Having written ‘The End’ on the completed main draft of ‘A Spider In The Eye’ a week or so ago, I have the daunting task of doing a full edit of the manuscript. I both love and loathe editing in equal measure, but as such, I find myself in need of a little inspiration form the worthy and the wise. (And I haven’t put together a post of quotes from writers for a while, and they always seem popular for some reason.) Here then are a few snippets of wisdom for anyone setting out on that strange journey of self-flagellation that is a final edit…
So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads. ~ Dr. Seuss
I edit my own stories to death. They eventually run and hide from me. ~ Jeanne Voelker
Verbose is not a synonym for literary. ~ Constance Hale
No words are too good for the cutting-room floor, no idea so fine that it cannot be phrased more succinctly. ~ Merilyn Simonds
Whatever in a work of art is not used, is doing harm. ~ C.S. Lewis
You should edit before and after editing. ~ Dwayne Fry
Writing is like shadow boxing. Editing is when the shadows fight back. ~ Adam Copeland
I have rewritten — often several times — every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers. ~ Vladimir Nabokov
Editing fiction is like using your fingers to untangle the hair of someone you love.
~ Stephanie RobertsEditing is like pruning the rose bush you thought was so perfect and beautiful until it overgrew the garden. ~ Larry Enright
Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~ Mark Twain
When I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split…. ~ Raymond Chandler
And finally, what could and indeed probably is my personal mantra on the subject…
There is no great writing, only great rewriting. ~ Justice Louis Brandeis
The Passing Place 