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There would seem to be four stages in the composition of a story. First comes the germ of the story, then a period of more or less conscious meditation, then the first draft, and finally the revision, which may be simply ‘pencil work’ as John O’Hara calls it — that is, minor changes in wording — or may lead to writing several drafts and what amounts to a new work.

There would seem to be four stages in the composition of a story. First comes the germ of the story, then a period of more or less conscious meditation, then the first draft, and finally the revision, which may be simply ‘pencil work’ as John O’Hara calls it — that is, minor changes in wording — or may lead to writing several drafts and what amounts to a new work.

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Attribution & collection notes
Author or tradition
Malcolm Cowley
Attribution: attributed
Country attributed
Not established
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Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates.
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Contributor-provided quotation collection

Supplied reference C; CSV row 333008; supplied attribution, independently unverified

A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.