Revisions

A couple of famous writers weigh in on revising before you've finished: John Steinbeck supposedly advised, "Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing down on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on." Yet another writer's block? Pearl S. Buck is quoted as saying, "If you start to revise before you've reached the end, you're likely to begin dawdling with the revisions and putting off the difficult task of writing." Each writer's process is individual. I find writing easy and revising (I call it "editing") more difficult. I could dawdle 'til doomsday revising a phrase. Editing is endless, until there's a point at which it shifts from improving a piece to destroying it. So, part of the process of becoming a writer is learning when to stop.

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