Very few of the stories I’ve had published have undergone no substantial rewrite, “substantial” being a subjective term that, whatever it may mean, almost certainly means more than giving a story a “polish” (whatever that may mean). “Rag Doll” was first drafted about fifteen years before I finally got it into a shape a publisher would accept. Mad Hatters’ Review published it earlier this year, along with three other of my stories.
(And on the subject of first drafts, early this afternoon I finished the first draft of the project I’ve been working on for the past four months.)
This one breaks my heart. The loneliness, the democracy of his threadbare clothing, the nibbles of himself, because there is no one for him to bite. How awful, this dimming-down time of life when all one’s shirts are thin and folded on the pantry shelf.
Fist bump for the first draft, Tetman.
Thank you, Averil. If I weren’t so hungover from the celebration, I might say more.