#writ

Now lend me your ears. Here is Creative Writing 101: 1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. 2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for. 3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water. 4. Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action. 5. Start as close to the end as possible. 6. Be a sadist. No matter sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of. 7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia. 8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages. The greatest American short story writer of my generation was Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964). She broke practically every one of my rules but the first. Great writers tend to do that. ↗

— Kurt Vonnegut

#love

I have also written a book about the Giving of the Torah, and a book on the Days of Awe, and a book on the books of Israel that have been written since the day the Torah was given to Israel. ↗

— Shmuel Y. Agnon

#also #awe #been #book #books

I returned to Jerusalem, and it is by virtue of Jerusalem that I have written all that God has put into my heart and into my pen. ↗

— Shmuel Y. Agnon

#heart #i #into #jerusalem #pen

Anyone who tries to write a memoir needs to keep in mind that what's interesting to you isn't necessarily interesting to a reader. ↗

— Mitch Albom

#interesting #keep #memoir #mind #necessarily

I had a very high-grade publisher tell me I was incapable of writing a memoir. ↗

— Mitch Albom

#i #incapable #me #memoir #publisher

In a newspaper, you only have so much room. It teaches you the value of getting to the point, of not pampering yourself with your glorious writing. I've always been much more interested in one powerful sentence that stays with you. That's my style. ↗

— Mitch Albom

#been #getting #glorious #i #interested

I suppose I'm most influenced by any good, commercial writer. I learn from everyone. ↗

— Nicholas Sparks

#commercial #everyone #good #i #influenced

Science fiction is no more written for scientists that ghost stories are written for ghosts. ↗

— Brian Aldiss

#ghost #ghost stories #ghosts #more #science

I am a writer and always was; being a writer is an integral part of my identity. Being published, being well regarded, is a component of that identity. ↗

— Brian Aldiss

#am #being #component #i #i am

It is comparatively easy to become a writer; staying a writer, resisting formulaic work, generating one's own creativity - that's a much tougher matter. ↗

— Brian Aldiss

#comparatively #creativity #easy #formulaic #generating