“I know when a story is finished when there is not a single thing more I can think to do to it. And since I know at the start what the last line will be, I know when I've reached that point as logically as I can that it's finished. As for the rewriting-it's not foolproof, of course, but if you're honest about having thought of every possibility and you still come back to what you have, what more can you do?” IfsThinkingKnowsWritingStillsI CanStoriesLastsCoursesLinesHonestPossibilityFinishedRewritingFoolproof Author:Amy Hempel
“When I finished a song that I thought was good, I thought, I don't know where that came from, so I have no idea if I can do that again. I'm talking like, a hundred and fifty songs down the line. I still feel that.” IfsKnowsFeelsStillsI CanIdeasSongCan DoLinesTalkingHundredFinishedNo IdeaFifty Author:Trevor Rabin
“Indeed, while Nature is wonderfully inventive of new structures, her conservatism in holding on to old ones is still more remarkable. In the ascending line of development she tries an experiment once exceedingly thorough, and then the question is solved for all time. For she always takes time enough to try the experiment exhaustively. It took ages to find how to build a spinal column or brain, but when the experiment was finished she had reason to be, and was, satisfied.” TryingStillsReasonEnoughAgeScienceNatureLinesBrainDevelopmentSolutionsStructureFinishedExperimentsSatisfiedAll TimeRemarkableTake TimeConservatismHolding OnColumnsThoroughAscending Author:John M. Tyler