Imagine looking over the shoulder of your favourite author 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.