Confessions of a ‘rewriter’

Rewriting is the new writing.

In an Internet universe where content is allegedly king, writing has transmogrified into a product—a cheap commodity—to be mass-produced, sold and resold for profit. Quantity and unique views are what matter. And quality? Someone will have to redefine what this concept means in the website factories that mass-produce stories.

My beloved profession, known and revered in the analogue world of past centuries as “writing,” has been grotesquely twisted and coopted into this thing called “rewriting.”

Rewriters like me are the Minions of that “Internet space” called “content aggregation.” We tirelessly rewrite stories picked up off the Internet so these stories still make sense and, most important, bypass that bane of all rewriters, CopyScape.

We mass-produce stories by the thousands. I’ve rewritten over 5,000 news stories for over half a dozen content aggregation websites. I’ve rewritten science, technology, business and entertainment stories. I’m the proud owner of so much mundane information that my short-term memory is in dangerous overload.

But 5,000 stories are nothing. One Filipino rewriter I wrote with said she’d rewritten over 20,000 stories.

When I was a newbie rewriter, I did five stories a day. I peaked at 15 stories a day, five days a week, when I got the hang of it.

It takes anywhere from four to five hours of searching, selecting, reading, understanding and rewriting to manufacture 15 stories. The price you pay for mass-producing stories is everlasting neck and shoulder pain.

Rewriting stories by the dozen greatly offends my sensibilities as a classically trained writer who cut his teeth on typewriters. You know, typewriters—Grandpa’s version of the desktop PC that goes tack-tack when you hammer at the keys and prints words using this prehistoric printer-thing called a ribbon.

But writers write for two muses: Clio and Melpomene—Clio because classical writers have this hubris that their stories will be deified by history, and Melpomene because writing is always a tragedy, especially if she becomes your mistress.

You won’t get rich writing, but Minions like me hack away at their keyboards for P100 a story. That’s a tragedy of Homeric proportions. Don’t laugh, ye barefaced whelps. This pittance helps pay the bills. It does for me and hundreds of other Filipino rewriters.

Right now, I lead a team of seven science and technology writers. We rewrite for a content aggregation company based in New York. All my rewriters are Filipinos—young, mostly women in their 20s. They’re romantic, far too respectful of authority, and single. They’re well-educated, all of them.

Most majored in courses identified with writing, such as journalism and communication arts. One has a degree in computer engineering; another is a veterinarian, or a veterinarian geek, as he describes himself.

My rewriters are from the University of the Philippines Diliman, Miriam College Foundation Inc., Ateneo de Manila University, University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City, University of Santo Tomas and UP Los Baños.

Most have done this kind of work before. Some have done SEO (search engine optimization) writing, which is the evil twin of rewriting. They’re all in the process of attaining their full potential as writers. Their writing reflects their uncertainty and fear of making mistakes. They write cautiously.

But these kids work hard, understand science and tech, and take pride in being part of a successful team. They’re all idealistic—as rewriters must be. Without this basic quality, rewriters won’t endure the daily grind they inflict on themselves. That makes them heroic in my eyes.

Rewriting science and technology stories is never easy. You have to read, understand, understand, understand, and then rewrite.

Rewriting’s still journalism in its structure and its emphasis on accurate information. It might not look that way to classical writers, but it is.

My people rewrite five to seven stories five days a week. On Saturdays, they do three stories. Sunday is a day off. You can write on Sundays if you want to. Every peso helps.

And why do I claim rewriting’s the new writing? Because in this country that still speaks and writes the best English in Southeast Asia, rewriting is the only financially and professionally rewarding offshoot of writing available to Filipinos that write in English.

The media are closed to most Filipino writers in English. There are only three English broadsheets, and the chances of a kid landing a job as a reporter in any of these papers is probably the equivalent of winning the lotto. TV and radio are out. Filipino is the language of the masses that these media pander to.

My official job is to edit my team’s stories. My personal commitment is to help these kids

become better writers by combining their experience with osmosis.

Rewriting that’s been well edited has a tendency to seep into a rewriter’s consciousness by osmosis. Rewriters see their original, read the edited version, say to themselves, “This looks better,” and rewrite better stories the next time around.

I’ve seen this happen. Writers and rewriters that want to be better writers will motivate themselves to be better writers. Quotas won’t get them to improve.

Rewriting is the only discipline that’s keeping alive the art of English writing in this country. The thousands of young Filipino women and men that persist in writing in English deserve recognition for their ardor.

Sure, rewriting’s a job, but as these kids get better at it, the job will become a vocation for many and an obsession for the zealous few. Writing in English will remain alive in this country, thanks to the Filipino rewriter.

Melpomene be praised.

Art Villasanta is also a historian of the Korean War and a keen student of military history. His military websites are at www.peftok.blogspot.com and www.futurewardefeat.blogspot.com.