Let’s face it: The ‘genius’ stuff happens in the editing process. - Jeff Goins

To write is human, to edit is divine. - Stephen King

The secret to editing your work is simple: you need to become its reader instead of its writer. - Zadie Smith

Editing is a kind of creative activity where, in a perfect world, an author and an editor find that elusive oneness to understand each other intuitively. - Sahara Sanders

For the relationship to work, the writer and editor must respect each other’s expertise and passion. - Rebecca Wenrich Wheeler

It’s hard to take someone seriously when they leave a note saying ‘your ugly.’ My ugly what? The idiot didn’t even know the difference between your and you’re. - Cara Lynn Shultz

Words. Words. I play with words, hoping that some combination, even a chance combination, will say what I want. - Doris Lessing

Editing should be, especially in the case of old writers, a counseling rather than a collaborating task. The tendency of the writer-editor to collaborate is natural, but he should say to himself, ‘How can I help this writer to say it better in his own style?’ and avoid ‘How can I show him how I would write it, if it were my piece?’ - James Thurber

Editors have to be vicious. They’re working for the reader, not the writer. - Brendan Wolfe