Margaret Stohl Quotes

My self-editing process is intense.

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

My reputation for writing quickly and effortlessly notwithstanding, I am strongly in favor of intelligent, even fastidious revision, which is, or certainly should be, an art in itself.

I'm pretty rigorous about the drafts I turn in. I don't turn in something that's so ungodly they go, 'What the hell is this?'

I don't care how small the parts are, as long as they're good.

I give each book however long it needs to be the best I can make it.

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

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

I read what I write over and over and make corrections and improvements, until I reach the conclusion that the material deserves to stand on its own.

I just think if you're going to do something, do it properly.

Once you've finished typing and moving text around and everything else, you have to leave it alone for a while. You do that to see if it stands up, to see if all the loose edges have been trimmed, if it makes sense, if it's consistent, what shape it really has. You can't tell that while you're working on it.

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

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

If there is aught of good in the style, it is the result of ceaseless toil in rewriting. Everything comes out wrong with me at first; but when once objectified in a crude shape, I can torture and poke and scrape and pat it till it offends me no more.

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.

Make the workmanship surpass the materials.

I don't care if you're doing haute cuisine or burgers and pizza, just do it right.

The whole joy of writing comes from the opportunity to go over it and make it good, one way or another.

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.

I wanted nothing else than to make the object as perfect as possible.

I'm a fairly fast, but sloppy writer, so I'm a big fan of re-writing, and re-writing again.

I read stories aloud at every stage. I listen to my writer friends when they kindly offer criticism. I listen to my husband when he tells me something doesn't seem right. I have my mother's boyfriend, Loring Janes, read to make sure I get everything right with the machines and guns.

Commit yourself to quality from day one... it's better to do nothing at all than to do something badly.

Things done well and with a care, exempt themselves from fear.