--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I rewrite everything, almost idiotically…" description: "\"I rewrite everything, almost idiotically. I rewrite and work and work, and rewrite and rewrite some more.\" — Laura Z. Hobson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/231/laura-z-hobson-36106_quote_i-rewrite-everything-almost-idiotically_1735498.jpg" --- # I rewrite everything, almost idiotically. I rewrite and… ![“I rewrite everything, almost idiotically. I rewrite and work and work, and rewrite and rewrite some more.” quote by Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/231/laura-z-hobson-36106_quote_i-rewrite-everything-almost-idiotically_1735498.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/231/laura-z-hobson-36106_quote_i-rewrite-everything-almost-idiotically_1735498.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/231/laura-z-hobson-36106_quote_i-rewrite-everything-almost-idiotically_1735498.jpg) > “I rewrite everything, almost idiotically. I rewrite and work and work, and rewrite and rewrite some more.” [Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker obsessively revises work, indicating a compulsive drive for perfection that may hinder progress. **In simple terms:** Obsessive rewriting shows perfectionism. Key Takeaway Balance effort with completion. Themes perfectionism productivity obsession Mood frustrated determined Type advice reflective When to use this quote - writing projects - academic papers - software development - artistic drafts Key Concepts creative process self‑criticism Questions to Reflect On - How does constant revision affect your momentum? - When is enough revision enough? A Different Perspective Over‑editing can stall final output. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Where I thrive is with my hands on the keyboard or my pen on the paper. 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We could take out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-byrne/doing-the-box-set-is-one-of-those-things-where-you-get-to-rewrite/) [David Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-byrne/) > [I always wanted to be a writer. In the beginning, I thought I had to rewrite 'Gone with the Wind,' but eventually, I found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/i-always-wanted-to-be-a-writer-in-the-beginning-i-thought-i-had-to/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [The best part of all, the absolutely most delicious part, is finishing it and then doing it over I rewrite a lot, over and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/the-best-part-of-all-the-absolutely-most-delicious-part-is-finishing/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [We've always dreamt of a TV series and working in film. When we first sat down to seriously write 'A Little Nightmare Music,' to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksey-igudesman/we-ve-always-dreamt-of-a-tv-series-and-working-in-film-when-we-first/) [Aleksey Igudesman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksey-igudesman/) > [To this day, I get rewrite offers where they say: 'We feel this script needs work with character, dialogue, plot and tone,' and when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sayles/to-this-day-i-get-rewrite-offers-where-they-say-we-feel-this-script/) [John Sayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sayles/) > [I've been shocked by film actors - 25 and under - having such confidence and cockiness to rewrite a scene. My background is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-marie-duff/i-ve-been-shocked-by-film-actors-25-and-under-having-such-confidence/) [Anne-Marie Duff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-marie-duff/) > [To rewrite history on the bases of hypotheses which have not materialized is not only a fruitless task, but, in my eyes, meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-monnet/to-rewrite-history-on-the-bases-of-hypotheses-which-have-not/) [Jean Monnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-monnet/) > [Reread, rewrite, reread, rewrite. If it still doesn't work, throw it away. It's a nice feeling, and you don't want to be cluttered with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-dunmore/reread-rewrite-reread-rewrite-if-it-still-doesn-t-work-throw-it-away/) [Helen Dunmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-dunmore/) > [I can't. You can't rewrite the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-asher/i-can-t-you-can-t-rewrite-the-past/) [Jay Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-asher/) > [“If you had your time all over again…? She was keen to know. You can't rewrite history. I have no idea what I'd do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maeve-binchy/if-you-had-your-time-all-over-again-she-was-keen-to-know-you-can-t/) [Maeve Binchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maeve-binchy/) > [Civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best to rewrite them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-so-i-did-my-best-to-rewrite/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) ## More by Laura Z. Hobson > [“He who could write so easily, who could spend a thousand words down along his plunging fingers on the green-rubber keyboard of his machine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-z-hobson/he-who-could-write-so-easily-who-could-spend-a-thousand-words-down/) [Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) > [I grew up in an agnostic broad-minded family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-z-hobson/i-grew-up-in-an-agnostic-broad-minded-family/) [Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) > [“They had known it, the patient, stubborn men who for years had argued and written and rephrased and fought over the Constitution and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-z-hobson/they-had-known-it-the-patient-stubborn-men-who-for-years-had-argued/) [Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) > [We are born in innocence. ... Corruption comes later. The first fear is a corruption, the first reaching for something that defies us. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-z-hobson/we-are-born-in-innocence-corruption-comes-later-the-first-fear-is-a/) [Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) > [Why didn't children ever see that they could damage and harm their parents as much as parents could damage and harm children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-z-hobson/why-didn-t-children-ever-see-that-they-could-damage-and-harm-their/) [Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) > [Any life he'd ever heard of, his own included, was burdened with emotions - love, loss, jobs, jealousy, money, death, pain. But if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-z-hobson/any-life-he-d-ever-heard-of-his-own-included-was-burdened-with/) [Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) > [Writers talk about the agony of writing; I talk about the agony of not writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-z-hobson/writers-talk-about-the-agony-of-writing-i-talk-about-the-agony-of-not/) [Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) > [“When he’d wanted to find out about a scared guy in a jalopy with his whole family behind him hoping for a living in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-z-hobson/when-he-d-wanted-to-find-out-about-a-scared-guy-in-a-jalopy-with-his/) [Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) > [I've told youngsters not to write their autobiographical novel at the age of twenty-one; to save it for the time when they're fifty-one or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-z-hobson/i-ve-told-youngsters-not-to-write-their-autobiographical-novel-at-the/) [Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) > [“THE CITY WAS ASLEEP. New York, the nervous, keyed-up city, was almost at rest two hours past midnight. Watching the sleeping stone under the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-z-hobson/the-city-was-asleep-new-york-the-nervous-keyed-up-city-was-almost-at/) [Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) > [I think of myself as a plain human being who happens to be an American.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-z-hobson/i-think-of-myself-as-a-plain-human-being-who-happens-to-be-an-american/) [Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) > [“Slow and unarguable, the old desire for love, for a close-shared life, struck at him, not with Kathy, not with Anne, not with any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-z-hobson/slow-and-unarguable-the-old-desire-for-love-for-a-close-shared-life/) [Laura Z. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) [Explore all 13 Laura Z. Hobson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-z-hobson/) ## More Rewrite quotes > [Civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best to rewrite them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-so-i-did-my-best-to-rewrite/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [“If you had your time all over again…? She was keen to know. You can't rewrite history. I have no idea what I'd do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maeve-binchy/if-you-had-your-time-all-over-again-she-was-keen-to-know-you-can-t/) [Maeve Binchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maeve-binchy/) > [I can't. You can't rewrite the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-asher/i-can-t-you-can-t-rewrite-the-past/) [Jay Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-asher/) > [Reread, rewrite, reread, rewrite. If it still doesn't work, throw it away. It's a nice feeling, and you don't want to be cluttered with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-dunmore/reread-rewrite-reread-rewrite-if-it-still-doesn-t-work-throw-it-away/) [Helen Dunmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-dunmore/) > [To rewrite history on the bases of hypotheses which have not materialized is not only a fruitless task, but, in my eyes, meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-monnet/to-rewrite-history-on-the-bases-of-hypotheses-which-have-not/) [Jean Monnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-monnet/) > [I've been shocked by film actors - 25 and under - having such confidence and cockiness to rewrite a scene. My background is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-marie-duff/i-ve-been-shocked-by-film-actors-25-and-under-having-such-confidence/) [Anne-Marie Duff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-marie-duff/) > [To this day, I get rewrite offers where they say: 'We feel this script needs work with character, dialogue, plot and tone,' and when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sayles/to-this-day-i-get-rewrite-offers-where-they-say-we-feel-this-script/) [John Sayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sayles/) > [We've always dreamt of a TV series and working in film. When we first sat down to seriously write 'A Little Nightmare Music,' to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksey-igudesman/we-ve-always-dreamt-of-a-tv-series-and-working-in-film-when-we-first/) [Aleksey Igudesman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksey-igudesman/) > [The best part of all, the absolutely most delicious part, is finishing it and then doing it over I rewrite a lot, over and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/the-best-part-of-all-the-absolutely-most-delicious-part-is-finishing/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [I always wanted to be a writer. In the beginning, I thought I had to rewrite 'Gone with the Wind,' but eventually, I found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/i-always-wanted-to-be-a-writer-in-the-beginning-i-thought-i-had-to/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [Doing the box set is one of those things where you get to rewrite your own history to some extent. We could take out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-byrne/doing-the-box-set-is-one-of-those-things-where-you-get-to-rewrite/) [David Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-byrne/) > [Whenever I listen to songs, I rewrite them in my head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-gorman/whenever-i-listen-to-songs-i-rewrite-them-in-my-head/) [Amanda Gorman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-gorman/) > [We kind of have to rewrite our own stories and our own ways of being free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-parker/we-kind-of-have-to-rewrite-our-own-stories-and-our-own-ways-of-being/) [Morgan Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-parker/) > [I don't know why directors sign on to these projects and completely rewrite everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-know-why-directors-sign-on-to-these-projects-and-completely/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story,” he said. “When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/when-you-write-a-story-you-re-telling-yourself-the-story-he-said-when/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) Browse all 112 Rewrite quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I rewrite everything, almost idiotically. 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