Remembering Your Home – Beth Kephart QUOTES FOR MEMOIR WRITERS
Our childhood houses offered, at their most basic, shelter. But they also served as round-the-clock stage sets, as a kind of theater in which we were both actor and audience… … Continue reading
What You Can’t Do in Historical Fiction – Frederick Forsyth QUOTES FOR WRITERS
You can say that Hitler won the Second World War, but you can’t say that Green Park* is on the Northern line.Frederick Forsyth*For non Londoners, it is on the Piccadilly … Continue reading
There’s No Use Complaining – Joe Moran QUOTES FOR WRITERS
The act is its own reward; do not expect applause. You must be willing to keep writing in the absence of any evidence that anyone is reading. And no use … Continue reading
Why We Need Fiction – George Saunders QUOTES FOR WRITERS
Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is life kind or cruel? Yes, Literature answers. Are people good or bad? You bet, says Literature. But … Continue reading
Why Poets Can’t Write Songs – Stephen Sondheim QUOTES FOR WRITERS
Lyrics have to be underwritten. That’s why poets generally make poor lyric writers because the language is too rich. You get drowned in it.Stephen Sondheim Photo credit: Richie Lugo
Decisions, decisions, decisions…Wendy Cope QUOTES FOR WRITERS
I think it’s a question which particularly arises over women writers: whether it’s better to have a happy life or a good supply of tragic plots.Wendy Cope Photo Credit: engin akyurt
Let Your Talent Come Out and Play – George Saunders QUOTES FOR WRITERS
Here’s an idea I’ve found helpful: our talent is real and it’s sitting there inside of us. It’s smart and eager – eager to get going, and try some things, … Continue reading
The Miracle of Books – Anne Lamott QUOTES FOR WRITERS
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds … Continue reading
One of the Big Differences between Reading and Writing – Vickie Karp QUOTES FOR WRITERS
When we read, we start at the beginning and continue until we reach the end. When we write, we start in the middle and fight our way out.Vickie Karp Photo … Continue reading
Tension in Flash Fiction – Audrey Niven QUOTES FOR WRITERS
Make sure you actually tell a story. A descriptive vignette, however gorgeous, is not a flash story. A woman lolling in a hammock sipping cocktails is not enough. But if … Continue reading
You can ignore real life if you want – Kate Grenville QUOTES FOR WRITERS
As a writer, you’re in the luxurious position of being able to take from life whatever you want, but to ignore life if you want to. You may find that … Continue reading
Truth and Society – Selwyn Duke QUOTES FOR WRITERS
The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak itSelwyn Duke(Usually attributed to George Orwell, Reuters fact-checked it and discovered it is only … Continue reading
Samantha Harvey on Writing a Story Backwards QUOTES FOR WRITERS
If some of the most confounding times of our lives arise when we lose clear sight of how a situation came to be—what caused me to become unwell, what induced … Continue reading
Why Words are Pretty Inadequate Most of the Time – Samuel Butler QUOTES FOR WRITERS
WE WANT WORDS to do more than they can. We try to do with them what comes to very much like trying to mend a watch with a pickaxe or … Continue reading
BRIDGET WHELAN writer 