Writing is simply another means for truth to escape, besides crawling out the hole it’s eaten in the author’s belly.

~ Dianne Kozdrey Bunnell

Dianne Kozdrey Bunnell Author Escape Trauma Truth Writer Writing Writing Process

On a related note, I think for many of us, the first step in becoming a good writer is to write crap. In all seriousness, none of us are born knowing how to write. Almost all of us will produce a lot of really lousy stories before we start to get good. (Not all of us will choose to publish those lousy stories, but that's a whole separate discussion...)

~ Jim C. Hines

Jim C. Hines Writer Writers On Writing Writing Writing Advice Writing Craft Writing Process

...ugly interlopers threaten to choke off your story, depriving it of much-needed nutrition, sunlight and water. Identify and cut those weeds – the life-sucking adverbs, the shade-killing descriptions that don’t move the story forward, the crowding passive voice sentences.

~ Rob Bignell

Rob Bignell Writer Writers On Writing Writers Quotes Writing Writing Advice Writing Craft Writing Process

My stories are my children. Some are sweet infants that I coddle and care for. Others are old enough now, they need to damn well get a job!

~ Christy Hall

Christy Hall Writer Writers Life Writers On Writing Writers Quotes Writers World Writing Writing Process

...when you're a writer, you become deeper and more uniquely distinct, the more you go inside yourself...

~ John Geddes

John Geddes Distinct Introspection Writer Writing Process

The if I had time lie is a convenient way to ignore the fact that novels require being written and that writing happens a sentence at a time. Sentences can happen in a moment. Enough stolen moments, enough stolen sentences, and a novel is born - without the luxury of time.

~ Julia Cameron

Julia Cameron Creative Process Novel Writing Writing Process

I went on steadily trying to 'find out how to'; but I wrote two or three novels without feeling that I had made much progress. It was not until I wrote Ethan Frome that I suddenly felt the artisan's full control of his implements. When Ethan Frome first appeared I was severely criticized by the reviewers for what was considered the clumsy structure of the tale. I had pondered long on this structure, had felt its peculiar difficulties, and possible awkwardness, but could think of no alternative which would serve as well in the given case: and though I am far from thinking Ethan Frome my best novel, and am bored and even exasperated when I am told that it is, I am still sure that its structure is not its weak point.

~ Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton Ethan Frome Novel Structure Writing Process

Sometimes when I prepare to write, I feel the same sensation wash over me as if my toes were curling over the brink of a high cliff, my gaze peering downward into a dark pond, and I anxiously wonder, will the water prove deep enough? Will my words be satisfactory?

~ Richelle E. Goodrich

Richelle E. Goodrich Author Authors On Writing Richelle Richelle E Goodrich Richelle Goodrich Writing Writing Process

The biggest thing for aspiring writers I would say is that writing is hard work. You can’t sustain the fantasy that it should somehow be otherwise for you because you are more special or more committed than other aspiring writers. You aren’t sitting down to be entertained by the gods or to entertain yourself. At times it can be a thrill and it feels more like play, but we are easily deceived by whatever pleasures or rewards writing can offer. Exhilarating work is still work. Is it work, or is it play? And the answer is “yes.” Does it sometimes feel like it comes easily or naturally? Yes. But did it really come easily? No. Writing doesn’t offer the rhythmic endorphin hit you get scrolling down the screen clicking on memes. Are you up for the work it is going to take to become successful as a writer? It is going to be harder than you think. You are submitting to forces and to a process that you can’t fully control. There is maybe a tiny bit more control if you self-publish, and there is no shame in doing that, but even that is going to introduce hard work. Probably harder than you think. If my next novel can’t find a home, I’m not above self-publishing it in some capacity and then moving on to the next project.

~ Brian K. Friesen

Brian K. Friesen Aspiring Authors Aspiring Writers Author Writing Writing Advice Writing Life Writing Process Writing Tip Writing Tips

The irony of a writer is he/she craves privacy to pen words that crave the public.

