--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That’s the magic of revisions – every cut…" description: "\"“That’s the magic of revisions – every cut is necessary, and every cut hurts, but something new always grows.”\" — Kelly Barnhill" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edf/kelly-barnhill-18022_cutting_that-s-the-magic-of-revisions-every-cut_236461.jpg" --- # That’s the magic of revisions – every cut is necessary… ![“That’s the magic of revisions – every cut is necessary, and every cut hurts, but something new always grows.” quote by Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edf/kelly-barnhill-18022_cutting_that-s-the-magic-of-revisions-every-cut_236461.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edf/kelly-barnhill-18022_cutting_that-s-the-magic-of-revisions-every-cut_236461.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edf/kelly-barnhill-18022_cutting_that-s-the-magic-of-revisions-every-cut_236461.jpg) > ““That’s the magic of revisions – every cut is necessary, and every cut hurts, but something new always grows.”” [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Revisions are painful but essential; each cut creates space for new growth. **In simple terms:** Editing is tough but leads to improvement. Key Takeaway Embrace necessary cuts. Themes creativity process growth Mood inspirational practical Type creative motivational When to use this quote - writing drafts - film editing - product design Key Concepts iteration creative resilience Questions to Reflect On - What part of your work are you afraid to cut? - How can you balance preservation and innovation? A Different Perspective Excessive cutting can erase valuable ideas. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Magic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magic/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Every day a sharp tool, a powerful destroyer, is necessary to cut away dullness, lobotomy, buzzing, belief in human beings, stagnancy, images, and accumulation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/every-day-a-sharp-tool-a-powerful-destroyer-is-necessary-to-cut-away/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [I love revisions...We can't go back and revise our lives, but being allowed to go back and revise what we have written comes closest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/i-love-revisions-we-can-t-go-back-and-revise-our-lives-but-being/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [The novel is never really in the first draft. The novel really happens in the revisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tama-janowitz/the-novel-is-never-really-in-the-first-draft-the-novel-really-happens/) [Tama Janowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tama-janowitz/) > [I think one of the reasons I'm so thrilled with writing is because it is an act of reading for me at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/i-think-one-of-the-reasons-i-m-so-thrilled-with-writing-is-because-it/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [But Blake's voices returned to dictate revisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/but-blake-s-voices-returned-to-dictate-revisions/) [Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/) > [“I am hard at work on the second draft ... Second draft is really a misnomer as there are a gazillion revisions, large and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/i-am-hard-at-work-on-the-second-draft-second-draft-is-really-a/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/if-you-start-to-revise-before-you-ve-reached-the-end-you-re-likely-to/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [I've learned to really love revision over the years and worked hard to build up my craft muscle to make my revisions less and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-bracken/i-ve-learned-to-really-love-revision-over-the-years-and-worked-hard/) [Alexandra Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-bracken/) > [There are days when the result is so bad that no fewer than five revisions are required. In contrast, when I'm greatly inspired, only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/there-are-days-when-the-result-is-so-bad-that-no-fewer-than-five/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [I'm obsessive. That's the word for me. I obsess - perhaps to the point where it's moderately dysfunctional. I tend to put a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/i-m-obsessive-that-s-the-word-for-me-i-obsess-perhaps-to-the-point/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I came to a dead stop and began major revisions. Sometimes these entailed the shredding of all existing manuscript for a fresh start -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/i-came-to-a-dead-stop-and-began-major-revisions-sometimes-these/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [Most poets' revisions are disastrous. They buckle and dent what was originally forged at a red-hot heat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/most-poets-revisions-are-disastrous-they-buckle-and-dent-what-was/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [The writer’s life is a life of revisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/the-writer-s-life-is-a-life-of-revisions/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [Health is when it hurts in a new place every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faina-ranevskaya/health-is-when-it-hurts-in-a-new-place-every-day/) [Faina Ranevskaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faina-ranevskaya/) > [Nothing hurts a new truth more than an old error](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-hurts-a-new-truth-more-than-an-old-error/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## More by Kelly Barnhill > [“Patience does not run Nor blow, nor skitter, nor falter. Patience is the swell of the ocean; Patience is the sigh of the