Word Quotes

9067 Word quotes by 4674 unique authors

To most readers the word 'fiction' is an utter fraud. They are entirely convinced that each character has an exact counterpart in real life and… — Louis Auchincloss
James Blish told me I had the worst case of "said bookism" (that is, using every word except said to indicate dialogue). He told me… — Anne McCaffrey
Before using a fine word, make a place for it. — Joseph Joubert
Use familiar words-words that your readers will understand, and not words they will have to look up. No advice is more elementary, and no advice… — James J. Kilpatrick
Many a poem is marred by a superfluous word. — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
It behooves us to avoid archaisms. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. — William Safire
Use the smallest word that does the job. — Elwyn Brooks White
Be grateful for every word you can cut. — William Zinsser
Never use an adverb to modify the verb 'said' . . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way)… — Elmore Leonard
Word meanings are like stretchy pullovers, whose outline contour is visible, but whose detailed shape varies with use. — Jean Aitchison
Let the reader find that he cannot afford to omit any line of your writing because you you have omitted every word that he can… — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Where strictness of grammar does not weaken expression, it should be attended to. . . . But where, by small grammatical negligences, the energy of… — Thomas Jefferson
Read! Read! Read! And then read some more. When you find something that thrills you, take it apart paragraph by paragraph, line by line, word… — W. P. Kinsella
In conversation you can use timing, a look, an inflection. But on the page all you have is commas, dashes, the amount of syllables in… — Fran Lebowitz
When using dialect, use it lightly. A dialect word here and there is enough. All you want to do is suggest. Never let it call… — Flannery O'Connor
A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his… — Charles Peguy
The sound of a word is at least as important as the meaning. — Jack Prelutsky
Dialogue is a lean language in which every word counts. — Sol Stein
To finish is a sadness to a writer - a little death. He puts the last word down and it is done. But it isn't… — John Steinbeck
They must be real people. And this means that every word in every line of speech must be accurate and full of some kind of… — John Steinbeck
Almost all words do have colour and nothing is more pleasant than to utter a pink word and see someone's eyes light up and know… — Gladys Taber
What's this business of being a writer. It's just putting one word after another. — Irving Thalberg
So in writing, there is always a right word, and every other than that is wrong. There is no beauty in words except in their… — Ralph Waldo Emerson
The final lesson a writer learns is that everything can nourish the writer. The dictionary, a new word, a voyage, an encounter, a talk on… — Anais Nin
I have an object, a task, let me say the word, a passion. The profession of writing is a violent and almost indestructible one. — George Sand

Who Wrote These Word Quotes

4,674 authors contributed a total of 9,067 Word Quotes, led by these top contributors: