gets me into the thick of things. I feel like I should learn to love the fresh, blank page writing. Otherwise, what the heck am I doing as a writer?
So I would love to know – are you a writer or a re-writer? Why do you like one more than the other? And most importantly, is there something inherently wrong with a writer who doesn’t straight up love writing?
i think writers are all weird. so, no, nothing inherently wrong. do you get the same high when you take other people’s work to the “something better” stage…?
Hey, thanks for the comment! I do review a lot, but no, I don’t get the same high. Simply pointing out what is wrong isn’t what I like, but rewriting the sentences, re-crafting the scene, add better words…That’s what I like. So it’s writing, but it’s re-writing.
I’m EXACTLY the same way. I have to stop myself from going back and editing my previous chapters because I love editing so much. I used to want to be an editor. As in, that’s what I wanted to be a few months ago XD But I love copyediting, thinking up new ways to phrase things, and ultimately making my good writing great. I’m like you, I like to take something already good and help it get better. I love creating and writing, too, but the first time around is the hardest part
I hope both of us can get past our inner editors and just write. At least until our first drafts are done so we can get to the fun part 
I LOVE rewriting! I find it so much more relaxing, like there’s less pressure now that I’ve got at least something written already. Then again, maybe I just think I love rewriting because I want to procrastinate on the difficult sections of my current project, haha.