--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People might be surprised to know how…" description: "\"People might be surprised to know how much I throw away. For every page I publish, I throw 10 pages away.\" — Joyce Carol Oates" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42d/joyce-carol-oates-344_might_people-might-be-surprised-to-know-how-mu_2001420.png" --- # People might be surprised to know how much I throw away… ![“People might be surprised to know how much I throw away. For every page I publish, I throw 10 pages away.” quote by Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42d/joyce-carol-oates-344_might_people-might-be-surprised-to-know-how-mu_2001420.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42d/joyce-carol-oates-344_might_people-might-be-surprised-to-know-how-mu_2001420.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42d/joyce-carol-oates-344_might_people-might-be-surprised-to-know-how-mu_2001420.png) > “People might be surprised to know how much I throw away. For every page I publish, I throw 10 pages away.” [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author emphasizes the extensive editing process, discarding much material to refine the final work. **In simple terms:** Writing involves heavy editing and removal of drafts. Key Takeaway Embrace editing as essential. Themes writing editing creativity Mood reflective determined Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - drafting - publishing - self‑critique - literary workshops Key Concepts revision selectivity authorial process Questions to Reflect On - What does you discard in your creative process? - How do you decide what to keep? A Different Perspective Editing can be emotionally draining and may stall progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [10 Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/10-pages-964783/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pages/) [Pages Away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pages-away-3454676/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Publish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publish/) [Publish Throw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publish-throw-3523612/) [Throw 10](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/throw-10-3523613/) [Throw Away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/throw-away/) ## Related quotes > [We were talking about how old quarterbacks can't throw before 10 am... Practice starts too early for us. Wake me up in the middle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-marino/we-were-talking-about-how-old-quarterbacks-can-t-throw-before-10-am/) [Dan Marino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-marino/) > [At times I believed that the last page of my book and the last page of my life were one and the same, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/at-times-i-believed-that-the-last-page-of-my-book-and-the-last-page/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [ I know that sounds ineffective and daunting, but it \[throw hundreds of pages away\] is actually my favorite part of the writing process. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-chance/i-know-that-sounds-ineffective-and-daunting-but-it-throw-hundreds-of/) [Megan Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-chance/) > [I don't have many hours in a day, as I'm essentially a single parent. But fortunately, I'm a really fast writer. My goal is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-gagnon/i-don-t-have-many-hours-in-a-day-as-i-m-essentially-a-single-parent/) [Michelle Gagnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-gagnon/) > [I'd like to meet fewer people who say 'Oh, I want to write a book, here are 10 pages I've written,' and more 'Oh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/i-d-like-to-meet-fewer-people-who-say-oh-i-want-to-write-a-book-here/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [ I didn’t like it \[computer\] when I first began using it. Where it’s helped me a lot is in nonfiction which is a kind… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-didn-t-like-it-computer-when-i-first-began-using-it-where-it-s/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Children should be like waffles--you should be able to throw the first one away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mitford/children-should-be-like-waffles-you-should-be-able-to-throw-the-first/) [Nancy Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mitford/) > [When you close that door to nowhere throw away the key, we have a tendency to look back and regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/when-you-close-that-door-to-nowhere-throw-away-the-key-we-have-a/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Sometimes people throw away something good for something better, only to find out later that good was actually good enough and better never ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bakare/sometimes-people-throw-away-something-good-for-something-better-only/) [Bakare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bakare/) > [I've got to overcome that tendency to hide what I write or throw it away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-darwish/i-ve-got-to-overcome-that-tendency-to-hide-what-i-write-or-throw-it/) [Tiffany Darwish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-darwish/) > [You want to eliminate your evil desires in order to reveal your Buddha nature, but where will you throw them away?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/you-want-to-eliminate-your-evil-desires-in-order-to-reveal-your/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [“I'm going to grab hold of this night and crack it open, eat the fruit right out of the middle, and throw away the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-tharp/i-m-going-to-grab-hold-of-this-night-and-crack-it-open-eat-the-fruit/) [Tim Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-tharp/) > [To be innocent is to bear the weight of the entire universe. It is to throw away the counterweight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/to-be-innocent-is-to-bear-the-weight-of-the-entire-universe-it-is-to/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [I threw away my phone I thought that you should know I'd throw away my home If I had somewhere to go Anything to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashlee-simpson/i-threw-away-my-phone-i-thought-that-you-should-know-i-d-throw-away/) [Ashlee Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashlee-simpson/) > [Simon had been all lined up and he’d managed to throw away the best girl he’d ever meet. “What a dumbass,” Beck muttered. “No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jana-oliver/simon-had-been-all-lined-up-and-he-d-managed-to-throw-away-the-best/) [Jana Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jana-oliver/) ## More by Joyce Carol Oates > [“A woman who has lost her husband is invalid, thus an invalid. In”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/a-woman-who-has-lost-her-husband-is-invalid-thus-an-invalid-in/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Running! If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think of what it might be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/running-if-there-s-any-activity-happier-more-exhilarating-more/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [You need so much energy and encouragement to write that if someone says something negative, some of that energy goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/you-need-so-much-energy-and-encouragement-to-write-that-if-someone/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I learned long ago that being Lewis Carroll was infinitely more exciting than being Alice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-learned-long-ago-that-being-lewis-carroll-was-infinitely-more/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Paradox: how do we know what we have failed to see because we have no language to express it, thus we cannot know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/paradox-how-do-we-know-what-we-have-failed-to-see-because-we-have-no/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [At all crucial moments in our lives we want to speak without knowing what to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/at-all-crucial-moments-in-our-lives-we-want-to-speak-without-knowing/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [A writer’s life is in his work, and that is the place to find him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/a-writer-s-life-is-in-his-work-and-that-is-the-place-to-find-him/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [The challenge is to resist circumstances. Any idiot can be happy in a happy place, but moral courage is required to be happy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-challenge-is-to-resist-circumstances-any-idiot-can-be-happy-in-a/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [The first sentence cant be written until the final sentence is written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-first-sentence-cant-be-written-until-the-final-sentence-is-written/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [“Did you know, Marianne: how by breaking the code that day, you broke it forever? For us all?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/did-you-know-marianne-how-by-breaking-the-code-that-day-you-broke-it/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > ['The Accursed' is very much a novel about social injustice as the consequence of the terrible, tragic division of classes - the exploitation not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-accursed-is-very-much-a-novel-about-social-injustice-as-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Keep a light, hopeful heart. But expect the worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/keep-a-light-hopeful-heart-but-expect-the-worst/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo - that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/and-this-is-the-forbidden-truth-the-unspeakable-taboo-that-evil-is/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I don't think that writer's block exists really. I think that when you're trying to do something prematurely, it just won't come. Certain subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-don-t-think-that-writer-s-block-exists-really-i-think-that-when-you/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [... such speculation is like staring into the hot white sun. you know the sun is there but you can't see a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/such-speculation-is-like-staring-into-the-hot-white-sun-you-know-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Explore all 658 Joyce Carol Oates quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) ## More Might quotes > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. 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