--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I write first drafts feverishly fast, and…" description: "\"I write first drafts feverishly fast, and then I spend years editing. It's not that sentence-by-sentence perfectionist technique some writers I admire ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/850/porochista-khakpour-20047_admire_i-write-first-drafts-feverishly-fast-and_2386034.jpg" --- # I write first drafts feverishly fast, and then I spend… ![“I write first drafts feverishly fast, and then I spend years editing. It's not that sentence-by-sentence perfectionist technique some writers I admire use. I need to see the thing, in some form, and then work with it over and over and over until it makes sense to me - until its concerns approach…” quote by Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/850/porochista-khakpour-20047_admire_i-write-first-drafts-feverishly-fast-and_2386034.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/850/porochista-khakpour-20047_admire_i-write-first-drafts-feverishly-fast-and_2386034.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/850/porochista-khakpour-20047_admire_i-write-first-drafts-feverishly-fast-and_2386034.jpg) > “I write first drafts feverishly fast, and then I spend years editing. It's not that sentence-by-sentence perfectionist technique some writers I admire use. I need to see the thing, in some form, and then work with it over and over and over until it makes sense to me - until its concerns approach me, until its themes come to my attention. At that editing stage, the story picks itself and it's just up to me to see it, to find it. If I've done a good job, what it all means will force me to confront it in further edits.” [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing involves rapid drafting followed by prolonged, iterative editing until the work’s deeper meaning emerges. **In simple terms:** First drafts are fast; editing refines meaning. Key Takeaway Iterate patiently to uncover truth in writing. Themes writing creativity process reflection Mood thoughtful inspirational Type creative processual When to use this quote - author workshops - personal journals - novel revisions - academic papers Key Concepts drafting editing self‑analysis thematic development Questions to Reflect On - What part of your work needs deeper editing? - How can you balance speed and depth? A Different Perspective Perfectionism may stall progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Approach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach/) [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [End Year](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-year/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Perfectionist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfectionist/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Technique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technique/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“You'd have thought that after twenty years editing murder mysteries I'd have noticed when I found myself in the middle of one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-horowitz/you-d-have-thought-that-after-twenty-years-editing-murder-mysteries-i/) [Anthony Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-horowitz/) > [I write very raw, ugly, illiterate first drafts very quickly (novels are always in first draft in under a year) and then I spend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/i-write-very-raw-ugly-illiterate-first-drafts-very-quickly-novels-are/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [Recently a study proved that working from a larger, less cluttered computer screen increases concentration. 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I write from the beginning to the end, and when it's finished, it's done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/i-don-t-write-drafts-i-write-from-the-beginning-to-the-end-and-when/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [I prefer to write first drafts as soon as possible after waking, so that the oneiric inscape is still present to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-prefer-to-write-first-drafts-as-soon-as-possible-after-waking-so/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“Whenever I write first drafts, I like to maximize the possibility of f-ups, mistakes, mis-written words, digressions, crazy changes in tone, etc. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/whenever-i-write-first-drafts-i-like-to-maximize-the-possibility-of-f/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [If you imagine the world listening, you'll never write a line. 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I've learned that I have to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/i-m-constantly-at-war-with-myself-to-quit-goofing-around-and-the/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [I write first drafts by hand. Never do I open an umbrella inside the house. I don't predict wins or losses. I used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/i-write-first-drafts-by-hand-never-do-i-open-an-umbrella-inside-the/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) ## More by Porochista Khakpour > [Addiction is a very compelling subject for literature - especially now that it's nearly impossible to come out of adult experience without some addiction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/addiction-is-a-very-compelling-subject-for-literature-especially-now/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [In South Pasadena, artists were around but invisible somehow. Even though it was just a fifteen-minute drive from Downtown LA, it felt worlds apart.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/in-south-pasadena-artists-were-around-but-invisible-somehow-even/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [I both loved and hated South Pasadena. On the one hand, it was so diverse - all my closest friends were immigrants or had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/i-both-loved-and-hated-south-pasadena-on-the-one-hand-it-was-so/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [There is less gray area there, less doubt. There is a security in being some thing all the way. 