First place Quote by Kate Beaton
“Good writing is writing and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting. Sometimes, it happens to work right away, and that's amazing. But most of the time, it happens to work, and then you rewrite and rewrite and rewrite, and maybe it even comes back to the thing it was in the first place, but then you know for sure that it is good, and it's what you wanted to do.”
About This Quote
Source Interview: The Rumpus, 2015
Writing improves through repeated revision; initial drafts often need multiple rewrites to reach quality.
In simple terms: Good writing requires many rewrites.
Key Takeaway
Embrace revision as essential.
Themes
writing
revision
craft
perseverance
Mood
reflective
determined
Type
advice
process
inspirational
When to use this quote
- author drafting
- academic papers
- screenplays
- blog posts
- marketing copy
Key Concepts
process
iteration
self‑editing
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you know when a piece is finished?
- When does revision become over‑editing?
A Different Perspective
Too many revisions can stall progress if perfectionism dominates.
![“The only thing I might have noticed [and this is pretty anecdotal] is that there is some tendency to need to be taught that 'writing is rewriting' - maybe more of a sense than was pervasive 10 years ago that the first or second pass of a story is sufficient. That is an idea that is easily…” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/249/george-saunders-317_blogging_the-only-thing-i-might-have-noticed-and_2019915.jpg)
![“[Writing is] largely a matter of application and hard work, or writing and rewriting endlessly until you are satisfied that you have said what you want to say as clearly and simply as possible. For me that usually means many, many revisions.” quote by Rachel Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/99e/rachel-carson-2645_application_writing-is-largely-a-matter-of-applicati_1416364.jpg)
