On my Facebook page, I recently shared this quote by Jonathan Safran Foer:

“You rarely hear writers talk about the editing process,’ he says. ‘But editing is everything. The writing itself is no big deal. The editing, and even more than that, the self-doubt, is excruciating. It’s like the difference between having a crush and a marriage.”

The quote seems to have originated from a 2002 interview by Clark Collis for the Observer in which Mr. Foer goes on to say,

“Crushes come easily, they’re intense, and you want to have them as much as you can. But then, with a marriage, it’s like, OK, what does this person’s farts smell like?”

Prior to reading his quote I hadn’t thought of writing in terms of a romantic relationship, but I find it fits well. For me, however, it looks a little more like this:

Do you agree with my tweaks? Do you remember your first “crush”? Tell me about it! I’d love to hear from you!