Write Cut Rewrite: The Cutting Room Floor of Modern Literature

An illumination of writing’s mysteries through examining the words and ideas that were edited out of renowned novels, poems, and plays.

Imagine looking over your favorite author’s shoulder and witnessing the moment they begin writing the opening chapter of their best-loved novel. What you might see is that the author has to write, cut, and rewrite their words—often many times—in order to find the right form. Unearthing what has been jettisoned, moved, or edited can give us valuable insights into the creative process.

Editorial decisions are documented in an extraordinary number of literary manuscripts, notebooks, and letters preserved in libraries and archives. What would Frankenstein have looked like if Mary and Percy Shelley had not collaborated on the draft? Would we view The Wind in the Willows differently if its title had remained The Mole & the Water Rat? This highly illustrated book invites you to explore these roads not taken and discover ideas that did not make it into renowned novels, poems, and plays.

With insights into the drafting techniques of writers as varied as Jane Austen, Christina Rossetti, Raymond Chandler, Samuel Beckett, Franz Kafka, John le Carré, Barbara Pym, Philip Pullman, and Alice Oswald, this is a fascinating unveiling of the mysteries of writing, cutting, rewriting, and publishing creative works.

Dirk Van Hulle is professor of bibliography and modern book history at the University of Oxford.

Mark Nixon is codirector of the Beckett International Foundation and associate professor of modern literature at the University of Reading.