I read this wonderful article by Jane Smiley about revision called "What Stories Teach Their Writers: The Purpose and Practice of Revision". It's in an anthology of writing articles called Creating Fiction edited by Julie Checkoway. Anyway, I love Jane Smiley's way of thinking about revising. She talks about letting the story talk to you, becoming receptive to your story, about writing through to the end of your first draft so that you can start to revise and get to know your story, that your story is in there, like the sculpture is in the marble. I find that such a helpful way of thinking. A wonderful article. If you get the chance, it's very much worth reading.

Ani

I'll seek this out, I think just about anything by Jane Smiley, fiction or no, is worth eagerly getting my hands on. She's the Dickens of now, no question about it, and the worlds she writes about are so diverse and often ignored by contemporary writers. Horses, for instance. And cows. If you don't know what I'm talking about, have a read of Horse Heaven, or Moo.

I read Horse Heaven a couple of years ago. It was amazing. I'd like to read more of her work. And this article was superb.