Words of inspiration can come in handy when you've got writer's block, or when you are trying to get your manuscript published. We've collected 10 of our favorite quotes on editing. Enjoy!
2. "Editing should be, especially in
the case of old writers, a
counseling rather than a
collaborating task. The tendency
of the writer-editor to
collaborate is natural, but he
should say to himself, 'How can I
help this writer to say it better in
his own style?' and avoid 'How
can I show him how I would write
it, if it were my piece?'"
-JamesThurber 1.
3. "The best advice on writing was given to me by my
first editor, Michael Korda, of Simon and Schuster,
while writing my first book. 'Finish your first draft and
then we'll talk,' he said. It took me a long time to
realize how good the advice was. Even if you write it
wrong, write and finish your first draft. Only then,
when you have a flawed whole, do you know what
you have to fix."
-DominickDunne2.
4. - BlakeMorrison
"Editing might be a bloody
trade, but knives aren’t the
exclusive property of
butchers. Surgeons use
them too."
3.
5. "The main thing I try to do is write
as clearly as I can. I rewrite a good deal
to make it clear."
-E.B.White
4.
6. "I'm all for the
scissors. I believe
more in the
scissors than I do
in the pencil."
-TrumanCapote
5.
7. "You write to
communicate to the hearts
and minds of others what's
burning inside you, and we
edit to let the fire show
through the smoke."
-ArthurPlotnik
6.
8. "No author
dislikes to be
edited as much
as he dislikes
not to be
published."
-J.RussellLynes
7.
9. "I would write a book, or a short story, at least
three times—once to understand it, the second
time to improve the prose, and a third to compel
it to say what it still must say. Somewhere I put it
this way: first drafts are for learning what one's
fiction wants him to say. Revision works with
that knowledge to enlarge and enhance an idea,
to reform it. Revision is one of the exquisite
pleasures of writing."
-BernardMalamud8.
11. "Only kings, presidents, editors, and people
with tapeworms have the right to use the
editorial 'we'."
-MarkTwain
10.
12. ThankYou
We hope you enjoyed
these quotes! If you would
like to expand your
editing knowledge, check
out or
follow Scribendi on
Twitter @Scribendi_Inc.
EditingCamp