How Many Rewrites Will it Take

When I write I am usually disappointed with my first draft. It is intriguing to me how difficult it is to write what I am really thinking so that another person can clearly understand it. I usually need to do three or four rewrites before it begins to resemble my thoughts. Additionally, a space of time between the rewrites allows a fresh look that shorter intervals cannot accomplish.

At this point, even though the writing seems relatively good, I know that it is still probably not, so I have learned to step outside of myself and look at the text from the point of view of someone who does not know me and, of greater importance, cannot read my mind.

As each revision creates more clarity and flow I begin to wonder why it is that I am unable to write the first draft closer to the final copy - why does my mind require all of those steps to come up with the end product? I think that part of the answer involves a limit to the amount of information my mind can process in one step. I know that there are a few who have the unique gift of being able to write the final copy on the first or second attempt. Such ability is amazing to me!

I have tried to imagine Nephi, Jacob, Mormon, or Moroni carving out the characters on the small or large plates of Nephi. I would love to be able to ask them how many times they rewrote the text before they transferred it to the plates.

By the way, this Blog took seven rewrites and additional polishing. Maybe in 20 years I’ll be able to do it in three.

David J Stitt

3-15-2008

I sometimes ask people, after they have given a talk or taught a lesson, for a copy of something that impacted me. With all of the challenges that life presents us, the tasks that deplete us of physical energy, the disappointments, the frustrations, the anger with ourselves over choices that we make, and sometimes the desire to throw in the towel, there is a state of renewing and healing that comes to us when the Holy Ghost uses His power to carry the message “unto” our hearts 2 Nephi 33:1. I feel a unique gratitude to the person who was an instrument in igniting hope, healing, and an aspiration to make a needed change in my life. Sometimes, as a result of this, a person comes to my mind and an idea of what I could do to help them. I have learned by sad experience the disappointment and pain that comes from not acting ASAP when a prompting comes to help someone. Hope and motivation are two of my favorite feelings; they are gifts of the Spirit. It is equally as thrilling to have taught or spoken and then be asked for a copy of something that was said. Both circumstances, giving or receiving something inspiring, bring a unique feeling of happiness.

I don’t know if there is a better example of “all” being “edified” (D&C 88:122) than giving or receiving a hard copy of that which was an instrument of edification. It is an oasis in the desert of all the oppositions in life.

Here is how the Lord put it:
... when all have spoken that all may be edified of all …
(Doctrine and Covenants 88:122)

Years ago I gave the same talk a number of times. I found that it hit home with a lot of people and there was tremendous interest in the subject. The subject was about resisting temptation. To my surprise I received more requests, by far, for copies of it than anything else I had spoken about. A friend suggested that I write a book and after considering it for some time I began. The process was long and difficult and there were multiple publishing attempts but now the result is the book “The Master Deceiver: Understanding Satan’s Lies and How to Resist Them.”
http://www.cedarfort.com/catalog/9781599550800.html

Its publishing has brought much joy and motivation to me and I hope that it might be of some help to many of you.

David J Stitt

When I consider the mass of information that is available to us with just the touch of our fingers it is utterly staggering. Filtering the information we choose to consider should now be elevated to the highest of our priorities. There is so much information that is damaging to our eternal welfare and at the same time so much that that has the potential of edifying us to a level beyond our comprehension. When we lay this fact along side the importance of developing defenses against Satan’s influences the following scriptures take on an added applicability to our present day.

Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness. (2 Nephi 9:51)

Now let’s combine 2Ne 9:51 with:

And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness.
(Doctrine and Covenants 50:23)

We simply do not have the time or energy to waist on that which is of no worth. We should focus on those things that will fatten us up spiritually rather than those things that only starve us to death. The opposition is so sophisticated now that frittering away our time on that which “cannot satisfy” will destroy our spirituality.

Elder Bednar recently said the following at the World Wide Leadership Training:
"The adversary’s attacks upon eternal marriage will continue to increase in intensity, frequency, and sophistication." David A. Bednar, “Marriage Is Essential to His Eternal Plan,” Ensign, Jun 2006, 82–87


There may have been a time when we could coast a little, but in our day this will no longer work. All three of these escalations (intensity, frequency, and sophistication) can only be overcome by not wasting time on worthless information or entertainment. Instead, we should be spending it on things that actually nourish us.

I have to remind myself of this daily and even then the challenge is still really tough.

This is partly why I wrote the book, “The Master Deceiver: Understanding Satan's Lies and How to Resist Them.”

In future blogs I will discuss more of how this book came to be.