The Three Ages of an Author
- Thinks everything they write is wonderful.
- Thinks nothing they write is wonderful.
- Cuts out everything that might be regarded as wonderful. The story gets published.
Courtesy of John Yeoman, Writers’ Village
I am at stage 3 on “Succession!“, revising and trimming the fat – “killing my babies” as Ernest Hemingway described the process of editing. The pain of removing all those pages and pages of finely-crafted phrases and clever allusions, transferring dialogue and even action to other chapters and seeking to maintain a smooth through-read is something every writer must undergo.
Does it get easier with each successive book?
Andy McKell, Speculative Fiction Author 
Thanks, Andy. I should have added a fourth stage: everything they write gets published and it’s still not wonderful 🙂
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As Da Vinci said, “Art is never finished. It is abandoned.”
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