Remember, it is no sign of weakness or defeat that your manuscript ends up in need of major surgery. This is a common occurrence in all writing, and among the best writers.
Interpretation
Revising your work is a normal part of writing and not a reflection of failure.
This quote emphasizes that needing to make significant changes to a manuscript is a common experience for writers, even the most successful ones. It serves to remind writers that editing is an essential part of the creative process and should not be seen as a failure or weakness, but rather as a step toward improvement and refinement of their work.
In practice
During a writing workshop, to encourage participants to embrace editing.
The surest way to arouse and hold the attention of the reader is by being specific, definitive, and concrete. The greatest writers - Homer, Dante, Shakespeare - are effective largely because they deal in particulars and report the details that matter. Their words call up pictures.
Instead of announcing what you are about to tell is interesting, make it so.
The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.
Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language.
Avoid fancy words....If you admire fancy words, if every sky is beauteous, every blonde curvaceous, every intelligent child prodigious, if you are tickled by discombobulate, you will have bad time Reminder 14.
Rather, very, little, pretty - these are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words. The constant use of the adjective little (except to indicate size) is particularly debilitating; we should all try to do a little better, we should all be very watchful of this rule, for it is a rather important one, and we are pretty sure to violate it now and then.
I think of it often and imagine the scene clearly. Even if they come to kill me, I will tell them what they are trying to do is wrong, that education is our basic right.
I've seen schools in Detroit where the windows are broken, where there's no heat, and children are sitting with their coats on in class in the middle of a snowstorm. I've also seen schools in California with Olympic-sized swimming pools and cafeterias like five-star restaurants.
Schools are not intended to moralize a wicked world, but to impart knowledge and develop intelligence, with only two social aims in mind: prepare to take on one's share in the world's work, and perhaps in addition, lend a hand in improving society, after schooling is done.
There are very many people who read simply to prevent themselves from thinking.
I went out of my way to play games I didn't like or find interesting. Those ended up being a lot more informative for me. At home, I have literally thousands of games, and I think of them as pearls of wisdom from my predecessors.
Equality of opportunity is meaningless for those who do not have the capabilities to take advantage of it.
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