logo

Say thanks by supporting us!

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisement to our visitors. Please consider supporting to us by disabling your ad blocker.

Processing...

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

- Thomas McGuane
logo
Author:
Thomas McGuane
Tags:
Great
Land
Reckless
Related Quote
Show all

I'm always surprised to rediscover that there's something kind of scary about life; and that the feeling we have that we're in charge is probably ill founded.

I'm always surprised to rediscover that there's something kind of scary about life; and that the feeling we have that we're in charge is probably ill founded.

One of the reasons I'm reluctant to start a novel is it's such an obsessive activity. You get in there, you don't know anything else while you're in there. And that's quite a sacrifice to make, especially for us old guys where time is kind of short. You don't want to disappear for a year; you want to be outdoors.

You reach a point at which you have to view your life through the things you've spent so much time doing. The alternative is a perilous feeling of waste.

Maybe I haven't been tested, but I have no fear of death at all. I was with Allen Ginsberg during the last year of his life, and he called all his friends and said, 'I'm on my way out, and it's kind of exciting.' I see it as kind of exciting, too.

I never wanted to be a celebrity writer. I wanted to be a good writer. I'm still trying to be a good writer. That's what gets me out of bed in the morning.

It took me a long time to know enough about writing to really write short stories. You can't just immerse yourself, as you do in a novel, and see where everything goes. Novels are a very flexible, accommodating form. Short stories aren't.

All the ranchers I know have had back surgery, operations on their rotator cuffs. They all have new knees. I'd like to think I belong to that breed, but I don't.

I'm a really a fanatical reviser, and there comes a point where I have to declare a truce with the text, or I'll keep fooling with it forever.

Showcase
Show all

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.

I'm a great reviser. I do these reckless drafts just to get the lay of the land.