Apprenticeship
We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. — Ernest Hemingway
View ArticleThe power of sound
He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense. — Joseph Conrad
View ArticleDirty minds
I always start writing with a clean piece of paper and a dirty mind. — Patrick Dennis
View ArticleReading first
The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading in order to write; a man will turn over... (Continue reading)
View ArticleSemicolons go to college
Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing.... (Continue reading)
View ArticleReading, thinking, and talking
There are different rules for reading, for thinking, and for talking. Writing blends all three of them. — Mason Cooley
View ArticleDreadful labor
Writing is a dreadful labor, yet not so dreadful as Idleness. — Thomas Carlyle
View ArticleBest seller secrets
The most important thing is to read as much as you can, like I did. It will give you an understanding of what makes good writing and it will enlarge your vocabulary. — J. K. Rowling
View ArticleGood sense
Good sense is both the first principal and the parent source of good writing. — Horace
View ArticleForce of writing
You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to... (Continue reading)
View ArticleExquisite revision
Revision is one of the exquisite pleasures of writing. — Bernard Malamud
View ArticleLearning to write
However great a man’s natural talent may be, the act of writing cannot be learned all at once. — Jean-Jacques... (Continue reading)
View ArticleWriting well
Of all those arts in which the wise excel, Nature’s chief masterpiece is writing well. — Andre Breton
View ArticleThe leaping simile
The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile....
View ArticlePersistence
You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is...
View ArticleNot easy
There is no way of writing well and also of writing easily. — Anthony Trollope
View ArticleThe value of wastebaskets
A ratio of failures is built into the process of writing. The wastebasket has evolved for a reason. — Margaret... (Continue reading)
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