I've done it every which way as far as rewriting and crafting stories. When I was in traditional publishing I really studied craft and I rewrote ALL my books from the ground up multiple times. I was up to over twenty drafts on one of them, which by the way, is too many. At some point, you lose track of what the heck you fell in love with about the story in the first place. Also, anyone who says traditional editors don't edit anymore? Oof, not my editors. I had one that about killed me and I learned a LOT from that process long term, but I HATE the book that came out of it. I can't even look at it now. I try to pretend it's not even in my catalog. I used to carefully consider everything, from every line to every theme to why every character was there. It was a fantastic education and I learned a lot.
However, in the end I've realized what my readers most love from me, and what *I* love most from myself: emotions, character relationships. A lot of this is best, for me, when it's spontaneous. Of all the books I've written, the faster I wrote the book, the more I love the book and the stronger the characters feel to me. I don't think too much about theme or allegory consciously, although I do consider character growth arcs and I pull from real history a lot. I like looking back after the fact and seeing what came out. If you're reasonably well versed in the craft of storytelling, and understand that words should have a purpose and characters should not just be rambling around looking at their own faces in mirrors and eating elaborate meals (okay, scratch that, I LOVE elaborate meals), and you surround yourself with thoughtful work and learn things, meaning will always come through.
Some people say outlining or talking about the story in advance kills the story for them. I can outline and I can talk your ear off about it. But for me, overthinking/overediting = death. Now I'll do one rewriting pass at most.
Of course, other methods work for different people and genre also plays a part. I'm glad I've experimented with so many different ways of developing a story, and I might change tactics again in the future!