Quotes About Revision

I think kids abandon stories all the time. They start stories and get frustrated or get a different, better idea. I think that it is more worthwhile to stick with a story and revise it and try to finish it than abandon ship. Revisions, for any writer, are the name of the game.

I love having written. Sometimes I love writing. I love to revise. Revising is my favorite part of writing.

The future, like everything else, is not what it used to be.

Constitutionally, a revising chamber is useful and important. The first occasion I know of in history when the Lords fulfilled this role was in 1539 when Henry VIII's act of proclamations was neutered by their lordships so effectively that the Act was repealed in 1547.

My usual route is, I do a play at South Coast Rep, then there's time between and I revise it, and then I take it to New York.

We went into this with the utmost respect for the source material, but we recognized the need for change.

I was just sitting on my bed in a dormitory room, and I started writing. The thing that was magic about it was that once you put down one word, you could cross it out. I figured that out right away. I put down 'mountain,' and then I'd go, 'No - 'valley.' That's better.'

History has rewritten itself so many times I'm not really sure how it was to begin with -- it's a bit like trying to guess the original color of a wall when it's been repainted eight times.

The real world is a book in bad need of an editor

Rewriting to me means, if I work on it for three days, I've rewritten it.

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

In a way, a lot of my work is in the re-writing once it is cast, as I adapt to the rhythms of how the roles are played out by the actors.

I was very disappointed that so much of the work I did on The Haunted Mansion didn't arrive in the final cut.

You can never correct your work well until you have forgotten it.

An editor is someone dedicated to destroying the work of a creator.

I am in that glorious position where I can redesign and re-package my own work.

You can't rewrite nothing, but you can rewrite 90 pages of sh*t. Now you've got your sh*t on the page, you can go work.

Contrary to the outstanding work of art, outstanding theory is susceptible to improvements.

Revising a screenplay is much more frustrating than revising a song because you have to read through the entire work again while you are changing stuff. It is a lot easier to edit a song.

I rewrite everything, almost idiotically. I rewrite and work and work, and rewrite and rewrite some more.

Most writers want to share their essay or book much too quickly. Those who accept the pain of hard work and revising are those who get published.

I revise and revise and revise. I'm not even sure "revise" is the right word. I work a story almost to death before it's done.

I work hard to make the poems as good as they can be, and if they're not good enough I scrap them. I find it difficult after a gap of a few years to tinker - I'm more likely to destroy.

Sometimes I'll present a work to the public and listen to the responses-then pull it back, shape it, and put it back out.