#writing

I started the first drafts of the book during my sophomore year of college. I wasn’t thinking at all about kids at the time. But I was thinking. A lot. About everything. I wish I could capture that head-space again; everything meant something to me in college. Every leaf, every sound, every lecture, every textbook. It’s like I was on drugs, 24/7. I am glad I was able to pair that ceaseless pondering with plenty of time to write. What came of that time was the first draft of the novel, a lengthy, unnecessarily angst-driven pile of crap. Years later, with Zoloft, I approached the novel with a more level head, and came away with a much, much better novel. My advice to writers, I suppose, is write your novel when you feel like shit; edit when you feel great. ↗

— Caleb J. Ross

#on-writing-stranger-will #writing-advice

...a writer should not so much write as embroider on paper; the work should be painstaking, laborious. ↗

— Anton Chekhov

#writing-advice

The human mind is not a dignified organ, and I do not see how we can exercise it sincerely except through eclecticism. And the only advice I would offer my fellow eclectics is: "Do not be proud of your inconsistency. It is a pity, it is a pity that we should be equipped like this. It is a pity that Man cannot be at the same time impressive and truthful. ↗

— E.M. Forster

#literature-writing #novel #truth #writing #writing-advice

Don't let yourself slip and get any perfect characters... keep them people, people, people, and don't let them get to be symbols. ↗

— Ernest Hemingway

#writing-advice

...it's merely writing, but you have to adjust your ear – I speak quietly – I sob – I whisper ... ↗

— John Geddes

#writing-advice #writing-advice

...consider yourself a functional character in someone else's novel - a background character - a person on the street - that's the perspective ... ↗

— John Geddes

#perspective #writing-advice #writing-process #writing-advice

Go where the pain is, go where the pleasure is. ↗

— Anne Rice

#pain #pleasure #writing #writing-advice #writing-advice

Writers often torture themselves trying to get the words right. Sometimes you must lower your expectations and just finish it. ↗

— Don Roff

#finishing #revising #tips #tips-on-writing #torture

I feel more alive when I'm writing than I do at any other time--except maybe when I'm making love. ↗

— May Sarton

#love

It has often been said there’s so much to be read, you never can cram all those words in your head. So the writer who breeds more words than he needs is making a chore for the reader who reads. That's why my belief is the briefer the brief is, the greater the sigh of the reader's relief is. And that's why your books have such power and strength. You publish with shorth! (Shorth is better than length.) ↗

— Dr. Seuss

#writing #humor