Gordon Lish on "throwing stuff away"

"You can't go wrong throwing away, there's much to be said for throwing away. You will lose only what you do not need, only what will poison your writing by holding on to it, and you will gain power, focus, control and confidence, to name a few." -Gordon Lish

PS (from Meg Pokrass). Such interesting advice. I find this hard to do. To some degree, I try to follow this. For me, the trick is to essentially “throw stuff away”, yet keep my earliest drafts in another file, where I can look back…

Question for writers: How do you approach this aspect of revision? Do you hold on to early drafts, or do you literally throw things away? Would be interesting to start a discussion here…

Gordon Lish is an American writer. As a literary editor, he championed many American authors, particularly Raymond Carver, Barry Hannah, Amy Hempel, Rick Bass, and Richard Ford.Gordon Lish is an American writer. As a literary editor, he championed many American authors, particularly Raymond Carver, Barry Hannah, Amy Hempel, Rick Bass, and Richard Ford.

Thank you to Tetman Callis