--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It always strikes me how almost…" description: "\"It always strikes me how almost unbelievably bad are the early versions of my novels.\" — Nicholas Mosley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1c/nicholas-mosley-31638_always_it-always-strikes-me-how-almost-unbeliev_3099555.jpg" --- # It always strikes me how almost unbelievably bad are the… ![“It always strikes me how almost unbelievably bad are the early versions of my novels.” quote by Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1c/nicholas-mosley-31638_always_it-always-strikes-me-how-almost-unbeliev_3099555.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1c/nicholas-mosley-31638_always_it-always-strikes-me-how-almost-unbeliev_3099555.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1c/nicholas-mosley-31638_always_it-always-strikes-me-how-almost-unbeliev_3099555.jpg) > “It always strikes me how almost unbelievably bad are the early versions of my novels.” [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Early drafts of a novel often feel far worse than later revisions, highlighting the growth through editing. **In simple terms:** First drafts are usually poor. Key Takeaway Embrace editing to improve work. Themes writing self‑critique growth Mood reflective encouraging Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - novel drafting - self‑editing - workshop feedback Key Concepts revision process creative development Questions to Reflect On - What can you learn from your early drafts? - How does feedback shape your writing? 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathalie-sarraute/i-have-often-heard-that-the-novel-is-dead-but-i-see-novels-produced-i/) [Nathalie Sarraute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathalie-sarraute/) > [I think of novels as houses. You live in them over the course of a long period, both as a reader and as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-think-of-novels-as-houses-you-live-in-them-over-the-course-of-a/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) ## More by Nicholas Mosley > [“It is very difficult to love people who are good to us: it is easier to imagine we are loving people we can condescend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/it-is-very-difficult-to-love-people-who-are-good-to-us-it-is-easier/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [“Love is in prospect or retrospect, the present is ecstasy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/love-is-in-prospect-or-retrospect-the-present-is-ecstasy/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [There is curiously little art concerning the efficacy of reason - perhaps simply because reason is not noticeably efficacious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/there-is-curiously-little-art-concerning-the-efficacy-of-reason/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [“The ritual was kissing her at various parts as if I were adorning her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/the-ritual-was-kissing-her-at-various-parts-as-if-i-were-adorning-her/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [I don't think I've ever read an old book through from start to finish. 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He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [It's not writing in the traditional sense, but I've always said that the writing process continues on the set and even into the editing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-weide/it-s-not-writing-in-the-traditional-sense-but-i-ve-always-said-that/) [Robert B. Weide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-weide/) > [I always watch my matches back 100 times afterwards because that's how I improve. 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If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [I always say if you put someone from a small town into a big city for ten years, then when they go back, they'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-colter/i-always-say-if-you-put-someone-from-a-small-town-into-a-big-city-for/) [Mike Colter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-colter/) > [Bayern is always a team that can win the Champions League title in Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lothar-matthaus/bayern-is-always-a-team-that-can-win-the-champions-league-title-in/) [Lothar Matthaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lothar-matthaus/) [Browse all 36,048 Always quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It always strikes me how almost unbelievably bad are the early versions of my novels.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nicholas Mosley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/it-always-strikes-me-how-almost-unbelievably-bad-are-the-early/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Always" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/it-always-strikes-me-how-almost-unbelievably-bad-are-the-early/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1c/nicholas-mosley-31638_always_it-always-strikes-me-how-almost-unbeliev_3099555.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1c/nicholas-mosley-31638_always_it-always-strikes-me-how-almost-unbeliev_3099555.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1c/nicholas-mosley-31638_always_it-always-strikes-me-how-almost-unbeliev_3099555.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It always strikes me how almost unbelievably bad are the early versions of my novels.” — Nicholas Mosley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Nicholas Mosley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It always strikes me how almost...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/it-always-strikes-me-how-almost-unbelievably-bad-are-the-early/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/it-always-strikes-me-how-almost-unbelievably-bad-are-the-early/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```