~ Alisha Priti Kirpalani

Alisha Priti Kirpalani Author Books Writing Process

Every few weeks she would shut herself up in her room, put on her scribbling suit, and fall into a vortex as she expressed it, writing away at her novel with all her heart and soul, for till that was finished she could find no peace. Her scribbling suit consisted of a black woollen pinafore on which she could wipe her pen at will, and a cap of the same material, adorned with a cheerful red bow, into which she bundled her hair when the decks were cleared for action. This cap was a beacon to the inquiring eyes of her family, who during these periods kept their distance, merely popping in their heads semi-occasionally, to ask, with interest, Does genius burn, Jo? They did not always venture even to ask this question, but took an observation of the cap, and judged accordingly. If this expressive article of dress was drawn low upon the forehead, it was a sign that hard work was going on; in exciting moments it was pushed rakishly askew; and when despair seized the author it was plucked wholly off, and cast upon the floor. At such times the intruder silently withdrew; and not until the red bow was seen gayly erect upon the gifted brow, did any one dare address Jo.

~ Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott Author Creative Process Writing Writing Life Writing Process

The author is impacted by a hidden insistence that takes the shape of different combinations each time adifferent text is produced but the underlying problem remains the same for him.

~ Anuradha Bhattacharyya

Anuradha Bhattacharyya Author Knowledge Knowledge Of Self Knowledge Quotes Knowledge Wisdom Literary Fiction Text Wisdom Writing Process

Letters orchestrated into a song of words create the symphony of a novel.

~ Leslie Austin

Leslie Austin Author Author Quotes Wordplay Writers On Writing Writing Process

Laughing in my ear is a muse amused by how I paint her whims on paper with silly words.

~ Richelle E. Goodrich

Richelle E. Goodrich Muse Richelle Richelle Goodrich Writing Writing Process

My mood, as I identify with each of my heroes, resembles what I used to feel when I played alone as a child. Like all children, I liked to play make-believe, to put myself in someone else's place and imagine dream worlds in which I was a soldier, a famous soccer player, or a great hero.

~ Orhan Pamuk

Orhan Pamuk Childhood Make Believe Writing Process

A novelist is essentially a person who covers distance through his patience, slowly, like an ant. A novelist impresses us not by his demonic and romantic vision, but by his patience.

~ Orhan Pamuk

Orhan Pamuk Novelist Orhan Pamuk Patience Writing Writing Process

Like a splendid mosaic of myriad colors, she in all her hues of sensitivity would paint her feelings in your mind’s gray skies. She was the butterfly making you run after her. She was the Zahir, a mirage that transcended borders and time-zones.

~ Avijeet Das

Avijeet Das Artistes Borders Butterfly Quotes Colors Creativity Quotes Gray Inspirational Quote Mirage Mosaic Muses Myriad Paint Sensitivity Sky Quotes Time Quotes Time Zones Woman Quotes Writing Process Writing Quotes Zahir

Once writing becomes an act of listening instead of an act of speech, a great deal of the ego goes out of it.

~ Julia Cameron

Julia Cameron Ego Writing Writing Process

Celebrate your day of birthday as special day.Make a specific birthday wishes and write it down.You will be amazed about the power of pen and inner strength to accomplish the wishes.This will be a special gift for yourself on each birthday.

~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Lailah Gifty Akita A Day Of Birth Amazement Birth Birth Mother Birthday Gift Birthday Gifts Birthday Party Birthday Present Birthday Quotes Birthday Wishes Birthdays Determined Spirit Dreaming Big Dreams Fearless Bravery Fearless Quotes Fulfilling Purpose Fulfilling Your Destiny Fulfilling Your Potential Fulfillment Inner Strength Power Of Pen Power Of Thoughts Power Of Words Powerful Special Day Wishes And Dreams Wishes Dreams Wishes For My Kids Wishes For New Year Wishes Fuliflled Wishes Quotes Writing Writing Advice Writing From The Heart Writing Philosophy Writing Process

The gift of writing, natural flow of thoughts from the deepest heart.