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It's been all over the place. A new American identity… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/it-9-11-tragedy-has-affected-us-on-so-many-levels-economically/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [The radical is simply being given more room in the mainstream. And I think young people - I'm talking about the very young millennials…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/the-radical-is-simply-being-given-more-room-in-the-mainstream-and-i/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [My characters' addictions are what makes them a bit stylized or "grotesque" - not just in appearance but through what drives them. Addiction is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/my-characters-addictions-are-what-makes-them-a-bit-stylized-or/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [I wanted to literalize the surreal here. Those are my favorite kinds of stories. I love when Gabriel García Márquez does that, for instance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/i-wanted-to-literalize-the-surreal-here-those-are-my-favorite-kinds/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [I love outsider stories. And I also like a lot of genre fiction, too. So I wanted to write a literary book that flirted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/i-love-outsider-stories-and-i-also-like-a-lot-of-genre-fiction-too-so/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [9/11 was just an enormous event in so many senses of the word - I mean, we are still in the "post-9/11 era" and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/9-11-was-just-an-enormous-event-in-so-many-senses-of-the-word-i-mean/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [The Illusionist is the storyteller in so many ways. Symbols become his obsession. It's not simply about creating plot - one must also grapple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/the-illusionist-is-the-storyteller-in-so-many-ways-symbols-become-his/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [Being unique seems more desirable than ever. People are exhausted by clichés, by platitudes, by mass-produced realities, by what's been done and done and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/being-unique-seems-more-desirable-than-ever-people-are-exhausted-by/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [I guess none of the sides of my hyphen are particularly subtle cultures. But perhaps there is also a sense that these characters are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/i-guess-none-of-the-sides-of-my-hyphen-are-particularly-subtle/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) [Explore all 31 Porochista Khakpour quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) ## More Admire quotes > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I admire Serena Williams, because, I mean, who doesn't admire Serena Williams?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johanna-konta/i-admire-serena-williams-because-i-mean-who-doesn-t-admire-serena/) [Johanna Konta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johanna-konta/) > [How proud I am to be compared to Oprah. I really admire her. She's a minority woman and she's done all this by herself...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-saralegui/how-proud-i-am-to-be-compared-to-oprah-i-really-admire-her-she-s-a/) [Cristina Saralegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-saralegui/) > [I admire President Obama's ability to trust strangers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-gutfeld/i-admire-president-obama-s-ability-to-trust-strangers/) [Greg Gutfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-gutfeld/) > [I really admire people's interactions with technology that aren't tech-centric but use it as a tool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-polachek/i-really-admire-people-s-interactions-with-technology-that-aren-t/) [Caroline Polachek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-polachek/) > [During my first years in the Sierra, I was ever calling on everybody within reach to admire them, but I found no one half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/during-my-first-years-in-the-sierra-i-was-ever-calling-on-everybody/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Shaw's works make me admire the magnificent tolerance and broadmindedness of the english.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/shaw-s-works-make-me-admire-the-magnificent-tolerance-and/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [It could be my British need for discipline that makes me admire the American appetite for freedom and passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-winwood/it-could-be-my-british-need-for-discipline-that-makes-me-admire-the/) [Steve Winwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-winwood/) > [I believe in a world where there are no heroes, and I've read and know humanity a lot. There are moments that I admire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/i-believe-in-a-world-where-there-are-no-heroes-and-i-ve-read-and-know/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I think it's really good and helpful to have the people you most admire in some other discipline than what you work in. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whit-stillman/i-think-it-s-really-good-and-helpful-to-have-the-people-you-most/) [Whit Stillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whit-stillman/) > [Part of what we admire about a painting or a piece of music is the order which the artist has imposed upon what would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-storr/part-of-what-we-admire-about-a-painting-or-a-piece-of-music-is-the/) [Anthony Storr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-storr/) > [I respect and admire the Premier League.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-koeman/i-respect-and-admire-the-premier-league/) [Ronald Koeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-koeman/) > [“Admire and appreciate your man and he will be happy on your side”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-alfiori/admire-and-appreciate-your-man-and-he-will-be-happy-on-your-side/) [Linda Alfiori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-alfiori/) > [“The thing I admire most about you is no matter how hard, or how much the world has tried to beat you, break you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-gill/the-thing-i-admire-most-about-you-is-no-matter-how-hard-or-how-much/) [Nikita Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-gill/) Browse all 2,369 Admire quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I write first drafts feverishly fast, and then I spend years editing. 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