The work of a writer.
What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he’s staring out of the window. ~Burton Rascoe
Mental Illness is in the writer’s genes.
Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.
–E. L. Doctorow
Totally! :D
He died.
When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He’s written, “He dies.” That’s all; nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is, “He dies.” It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with, “He dies.” And yet every time I read those two words, I find myself overwhelmed with dysphoria. And I know it’s only natural to be sad, but not because of the words “He dies.” but because of the life we saw prior to the words.
—Mr. Edward Magorium from Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium
What makes a classic.
A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never heard). It is classic because of a certain eternal and irrepressible freshness.
~ Edith Wharton
How much money do you get?
Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money.
~ Jules Renard
Much too true. :(
Ease of the Write.
Some things concerning the challenge of writing a good book.
What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure. ~ Samuel Johnson
When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing. ~ Enrique Jardiel Poncela
Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
If you want to get rich from writing, write the sort of thing that’s read by persons who move their lips when they’re reading to themselves. ~ Don Marquis
The right word.
I might have posted this one before, but Mark Twain said a lot of very wise things, and it fits into the theme I’ve had this month in quotes involving editing, deleting, and the right word.
The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~ Mark Twain
Destruction!
An author is one who can judge his own stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.~ Colette
Better Editing.
The more I write, the more I learn that the process is about rewriting, not as much as writing. Yes, we need a plot, and good characters and all, but we can have that, be a terrible rewriting, and get no where.
That is partly why I find this post particularly helpful.
Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~ Anton Chekhov
Think about that for a moment. That gives you more than enough of an idea about how to go about rewriting.
Abigail
always a writer 