The Alchemy of the Rewrite
In addition to getting to the heart of the work, through this brutal edit we change our relationship to it. We come to understand its underlying structure and realize what truly matters, to disconnect from the attachment of making it and see it for what it is.
Rick Rubin • The Creative Act: A Way of Being
This passage is one of the truest statements I’ve encountered about the nature of authorship. You write because you have an idea in your mind that feels so genuine, so important, so true. And yet, by the time this idea passes through the different filters of your mind, and into your hand, and onto the page or computer screen—it becomes distorted, a
... See moreJoe Fassler • Light the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Artistic Process
In short, your first draft is to extract novel ideas out of your brain. Your second draft is to rewrite those ideas so they resonate.
Julian Shapiro • Writing Well - Part 3 - Rewriting and Editing
After four to six weeks of sessions, he’s produced 200 to 300 pages. He prints them out, reads them, and asks himself, “What am I saying here? What’s useful to me? What’s useful to other people? What’s crap?”