"I write and rewrite and rewrite and write and like to turn in what I think is finished work"
About this Quote
Compulsion hides inside Talese's casual repetition. "I write and rewrite and rewrite" isn’t just craft-talk; it’s a small manifesto against the myth of journalistic speed. In an industry that rewards being first, Talese positions himself as someone who’d rather be right, or at least complete. The looping phrasing mimics the act itself: returning to the same material, worrying it into shape, refusing the clean exit of a first draft.
The key move is the modest hedge: "what I think is finished work". He’s not claiming perfection; he’s claiming responsibility. Finished is a judgment call, not a fact, and he’s admitting how subjective that call is even for a master. That little clause also signals a professional ethic: if the piece fails, it won’t be because he didn’t try to make it whole.
Context matters because Talese helped define a style of narrative journalism that borrows the patience of the novelist: scene-building, character, atmosphere, the long stare instead of the quick summary. Revision, here, isn’t cosmetic; it’s investigative. Each rewrite is a second pass at truth-telling, a way to test whether the language matches what happened and whether the structure earns the reader’s trust.
There’s subtext, too, about control. Reporting can be messy and contingent; rewriting is where the chaos becomes intelligible. Talese’s repetition is a quiet flex: the real deadline is the moment the work feels finished, not when the newsroom clock says so.
The key move is the modest hedge: "what I think is finished work". He’s not claiming perfection; he’s claiming responsibility. Finished is a judgment call, not a fact, and he’s admitting how subjective that call is even for a master. That little clause also signals a professional ethic: if the piece fails, it won’t be because he didn’t try to make it whole.
Context matters because Talese helped define a style of narrative journalism that borrows the patience of the novelist: scene-building, character, atmosphere, the long stare instead of the quick summary. Revision, here, isn’t cosmetic; it’s investigative. Each rewrite is a second pass at truth-telling, a way to test whether the language matches what happened and whether the structure earns the reader’s trust.
There’s subtext, too, about control. Reporting can be messy and contingent; rewriting is where the chaos becomes intelligible. Talese’s repetition is a quiet flex: the real deadline is the moment the work feels finished, not when the newsroom clock says so.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
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