“Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Be grateful for everything you can throw away. Reexamine each sentence… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
“All writers pen sad stories to garner sympathy, writing is after all for the abandoned of the society: the ink-leech, spewing black… — APORVAKALA Copy Share Image
“[Uh-oh, it's bath time for Calvin.] MOM, who sits in the living room, has turned toward the door. Very likely she is… — Bill Watterson Copy Share Image
“Screenplays are structure, and that’s all they are. The quality of writing—which is crucial in almost every other form of literature—is not… — William Goldman Copy Share Image
“An author needs a lot more than one person to succumb to his literary seductive charms, but, like Saul, he must realize… — Thomas McCormack Copy Share Image
“If the passage absolutely demands cursing, be moderate. A little of it goes a long way. I've seen beginning writers pepper curse… — David Morrell Copy Share Image
“Be true to the writer within you; tell the story you're dying to tell in exactly the way you wish to tell… — Richelle E. Goodrich Copy Share Image
“There is no bombast, no similes, flowers, digressions, or unnecessary descriptions. Everything tends directly to the catastrophe.” — Horace Walpole Copy Share Image
“And what about those [writers' workshop] critiques, by the way? How valuable are they? Not very, in my experience, sorry. A lot… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
“A successful story always offers its audience more than a simple resolution of events. A story offers a dramatic affirmation of human… — Bill Johnson Copy Share Image
“Comparisons deplete the actuality of the things compared... ("Conveyance: The Story I would Not Want Bill Wilson To Read")” — William S. Wilson Copy Share Image
“Some writers are the kind of solo violinists who need complete silence to tune their instruments. Others want to hear every member… — Zadie Smith Copy Share Image
“No writing is effortless. I’m not saying you can’t have a good day where the words just kind of flow, but even… — Darynda Jones Copy Share Image
“Hamlet' dwarfs 'Hamilton' - it dwarfs pretty much everything - but there's a revealing similarity between them. Shakespeare's longest play leaves its… — Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter Copy Share Image
“All good writers write [terrible first drafts.] This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts. .… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“[G]reat stories communicate simple truths that reflect the poetic dimensions of the human soul. Not only do powerful characters help us understand… — Kate Wright Copy Share Image
“The root difficulty in all cases was the state of being blind and deaf to words-- not seeing the words for the… — Jacques Barzun Copy Share Image
“Let life be the foundation. Be brave. Wander deep inside yourself to the little room no one knows about. Fling the door… — Christy Hall Copy Share Image
“The solution to entrapment in the narcissistic hothouse of self is to not relinquish autobiographical writing, but to expand the self by… — Phillip Lopate Copy Share Image
“In quickness is truth. The more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. In hesitation is thought. In delay comes the… — Ray Bradbury Copy Share Image
“An idea for a story can be anything. The sky is not the limit, the limit is beyond it.” — Chrys Fey Copy Share Image
“I think the distinction between fiction and nonfiction is less about “Did it really happen or was it made up?” than it… — Geoff Dyer Copy Share Image