~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Lailah Gifty Akita Book Writers Book Writing Gift Of God Gift Of Life Power Of Thoughts Power Of Words Read And Write Talented Talents And Gifts Thoughts On Life Thoughts On Writing Words Have Power Words To Inspire You Words To Live By Write And Be Heard Write And Read Writer S Block Writers On Writing Writers Quotes Writing Writing Advice Writing Books Writing From The Heart Writing Life Writing Process Writing Quotes Your Destiny Your Self

When a person sets out to learn from others and not to teach others he becomes a true writer.

~ Carla H. Krueger

Carla H. Krueger Being A Writer Carla Author Carla H Krueger Krueger Author Learning From Mistakes Teaching Writing Advice Writing Life Writing Philosophy Writing Process Writing Tips

Autobiographical writing stands as lasting memorial for enduring the travails of an earthly life. Writing is an apt technique to score our storyline into the annuals of time. To endure a mortal life is merely a transitory experience whereas writing about how one lived is an internalized exposition of what it means to be human. Writing is an external exhibition injecting the author into the world’s consciousness.

~ Kilroy J. Oldster

Kilroy J. Oldster Artistic Expression Autobiography Memoir Personal Essay Personal Essays Self Examination Self Expression Storytelling Writing Writing Life Writing Process

We write our life stories detailing our worldly experiences in order to expose the unconscious mind to the world of conscious appreciation. By extending our consciousness, we bring material insights to our emotional forefront. Words lay the foundation for truth telling. The music of our words allows us to train the lightness of language upon the darkness of our own humanity. The taxonomy of the human mind empowers us to employ the magic of language to share information, suggest action, speculate upon the future, reminisce about pastimes, lance our most ragged feelings, and pontificate, with a drunkard’s sense of punchy assuredness, upon any topic that fits our fancy. We tell stories in order to mark our existence, to share both our triumphs and failures, and teach wisdom gained from our previous skirmishes in a convoluted world. In absence of our stories, we do not exist in our own minds or in the minds of our people.

~ Kilroy J. Oldster

Kilroy J. Oldster Memoir Memoir Writing Storytelling Writing Writing Process

Storytelling entails weaving a narrative out of the disturbing, strange, inspirational, and unremarkable detritus of life. By picking among the litter of our personal experiences to select evocative anecdotes to weave into a narrative format, we reveal which of life’s legendary offerings prove the most sublime to us. Acts of omission are momentous. Our narration of personal sketches divulge what factoids inspire us or do not stir us into action, or contain obdurate truths that prove virtually impossible to crack.

~ Kilroy J. Oldster

Kilroy J. Oldster Autobiography Essay Writing Life Story Memoir Memoir Writing Personal Story Story Of My Life Storytelling Storytelling Quotes Writers On Writing Writing Writing Philosophy Writing Process

People naturally impose a narrative story-line upon their experiences. Autobiographical writing allows a person to cast their experiences into a narrative thread and organize their thoughts based not upon conjecture but with applied reason.

~ Kilroy J. Oldster

Kilroy J. Oldster Autobiography Memoir Narrative Story Of My Life Storytelling Writing Process Writing Quotes

The writer and his reader are both complicit in the act of storytelling. The writer must first leave a part of his soul on the page,like a contagion, which the reader then catches.

~ Cynthia Ogren

Cynthia Ogren Inspirational Storytelling Writing Process

...a thriller's toughest trick: carefully assembling everything we think we know, until it reveals the one thing we didn't see coming.

~ Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly Thriller Writing Process

All the best writers take risks, offend people often and say fuck you to the critics.

~ Carla H. Krueger

Carla H. Krueger Bravery Carla H Krueger Fear Krueger Author Offend Risk Taking Risky Writing Life Writing Process

Writing a personal essay or memoir addresses how a person thinks and behaves in the context of society’s prevailing moral and ethical codes, informal rules, laws, and customs. A self-ethnographer emphasis what he or she considers important regarding how people perceive and categorize the world, their meaning for behavior, how they imagine and explain things, and ascertaining what has meaning for them. Expository writing, a discursive examination of a broad field of subjects, is one method of cohering the dimensions of a person’s emic and etic thoughts and a linked series of memorable events into a unified personal ideology how to live a purposeful life. In cultural anthropology, the emic approach focuses on what people of a local culture think and how they interpret events whereas the etic approach takes a more objective view of how an outsider evaluates the behavior and customs of a culture. Usage of both emic and etic analysis provides the richest description of a cultural or a society in which the personal essayist operates within.

