The wastebasket is the writer's best friend.

Singer’s remark distills a hard truth about literary craft: good writing depends as much on deletion as on invention. The “wastebasket” stands for ruthless revision—discarding clichés, weak scenes, and self-indulgent passages so that what remains is sharper, truer, and more alive. Framed as a “best friend,” it suggests that cutting is not a punishment but a form of loyalty to the work and to the reader. The line also implies humility: even accomplished writers must accept that many drafts and ideas will fail, and that progress often comes through subtraction.