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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Some favorite writing quotes

I love to collect quotes. I regularly post some of my favorites about writing on my Facebook author page. Here are a few.

"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say."  ~Anaïs Nin

"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you."  ~Ray Bradbury

"I try to leave out the parts that people skip."  ~Elmore Leonard

"Never use the word, 'very.' It is the weakest word in the English language; doesn't mean anything. If you feel the urge of 'very' coming on, just write the word, 'damn,' in the place of 'very.' The editor will strike out the word, 'damn,' and you will have a good sentence." ~William Allen White  

"I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter."  ~James Michener

"The wastebasket is a writer's best friend."  ~Isaac Bashevis Singer

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."  ~William Wordsworth

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."  ~Anton Chekhov

"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter - it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."  ~Mark Twain

"I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions."  ~James Michener

"If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."  ~Toni Morrison

"Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them."  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

"To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the inner music the words make."  ~Truman Capote

"For me, a page of good prose is where one hears the rain [and] the noise of battle."  ~John Cheever

"Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don't start sentences with a conjunction.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague."

~William Safire, Great Rules of Writing



What are your favorite writing quotes?

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