“I take great pains with my work, pruning and revising with a tireless hand. I have the welfare of my creations very much at heart. I cut them with infinite care, burnish them until they become brilliant. What many another writer would be content to leave in massive proportions, I polish into a tiny gem.”

– Ernest Hemingway

The initial act of writing is only the first step in the process of creating a novel. It is later, in the editing, the cutting and trimming, where you shape your work into something truly special.