I've said before that I collect quotes, and I've posted writing quotes on Choices many times. Well, I just came across a list of seventy-two more that I have saved in my Documents Folder for the last couple of years. I'll share some with you now and more later in the year. I don't want to bore you if you're not into this as much as I am. By the way, some of these authors are unknown to me. I think it might be a good idea to get to know about them, so I've marked those with an asterisk (*). I'd love to know what you know about them. The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress. Philip Roth The road to hell is paved with adverbs. Stephen King Who wants to become a writer? And why? Because it's the answer to everything. ¦ It's the streaming reason for living. To note, to pin down, to build up, to create, to be astonished at nothing, to cherish the oddities, to let nothing go down the drain, to make something, to make a great flower out of life, even if it's a … [Read more...]
Writers’ inspirations
I love to collect quotes - especially by writers I admire. Here's a few I'd like to share with you - perhaps for a little inspiration - definitely something I need right now. … [Read more...]
Reading like a writer
So about the big read. (See my February 11 blog post about this process.) I'm about two thirds through, and it's easy to tell my novel in progress needs a lot of work. In fact, in the words of Anne Lamott in her wonderful book on writing Bird by Bird, it's a "shitty first draft." I just don't know if I'm clever enough to give it what it needs to turn it into a "good second draft" and a "terrific third draft" that she predicts will happen. I'm finding little problems like lots of typos, inconsistencies, and redundancies those I know how to fix. It's the big problems like creating more interest in the characters and the story that is the major work. I need to describe the characters better; I need to make the story more interesting and suspenseful. In truth I need to figure out a way to make my readers want to turn the page. This morning I read a LinkedIn conversation about whether to include prologues or not lots of pros and cons on the subject. So I need to revisit leaving … [Read more...]
