Drafts Quote by Mary Oliver

In working on a poem, I love to revise. Lots of younger poets don't enjoy this, but in the process of revision I discover…

— Rita Dove

I usually do at least a dozen drafts and progressively make more-conscious decisions. Because I've always believed stories are closer to poems than novels,…

— Ron Rash

I do not usually revise much, though I often cut, particularly the end or toward the end of a poem

— James Schuyler

So, the process of revision, it's not systematic. But for me, I mean, I know a lot of poets who write out a draft…

— Edward Hirsch

Sometimes I can spend as long revising a manuscript as I spent writing it in the first place.

— Margaret Haddix

I have written every poem, every novel, for the same purpose-to find out what I think, to know where I stand.

— May Sarton

If I'm working on a poem, it's at the forefront of my mind; I'm working on it when I'm cooking dinner or stretched out…

— Maxine Kumin

Every poem probably has sixty drafts behind it.

— Mary Karr

I've been writing a lot of poetry recently. It helps me think and work things out.

— Ed Westwick

I have a high guilt quotient. A poem can go through as many as 50 or 60 drafts. It can take from a day…

— Rita Dove

I must say, when I reread myself, it's the poetry I tend to look at. It's the most exciting to write, and it's over…

— John Updike

Sometimes I write quickly, sometimes I spend several weeks on a single poem. I would really love for readers not to be able to…

— Wislawa Szymborska