Where music comes from – Franz Kafka QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
Everything that lives is in flux. Everything that lives emits sound. But we only perceive a part of it. We do not hear the circulation of the blood, the growth … Continue reading
How to use research in fiction – Stephen King QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
If you do need to do research because parts of your story deal with things about which you know little or nothing, remember that word back. That’s where research belongs: … Continue reading
What kind of creature is a short story writer? Author Joseph O’ Connor is certain of one thing…QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
What kind of strange creature is a short story writer? I must confess that I don’t know. A high priest or priest of art? A wounded soul who can’t understand … Continue reading
Words are what matter…Ursula K. Le Guin QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
Words are what matter. The sharing of words. The activation of imagination through the reading of words. The reason literacy is important is that literature is the operating instructions. The … Continue reading
Write what you DON’T know…QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
One of the dumbest things you were ever taught was to write what you know. Because what you know is usually dull. Remember when you first wanted to be a … Continue reading
Mary Wollstonecraft on Imagination QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
The imagination is the true fire, stolen from heaven, to animate this cold creature of clay, producing all those fine sympathies that lead to rapture, rendering men social by expanding their … Continue reading
Stephen King on timid writers and timid lovers QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
Timid writers like passive verbs for the same reason that timid lovers like passive partners. The passive voice is safe. The timid fellow writes “The meeting will be held at … Continue reading
What storytellers can do – Erin Morgenstern QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows … Continue reading
Peter Carey on writing dialogue – you have to dig for the meaning. QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
The declared meaning of a spoken sentence is only its overcoat, and the real meaning lies underneath its scarves and buttons. Peter Carey
You need a motive to write & a bit of self-delusion…advice from a non-fiction author QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
Three guidelines from American non-fiction writer Michael Lewis It’s always good to have a motive to get you in the chair. If your motive is money, find another one. I … Continue reading
Why there will always be books with cardboard covers and paper pages – Neil Gaiman QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
As Douglas Adams once pointed out to me, over twenty years before the Kindle showed up, a physical book is like a shark. Sharks are old: there were sharks in … Continue reading
When and Why You Should Stop Reading…Hari Kunzru QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
I used to force myself to finish everything I started, which I think is quite good discipline when you’re young, but once you’ve established your taste, and the penny drops … Continue reading
Grief, Ignorance and Slowly becoming a Writer – Viet Thanh Nguyen QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
…I learned about grief as I worked on that damned short story collection. I did not know what I was doing, and what I also did not know, facing my … Continue reading
The Difference between a novelist and a writer of picture books…Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)
If you are a novelist, I think you start out with a 20 word idea, and you work at it and you wind up with a 200,000 word novel. We, … Continue reading
