Quotes about writ
writing thought-provoking thesaurus
Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule. Stephen King
writing creating house
I have never felt like I was creating anything. For me, writing is like walking through a desert and all at once, poking up through the hardpan, I see the top of a chimney. I know there's a house under there, and I'm pretty sure that I can dig it up if I want. That's how I feel. It's like the stories are already there. What they pay me for is the leap of faith that says: 'If I sit down and do this, everything will come out okay.'
writing maps pages
I don't really map anything out. I just let it happen [while writing]. But once it happens, it's always there. If it's laid, it's played. If I get to page 300 and it's not working, I junk it.
writing character
I identify with the characters very closely. At the same time that I`m outside, writing, I`m also inside, experiencing, and it can be very unsettling.
writing divine humans
To write is human, to edit is divine.
writing wish fiction
Outlines are the last resource of bad fiction writers who wish to God they were writing masters' theses.
writing pages blank-pages
you must not come lightly to the blank page.
writing dark kissing
A short story is a different thing all together - a short story is like a kiss in the dark from a stranger.
writing two way
If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.
writing should-have voice
No, it's not a very good story - its author was too busy listening to other voices to listen as closely as he should have to the one coming from inside.
writing school home
I can remember being home from school with tonsillitis and writing stories in bed to pass the time.
writing caring tools
If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write.
writing answers one-word
When asked, 'How do you write?' I invariably answer, 'one word at a time.'
writing school people
I was in enough to get along with people. I was never socially inarticulate. Not a loner. And that saved my life, saved my sanity. That and the writing. But to this day I distrust anybody who thought school was a good time. Anybody.
writing formulas
Rewrite formula: 2nd Draft = 1st Draft - 10%.
writing sisterhood skulls
The road to hell is paved with adverbs.
writing thinking might
It was always a pleasure to write. I can never think of a time when I just hacked something out to fulfil a contract or meet a deadline. I might have hacked things out, but it was always stuff I loved.
writing done force
You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.
writing doors stories
Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. Your stuff starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. Once you know what the story is and get it right — as right as you can, anyway — it belongs to anyone who wants to read it. Or criticize it.
writing two hours
I don't spend the day writing. I'll maybe write fresh copy for two hours, and then I'll go back and revise some of it and print what I like and then turn it off.
writing stories able
I'm afraid of all kinds of things. I'm afraid of failing at whatever story I'm writing - that it won't come up for me, or that I won't be able to finish it.
writing creating world
When you write, you want to get rid of the world, don’t you? Of course you do. When you’re writing, you’re creating your own worlds.
writing stuff ifs
If the stuff you're writing is not for yourself, it won't work.
writing people syntax
Bad writing is more than a matter of (expletive deleted) syntax and faulty observation; bad writing usually arises from a stubborn refusal to tell stories about what people actually do to face the fact, let us say, that murderers sometimes help old ladies cross the street.
writing men adults
I'm seen as somebody who writes for adults because I'm an older man myself. Some of them find me, and a lot of them don't.
writing trying matter
Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.
writing police add
Must you write complete sentences each time, every time? Perish the thought. If your work consists only of fragments and floating clauses, the Grammar Police aren't going to come and take you away. Even William Strunk, that Mussolini of rhetoric, recognized the delicious pliability of language. "It is an old observation," he writes, "that the best writers sometimes disregard the rules of rhetoric." Yet he goes on to add this thought, which I urge you to consider: "Unless he is certain of doing well, [the writer] will probably do best to follow the rules."
writing college ideas
I can remember as a college student writing stories and novels, some of which ended up getting published and some that didn't. It was like my head was going to burst - there were so many things I wanted to write all at once. I had so many ideas, jammed up. It was like they just needed permission to come out.
writing past fiction
When it comes to the past, everyone writes fiction.
writing character trying
I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.
writing pieces favourite
The essay is one of my favourite forms of writing, and I feel like what's inside is really personal, more so than with shorter pieces. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
writing long way
Writing is not the easiest way to make a living. Your work long hours, usually all by yourself. It is not a way to make money. Stephen Ambrose
writing way reader
There are many rules of good writing, but the best way to find them is to be a good reader.