--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I love revising. If you demystify the…" description: "\"I love revising. If you demystify the process, it comes down to four strategies: what can I do to make the draft better; what should I cut out to make ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/wally-lamb-1817_cutting_i-love-revising-if-you-demystify-the-pro_1899483.png" --- # I love revising. If you demystify the process, it comes… ![“I love revising. If you demystify the process, it comes down to four strategies: what can I do to make the draft better; what should I cut out to make it stronger; what do I need to do to clarify it; and finally, what should I reposition.” quote by Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/wally-lamb-1817_cutting_i-love-revising-if-you-demystify-the-pro_1899483.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/wally-lamb-1817_cutting_i-love-revising-if-you-demystify-the-pro_1899483.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/wally-lamb-1817_cutting_i-love-revising-if-you-demystify-the-pro_1899483.png) > “I love revising. If you demystify the process, it comes down to four strategies: what can I do to make the draft better; what should I cut out to make it stronger; what do I need to do to clarify it; and finally, what should I reposition.” [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Improving a draft involves four steps: enhancing content, cutting weak parts, clarifying ideas, and reorganizing structure. **In simple terms:** Four steps improve writing: add, cut, clarify, restructure. Key Takeaway Apply these four strategies to refine any work. Themes writing editing creativity Mood practical insightful Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - author workshops - self‑editing - academic papers - marketing copy - software documentation Key Concepts cognitive process communication structure Questions to Reflect On - How can you tell when a draft is ready for each step? - Which step yields the biggest impact for your project? A Different Perspective Over‑editing can stall progress; balance is needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cutting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cutting/) [Draft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/draft/) [Draft Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/draft-better-2793520/) [Four](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/four/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Love Revising](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-revising-2793521/) [Make Draft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-draft-2164120/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Revising](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revising/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Should i](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should-i/) [Strategy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strategy/) [Stronger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stronger/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I love revising things, because you see how you can get the language to get closer to intention. You know there are three ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-love-revising-things-because-you-see-how-you-can-get-the-language/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [A lot of people didn't really think I'd make it until the draft. The people that hate, that's a part of it. It makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desean-jackson/a-lot-of-people-didn-t-really-think-i-d-make-it-until-the-draft-the/) [DeSean Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desean-jackson/) > [I think that there are a lot of great studio people but the fewer voices in my head when I'm getting out a draft,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-myers/i-think-that-there-are-a-lot-of-great-studio-people-but-the-fewer/) [Mike Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-myers/) > [I like revising much, much better than getting down a first draft. The first draft is just getting the pieces to the puzzle. Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-blume/i-like-revising-much-much-better-than-getting-down-a-first-draft-the/) [Judy Blume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-blume/) > [I'm constantly revising. Once the book is written and typed, I go through the entire draft again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/i-m-constantly-revising-once-the-book-is-written-and-typed-i-go/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [Writing a first draft is like groping one's way into a dark room, or overhearing a faint conversation, or telling a joke whose punchline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-solotaroff/writing-a-first-draft-is-like-groping-one-s-way-into-a-dark-room-or/) [Ted Solotaroff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-solotaroff/) > [I write to find out what the story means to me, that is what I try to do especially with the first draft.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/i-write-to-find-out-what-the-story-means-to-me-that-is-what-i-try-to/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [One of the things women poets have been engaged in - among the other things they've been doing - is revising parts of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eavan-boland/one-of-the-things-women-poets-have-been-engaged-in-among-the-other/) [Eavan Boland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eavan-boland/) > [Most writers want to share their essay or book much too quickly. 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From the code of morals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/one-must-keep-one-s-character-earn-a-character-first-if-you-can-and/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The human race may be compared to a writer. At the outset a writer has often only a vague general notion of the plan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/the-human-race-may-be-compared-to-a-writer-at-the-outset-a-writer-has/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [I believe Jack Smith might have written THE BOOK on writing and revising for publication. 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Silvia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-j-silvia/) ## More by Wally Lamb > [“Sometimes we want something to be true so badly that we convince ourselves that it is true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/sometimes-we-want-something-to-be-true-so-badly-that-we-convince/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [I like to write first-person because I like to become the character I'm writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/i-like-to-write-first-person-because-i-like-to-become-the-character-i/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [But I think this: that whatever prices I've paid, whatever sorrows I shoulder, well, I have blessings, too. 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A sidekick?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/guess-what-i-said-i-have-a-psychic-his-head-tilted-questioningly/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [The evidence of God exists in the roundness of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/the-evidence-of-god-exists-in-the-roundness-of-things/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [Life is a whoopee cushion, a chair pulled away just as you were taking a seat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/life-is-a-whoopee-cushion-a-chair-pulled-away-just-as-you-were-taking/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“What I remembered about those seesaw rides was the way Thomas would get mad at me, midride, and evacuate. Send me crashing back down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/what-i-remembered-about-those-seesaw-rides-was-the-way-thomas-would/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“I didn't respond to him. Couldn't speak at all. Couldn't look at his self-mutilation--not even the clean, bandaged version of it. 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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. 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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. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) [Browse all 6,010 Cutting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cutting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I love revising. 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