My favorite part in the movie...the one that speaks most to the difference between mediocrity and genius....and how mediocrity and authority mix together to stifle genius and excellence......is when he Mozart is told his composition has “Too many notes...take some of the notes out.”
On the one hand, I agree with that ...
On the other ... IMHO, one sign of a mediocre novelist is the use of too many words. Sometimes, WAY too many.
I offer L. Ron Hubbard's epic tome Battlefield Earth as an example. It would have benefited greatly from having been exposed to an editor.
For me it was when Mozart began playing Salieri’s piece
after hearing it just once, then began playing it backwards...
Bingo! That’s the money line!