| QUOTABLE
QUOTES ABOUT WRITING AND EDITING |
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I suppose some editors are failed writers —
but so are most writers. – T.S. Eliot
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The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t
have to get it right the first time, unlike, say,
a brain surgeon. – Robert Cormier |
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Only a mediocre writer is always at his best.
– W. Somerset Maugham |
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There is no great writing, only great rewriting.
– Justice Louis Brandeis |
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Writing IS editing. – Anonymous |
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It took me fifteen years to discover that I had
no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give
it up because by that time I was too famous.
– Robert Charles Benchley |
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Your manuscript is both good and original. But
the part that is good is not original, and the part
that is original is not good. – Samuel
Johnson |
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Writing is like prostitution. First you do it
for love, and then for a few close friends, and
then for money. – Moliere |
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I have never thought of myself as a good writer.
Anyone who wants reassurance of that should read
one of my first drafts. But I’m one of the
world’s greatest rewriters. – James
A. Michener |
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The dubious privilege of a freelance writer is
he’s given the freedom to starve anywhere.
– S.J. Perelman |
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No passion in the world is equal to the passion
to alter someone else’s draft. –
H.G. Wells |
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Editing Hemingway was like wrestling with a god.
– Tom Jenks |
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Editing is rewording activity. – Anonymous |
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The difference between the right word and the
almost right word is the difference between lightning
and the lightning bug. – Mark Twain |
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Inside every fat book is a thin book screaming
to get out. – Anonymous |
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The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.
– Muriel Rukeyser |
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Inspiration usually comes during work, rather
than before it. – Madeleine L’Engle |
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Anyone who can not write should. –
Harlan Ellison |
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I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound
they make as they fly by. – Douglas Adams |
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A good novel tells us the truth about its hero;
but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.
– G.K. Chesterton |
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If you can tell stories,create characters,
devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion,
it doesn't matter a damn how you write.
– W. Somerset Maugham |
| Have
a quote about the writing or editing process that
you think should be included here? Send
it to me, along with the name of the author
and the source if you know it. |
