52 Quotes by James Scott Bell

People who read want one of two things: knowledge or entertainment. When you can give them both, so much the better.

Give yourself permission to be bad. Write first, polish later.

The best way to predict the future is to create it. You do that by study.

Don’t give up. I don’t think any other advice works. Writing is one of those things where you just have to do it. There will be far more people to discourage you than to encourage you. The time never comes to you, the inspiration doesn’t come to you. You just sit down and do it.” – James Lee Burke.

When the last dime is gone, I’ll sit on the curb with a pencil and a ten-cent notebook, and start the whole thing all over again.” – Preston Sturges.

A great novel is the record of how a character fights with death.

The exclamation point is a loud party-goer, demanding attention. Overdone, it can be annoying.

The Care Package is a relationship the Lead has with someone else, in which he shows his concern, through word or deed, for that character’s well being.

Ernest Hemingway had a rather personal way to describe first drafts. To paraphrase, he said all of them are like, ahem, biological waste.