The Reason for Bad Writing – Stephen King QUOTES FOR WRITERS
Bad writing is more than a matter of shit syntax and faulty observation; bad writing usually arises from a stubborn refusal to tell stories about what people actually do― to … Continue reading
Advice to young writers from playwright and screenwriter Lilian Hellman QUOTES FOR WRITERS
They’re fancy talkers about themselves, writers. If I had to give young writers advice, I would say don’t listen to writers talking about writing or themselves. Lillian Hellman
In early June….John Steinbeck QUOTES FOR WRITERS
In early June the world of leaf and blade and flowers explodes, and every sunset is different.John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent Photo by Ann Savchenko on Unsplash
Could you give a bad ending to a good character? Kate Atkinson’s views might be a bit unfashionable…QUOTES FOR WRITERS
The legacy of the fairy story in my brain is that everything will work out. In fiction it would be very hard for me, as a writer, to give a … Continue reading
A day in Brighton…QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and festival goers)
May is festival time in my adopted home town of Brighton – every year we host the second largest arts festival in the northern hemisphere (and the third largest in … Continue reading
Where to Draw the Line…advice from scriptwriter Sue Teddern QUOTES FOR WRITERS
Learning how to write drama means learning how to cope with meddling. You’ll have to identify the boundary between what it’s reasonable for you to accept (‘We think it might … Continue reading
…stories are about what you lose…John Irving QUOTES FOR WRITERS
Be serious, Life hurts, reflect what hurts. I don’t mean that you can’t also be funny, or have fun, but at the end of the day, stories are about what … Continue reading
Looking forward to April…a slam-bang return to joy, says Barbara Kingsolver QUOTES FOR WRITERS
Every religious tradition from the northern hemisphere honors some form of April hallelujah, for this is the season of exquisite redemption, a slam-bang return to joy after a season of … Continue reading
Irritating aspects of Punctuation – E. L. Doctorow QUOTES FOR WRITING
I like commas. I detest semi-colons – I don’t think they belong in a story. And I gave up quotation marks long ago. I found I didn’t need them, they … Continue reading
One of the great advantages books have over films…Alan Moore QUOTES FOR WRITERS
In comics the reader is in complete control of the experience. They can read it at their own pace, and if there’s a piece of dialogue that seems to echo … Continue reading
Read Anything You Want. Just Read, says Matt Haig QUOTES FOR WRITERS
Read Emily Dickinson. Read Graham Greene. Read Italo Calvino. Read Maya Angelou. Read anything you want. Just read. Books are possibilities. They are Escape Routes. They give you options when … Continue reading
Don’t be the writer who never, explores, searches, sieves for the right word…Rumer Godden QUOTES FOR WRITERS
A writer who has never explored words, who has never searched, seeded, sieved, sifted through his knowledge and memory…dictionaries, thesaurus, poems, favorite paragraphs, to find the right word, is like … Continue reading
If you want to write a story you only have one goal…
‘Good story’ means something worth telling that the world wants to hear. Finding this is your lonely task…But the love of a good story, of terrific characters and a world … Continue reading
Developing empathy – what fiction does for us: Laila Lalami QUOTES FOR WRITERS
Stories help us see the world through the eyes of others: We see what they see; we’re provoked or inspired or amused; we take sides or withhold judgment—but in the … Continue reading
