249 Quotes About Editing

If it's not right, keep editing until it is. ~ Life

Writing well is more than mechanics, but it is not less.

It is free speech, just edited into defeat.

Punctuation marks are well-mannered symbols that lead us around like a faithful butler; remove them, and we dance free form ...

Most often when I stammerThat's my brainCorrecting my grammer.

But after the war, when editors like Martin Durk came to prominence by trumpeting the timely death of the novel, Parish opted for a reflective silence. He stopped taking on projects and watched with quiet reserve as his authors died off one by one--at peace with the notion that he would join them soon enough in that circle of Elysium reserved for plot and substance and the judicious use of the semicolon.

You are an author! You will be a published author. Take pride in that, and present only your best work. Then, continue to improve, so your best gets even better.

The process of editing a piece of writing seems sometimes a lot like natural selection. Your efforts never really eliminate the mistakes. You just cause them to evolve into a sneakier, more robust breed.

Most of these editors, as they call themselves, couldn't even effectively edit a haiku.