Time is the best editor.
If you have it, time is the easiest trick for self-editing. Simply put your work away long enough so when you come back to it you can see it with fresh eyes.
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Time is the best editor. If you have it, time is the easiest trick for self-editing. Simply put your work away long enough so when you come back to it you can see it with fresh eyes.
The revision process should begin after some time has passed, because time will do more for the revision than any amount of conscious attention given too soon. Go away from the draft for as long as you can afford to—take a vacation—and when you come back most of your work will be done for you in the back country of the islands.
Kenneth Atchity • Write Time: Guide to the Creative Process, from Vision through Revision—and Beyond
The mathematical genius Alexander Grothendieck once had a metaphor for solving problems. He suggested that instead of forcing open an impossibly hard kernel with a hammer and chisel, one should simply let it sit in water and wait. Over time, the shell softens and opens with ease. This is also true in writing; time is the only non-substitutable ingr... See more