Writing Quote Number 4 from the Archive
I’ve always loved books. I’m passionate about them. I think books are sexy. They are smooth and solid and contain delightful surprises. They smell good. They fit into a handbag … Continue reading
Writing Quotes Number 3 from the Archives
Aside from heavy drinking, the creation of lists is the most effective temporary form of anxiety relief that I know of, and, as a bonus, it’s substantially cheaper and results … Continue reading
Writing Quote Number 2 from the Archive
It is well known that a woman can be in two places at once, at her desk and her washing machine… Sylvia Townsend Warner
Writing Quote Number 1 from the Archives
If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an … Continue reading
Nothing really ends, said Kurt Vonnegut – bad news for short story writers. QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
Nothing ever really ends. That’s the horrible part of being in the short-story business—you have to be a real expert on ends. Nothing in real life ends. ‘Millicent at last … Continue reading
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
BRIDGET WHELAN writer 