James J. Kilpatrick: Ask how and why
Five common traits of good writers: (1) They have something to say. (2) They read widely and have done so since childhood. (3) They possess what Isaac Asimov calls a …
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Inez Kelley: Be ready for many red marks
Dear Aspiring Writer, you are not ready. Stop. Put that finished story away and start another one. In a month, go back and look at the first story. RE-EDIT it. …
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Red Haircrow: Dance above the surface
“Dance above the surface of the world. Let your thoughts lift you into creativity that is not hampered by opinion.” ― Red Haircrow
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Lili St. Crow: Don’t force the Muse to show up
Discipline allows magic. To be a writer is to be the very best of assassins. You do not sit down and write every day to force the Muse to show …
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Stephen King: I know that
“There are lots of guys out there who write a better prose line than I do and who have a better understanding of what people are really like and what …
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Thomas Pynchon: No literature without paranoia
“There is no literature and art without paranoia. Probably there would be even civilization. Paranoia is the world. It is the attempt to make sense of what has not.” ― …
Read MoreE.A. Bucchianeri: The Book is more important
The Book is more important than your plans for it. You have to go with what works for The Book…if your ideas appear hollow or forced when they are put …
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F. Scott Fitzgerald: Two or three great experiences
Mostly, we authors must repeat ourselves – that’s the truth. We have two or three great and moving experiences in our lives – experiences so great and moving that it …
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George R.R. Martin: Of architects and gardeners
I think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many …
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Marcel Proust: Reading oneself, self-recognition
Every reader, as he reads, is actually the reader of himself. The writer’s work is only a kind of optical instrument he provides the reader so he can discern what …
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