The waste basket is the writer’s best friend.

Singer’s remark compresses a practical credo of craftsmanship: good writing depends as much on deletion as on invention. The “waste basket” stands for ruthless revision—discarding weak sentences, false starts, and self-indulgent passages so the remaining work can be clearer, truer, and more alive. It also implies humility: the writer must accept that many attempts will fail and that progress often comes through cutting rather than adding. In a broader sense, the line deflates romantic myths of effortless inspiration and emphasizes writing as labor, judgment, and continual refinement.