“when you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story,” [gould] said. “when you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.”

gould said something else that was interesting on the day i turned in my first two pieces: write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. your stuff starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. once you know what the story is and get it right—as right as you can, anyway—it belongs to anyone who wants to read it. or criticize it. if you’re very lucky (this is my idea, not john gould’s, but i believe he would have subscribed to the notion), more will want to do the former than the latter.”

source: king, stephen. on writing: a memoir of the craft. new york: pocket, 2002. 47. print.

what is king’s main purpose in this text?

to persuade
to instruct
to reflect
to entertain

to instruct