92 quotes found
“Never place your punch at the beginning of a column nor at the end. Sneak it in where it's least expected. Fill a whole column with drivel, just to get in that one important line.”
“You are not an "author," you are a writer. If your books are still selling like hotcakes ten years after your demise, THEN you're an author.”
“No matter how entertaining, diverse, concise, or detailed, a writing craft book is, its not going to work magic on you, its not going to suddenly make you a brilliant writer simply by reading it. Y...”
“During 30 years of earning my daily bread as a writer I have learned many lessons about our craft. The most significant of those lessons is that I still have many lessons to learn about out craft.”
“You need a certain amount of nerve to be a writer.”
“Telling a story is like playing a fiddle. No one want's to hear it when it's done badly”
“Writing is a team sport.”
“There is no bombast, no similes, flowers, digressions, or unnecessary descriptions. Everything tends directly to the catastrophe.”
“I had declared in public my desire to be a writer ... I wanted to develop a curiosity that was oceanic and insatiable as well as a desire to learn and use every word in the English language that di...”
“Begin your writing, fiction or article, where the action begins. This action can be internal (e.g., an important insight or personal decision) or external (e.g., a murder or calamity). Begin too ea...”
“Good fiction makes the truth believable.”
“Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil. J.Paul Getty”
“A successful story always offers its audience more than a simple resolution of events. A story offers a dramatic affirmation of human needs that are acted out to resolution and fulfillment. Even wh...”
“My rule is never save bits. They get the way, and you don't think of anything new. Put 'em in. Make a big mess.”
“Inspiration comes from your writing. Thoughts meander subliminally through our subconscious, at night when we sleep the brain is working. In the act of writing, phrases come out and you think: wow,...”
“Writing doesn’t get any easier with time or talent. If writing is easy for you, you’re probably still learning the craft. You haven’t perfected your style or landed upon your “voice.” You haven’t l...”
“Most—but not all—of the writers I knew then were young men who cherished their independence, were unconcerned about job security, and were serious about their writing. They didn’t want to be anyone...”
“Don’t write what you know—what you know may bore you, and thus bore your readers. Write about what interests you—and interests you deeply—and your readers will catch fire at your words.”
“I’ve come to the end of another book alive. At times like this I’m always at a loss for words.”
“I never really feel that I’m stuck. I actually think that people are never stuck, there’s no such thing as writers block, I think that theres terror that can silence you. But if you can think of it...”