~ Kilroy J. Oldster

Kilroy J. Oldster Autobiography Essay Writing Essayist Memoir Personal Essay Writing Writing Process

When writing a comprehensive self-investigatory scroll, the writer attempts to weave a network of strands capable of enmeshing all sizes of ideas including those with no obvious interconnection. The writer must also trace all lingering thoughts to their original source in personal experiences, and revaluate each exquisite nuance notched into a person’s conscious mind including acts of depravity, violence, and the almost imperceptible intrusions of grace.

~ Kilroy J. Oldster

Kilroy J. Oldster Autobiography Memoir Memoir Writing Self Discovery Self Questioning Writing Writing Philosophy Writing Process

Writing is a cerebral journey where the writer molds experience into useful thought capsules and thoughtfully takes recitative inventory of their spiritual depot. The act of personal essay writing is a subtle search to track and discover how a contiguous chain of occurrences links the essayist’s case history of rational and irrational behavior. Writing a person’s life story fosters acceptance of their prior personal failures and serves to open a doorway to living modestly and harmoniously.

~ Kilroy J. Oldster

Kilroy J. Oldster Essay Writing Essayist Memoir Writing Writing Lesson Writing Life Writing Process Writing Quotes

Sometimes writing is just rubbing words together long enough to make a fire.

~ Gillian Marchenko

Gillian Marchenko Memoir Writing Craft Writing Life Life Writing Process

How to preside over your own internal disorder? Finding the I that can represent the pack of you is the first challenge of the memoirist.

~ Tracy Kidder

Tracy Kidder Memoir Writing Writing Process

If a writer starts worring about what he or she has left out or forgotten, they might not be able to write even a single line.

~ Baby Halder

Baby Halder Baby Halder Bengali India Memoir Women Women Writers Writing Advice Writing Process

Every writer or wanna-be writer has ideas for books. The problem isn't finding an idea, it's choosing one

~ Jo Linsdell

Jo Linsdell Ideas Writers On Writing Writers Quotes Writing Books Writing Process

Discipline, not the Muse, results in productivity. If you write only when she beckons, your writing is not yours at all.

~ Kenneth Atchity

Kenneth Atchity Discipline Inspiration Kenneth Atchity Muse Productivity The Write Time Writing Writing Process

Words are the writer's sorcery, our dark arts and our sleight of hand. They're our enchantment and our temptation

~ Karl Wiggins

Karl Wiggins Words Of Wisdom Writing Writing Advice Writing Books Writing Craft Writing From The Heart Writing Inspiration Writing Process Writing Quotes

Without entering here into a dissertation upon the historical romance, it may be said that in proper hands it has been and should continue to be one of the most valued and valuable expressions of the literary art. To render and maintain it so, however, it is necessary that certain well-defined limits should be set upon the licence which its writers are to enjoy; it is necessary that the work should be honest work; that preparation for it should be made by a sound, painstaking study of the period to be represented, to the end that a true impression may first be formed and then conveyed. Thus, considering how much more far-reaching is the novel than any other form of literature, the good results that must wait upon such endeavours are beyond question. The neglect of them—the distortion of character to suit the romancer's ends, the like distortion of historical facts, the gross anachronisms arising out of a lack of study, have done much to bring the historical romance into disrepute.

~ Rafael Sabatini

Rafael Sabatini Historical Fiction Historical Romance Writing Writing Process

you once said to would like to sit beside me while I write. Listen in that case I could not write at all. For writing means revealing one self to excess; that utmost of self-revelation and surrender, in which a human being, when involved with others, would feel he was losing himself, and from which, therefore, he will always shrink as long as he is in his right mind...That is why one can never be alone enough when one writes, why there can never be enough silence around one when one writes, why even night is not night enough.

~ Susan Cain

Susan Cain Introversion Writing Life Writing Process

The first thing you have to learn when you go into the arts is to learn to cope with rejection. If you can’t, you’re dead

~ Warren Adler

Warren Adler Writing Advice Writing Life Writing Process
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