Quote: Rewriting

The key idea to remember is that fixing a broken novel is liked organizing an overstuffed closet: things get messier before they get better. You have to pull everything out before you can get it straightened up, which looks (and feels) like a disaster when you're in the middle of the operation. Deal with that, the psychological fact that you're eviscerating first, fixing later, and you'll go a long way toward meaningful editing, as opposed to rearranging deck chairs on the Hindenburg.
- Scott Westerfeld is the author of Uglies, Pretties, and many other novels