Edith Pearlman Quotes

And that's how I start myself. I usually go back a couple of pages, maybe to the beginning of the chapter, and I start reading. And as I'm reading, I'm tweaking - putting in a different word, changing the syntax, putting that clause over there, you know that sort of thing.

I write the paragraph, then I'm crossing out, changing words, trying to improve it. When it seems more or less OK, then I type it up because sometimes it's almost illegible, and if I wait, I might not be able to read it the next day.

I don't do much rewriting, because each paragraph is very carefully put together.

I don't like writing - it's so difficult to say what you mean. It's much easier to edit other people's writing and help them say what they mean.

If you re-read your work, you can find on re-reading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by re-reading and editing.

A good editor understands what you're talking and writing about and doesn't meddle too much.

It's not hard to write poorly. But to write something good, it has to be revised.

I have a hard time revising sentences, because I spend an inordinate amount of time on each sentence, and the sentence before it, and the sentence after it.

I probably spend 90% of my time revising what I've written.

I spent the entire morning inserting a comma; I spent the whole afternoon removing it again.

Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.

I have to re-write a lot. I couldn't tell you how many drafts I write, but I know I've done at least twenty rewrites on each book.

Rewriting is a large part of the whole job. And get rid of stuff that's not working. Just pare it down until it's a beautiful thing you can hand in, probably late, to your editor.

I edit as I write. I revise endlessly. I don't go forward until I know that what I've written is as good as I can make it.

I write very quickly; I rewrite very slowly. It takes me nearly as long to rewrite a book as it does to get the first draft. I can write more quickly than I can read.

If I see a phrase that strikes me as ugly, I'll delete it. Or, if I find a way to say something a bit more freshly than it was expressed originally, I'll do it. Ultimately, you want to try to leave behind the best possible paragraph or sentence.

The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile.

If you get a sense that your writing isn't quite working, change it. Or cut it out. Don't just tell yourself it'll do, because it won't.

The life of an editor is not a glamorous one. You're a fixer; you make things better.

I like to edit my sentences as I write them. I rearrange a sentence many times before moving on to the next one. For me, that editing process feels like a form of play, like a puzzle that needs solving, and it's one of the most satisfying parts of writing.

Sometimes I can spend as long revising a manuscript as I spent writing it in the first place.

Most of my work consisted of crossing out. Crossing out was the secret of all good writing.

Trying to get the sentences right and the structure of the narration right is about as big a job as I can handle. But I also know that if you handle that job properly, everything else just clicks into place.

I draft quickly and then revise, a lot.

I think in any writing you're paying attention to detail.