mountain;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/patience-does-not-run-nor-blow-nor-skitter-nor-falter-patience-is-the/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) > [“It had been years since Xan last walked this trail. Centuries, really. She shivered. Everything looked so different. And yet . . . not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/it-had-been-years-since-xan-last-walked-this-trail-centuries-really/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) > [“In every breeze exhales the promise of spring, Each sleeping tree dreams green dreams; the barren mountain wakes in blossom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/in-every-breeze-exhales-the-promise-of-spring-each-sleeping-tree/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) > [“Each mortal beast must find it's Ground- be it forrest or fen or field or fire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/each-mortal-beast-must-find-it-s-ground-be-it-forrest-or-fen-or-field/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) > [“Stuff. The stuff of stars. The stuff of light. The stuff of a planet before it is a planet. The stuff of a baby…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/stuff-the-stuff-of-stars-the-stuff-of-light-the-stuff-of-a-planet/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) > [“So maybe the Reading Room is magic because books really are magic. I read once that books bend both space and time, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/so-maybe-the-reading-room-is-magic-because-books-really-are-magic-i/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) > [“Everything you see is in the process of making or unmaking or dying or living. Everything is in a state of change.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/everything-you-see-is-in-the-process-of-making-or-unmaking-or-dying/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) > [“She was eleven, after all. She was both even and odd. 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They whisper and flutter like the feathers of birds, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/stories-have-a-tendency-to-seep-across-the-shining-membrane-walls/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) > [“The Fool, when removed from solid ground, leaps- From mountaintop, to burning star, to black, black space. The scholar, when bereft of scroll, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/the-fool-when-removed-from-solid-ground-leaps-from-mountaintop-to/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) > [“Death is always sudden, even when it isn't”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/death-is-always-sudden-even-when-it-isn-t/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) > [“There is no freedom without wholeness, no hope unless the thing that has been broken is restored.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/there-is-no-freedom-without-wholeness-no-hope-unless-the-thing-that/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) > [“The stars cut into the inky black sky, like glinting shards of glass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/the-stars-cut-into-the-inky-black-sky-like-glinting-shards-of-glass/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) [Explore all 36 Kelly Barnhill quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) ## More Cutting quotes > [“I locked the door and turned on the water to fill the tub. 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Rahman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-rahman/) > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I didn't understand Southland Tales script at all! Is there a single word to describe it? Cacophony? It's celebrity meets pornography meets politics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-grant/i-didn-t-understand-southland-tales-script-at-all-is-there-a-single/) [Beth Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-grant/) > [Confidence comes from cutting yourself some slack.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-daly/confidence-comes-from-cutting-yourself-some-slack/) [Tess Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-daly/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. That's how they tried to cut off all my brothers in the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-ain-t-no-such-thing-as-black-muslims-that-s-how-they-tried-to/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [ We have no clear ideas of the agency of \[demonic\] spirits, nor is it necessary. The Scripture says little to satisfy our curiosity; but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-newton/we-have-no-clear-ideas-of-the-agency-of-demonic-spirits-nor-is-it/) [John Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-newton/) > [The child who ran weeping to you with a cut finger is now brought home, smiling gamely, with a broken collarbone and incredible contusions-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/the-child-who-ran-weeping-to-you-with-a-cut-finger-is-now-brought/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“I hate the way you talk to me And the way you cut your hair I hate the way you drive my car I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-hate-the-way-you-talk-to-me-and-the-way-you-cut-your-hair-i-hate/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [God holds each of us by a string. When we sin, we cut the string. But God ties it up again, making a knot.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/god-holds-each-of-us-by-a-string-when-we-sin-we-cut-the-string-but/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [What's the difference between obsolete and cutting edge? Obsolete works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/what-s-the-difference-between-obsolete-and-cutting-edge-obsolete-works/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. 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