{"id":719,"date":"2026-11-08T05:53:58","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T05:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/richardwinser.com\/blog\/?p=719"},"modified":"2026-11-08T05:53:58","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T05:53:58","slug":"%f0%9d%97%a7%f0%9d%97%b5%f0%9d%97%b2-%f0%9d%97%a2%f0%9d%97%bb%f0%9d%97%b2-%f0%9d%97%a4%f0%9d%98%82%f0%9d%97%b2%f0%9d%98%80%f0%9d%98%81%f0%9d%97%b6%f0%9d%97%bc%f0%9d%97%bb-%f0%9d%98%81%f0%9d%97%bc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/richardwinser.com\/blog\/%f0%9d%97%a7%f0%9d%97%b5%f0%9d%97%b2-%f0%9d%97%a2%f0%9d%97%bb%f0%9d%97%b2-%f0%9d%97%a4%f0%9d%98%82%f0%9d%97%b2%f0%9d%98%80%f0%9d%98%81%f0%9d%97%b6%f0%9d%97%bc%f0%9d%97%bb-%f0%9d%98%81%f0%9d%97%bc\/","title":{"rendered":"\ud835\udde7\ud835\uddf5\ud835\uddf2 \ud835\udde2\ud835\uddfb\ud835\uddf2 \ud835\udde4\ud835\ude02\ud835\uddf2\ud835\ude00\ud835\ude01\ud835\uddf6\ud835\uddfc\ud835\uddfb \ud835\ude01\ud835\uddfc \ud835\uddd4\ud835\ude00\ud835\uddf8 \ud835\uddd5\ud835\uddf2\ud835\uddf3\ud835\uddfc\ud835\uddff\ud835\uddf2 \ud835\udde5\ud835\uddf2\ud835\uddfc\ud835\uddfd\ud835\uddf2\ud835\uddfb\ud835\uddf6\ud835\uddfb\ud835\uddf4 \ud835\uddec\ud835\uddfc\ud835\ude02\ud835\uddff \ud835\uddd7\ud835\uddff\ud835\uddee\ud835\uddf3\ud835\ude01"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

I love looking at Honor\u00e9 de Balzac\u2019s manuscripts. It\u2019s as if he was more coffee than man, speed-running through pages like Super Mario.<\/p>\n

Except the pages tell a different story.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re covered with corrections. Crossed-out sentences. Additions squeezed into margins. Sometimes the printer\u2019s proofs came back looking like Balzac had declared war on the typesetter.<\/p>\n

And this was after he\u2019d supposedly finished writing.<\/p>\n

Balzac\u2019s work habits were legendary. He wore a white monk\u2019s robe, wrote through the night, and fueled marathon sessions with astonishing amounts of coffee. He was racing debts, deadlines, and his ambition to build La Com\u00e9die humaine, a sprawling portrait of French society.<\/p>\n

But look again at those manuscripts.<\/p>\n

The interesting part isn\u2019t how quickly he could fill a page. It\u2019s how much work he was willing to do afterward.<\/p>\n

A headline can be tightened. A claim can be supported. A sales argument can be made clearer.<\/p>\n

But revisions have a price, too.<\/p>\n

Every extra hour polishing a sales letter is an hour it isn\u2019t being tested against actual buyers. Eventually, the next revision becomes a bet: will this change improve the message enough to justify the delay?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a useful question before reopening a draft: \ud835\ude1e\ud835\ude29\ud835\ude22\ud835\ude35 \ud835\ude34\ud835\ude31\ud835\ude26\ud835\ude24\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude27\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude24 \ud835\ude31\ud835\ude33\ud835\ude30\ud835\ude23\ud835\ude2d\ud835\ude26\ud835\ude2e \ud835\ude22\ud835\ude2e \ud835\ude10 \ud835\ude27\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude39\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude2f\ud835\ude28?<\/p>\n

If you can name the problem, revise. If you\u2019re just making the words feel nicer, consider publishing.<\/p>\n

Balzac\u2019s coffee habit makes the better anecdote. His manuscripts raise the better question.<\/p>\n

When has your writing justified its next revision?<\/p>\n

RW<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love looking at Honor\u00e9 de Balzac\u2019s manuscripts. It\u2019s as if he was more coffee than man, speed-running through pages like Super Mario. Except the pages tell a different story. They\u2019re covered with corrections. Crossed-out sentences. Additions squeezed into margins. Sometimes the printer\u2019s proofs came back looking like Balzac had declared war on the typesetter. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-copywriting"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/richardwinser.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/richardwinser.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/richardwinser.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richardwinser.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richardwinser.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/richardwinser.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":721,"href":"https:\/\/richardwinser.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719\/revisions\/721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/richardwinser.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richardwinser.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richardwinser.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}