885 Quotes About Writing-advice

I liked the ending of The Sopranos. The screen suddenly went black. In the middle of a scene. Without any of the plotlines being resolved. That's what real life is like. Everything keeps going, until someone turns off the lights and you're dead. And even then the story continues, without you. There is no such thing as a happy ending.

Most writers sow adjectives almost unconsciously into the soil of their prose to make it more lush and pretty, and the sentences become longer and longer as they fill up with stately elms and frisky kittens and hard-bitten detectives and sleepy lagoons. This is adjective-by-habit - a habit you should get rid of. Not every oak has to be gnarled. The adjective that exists solely as a decoration is a self-indulgence for the writer and a burden for the reader.

Even if there were no more books published ever, there are still more books in existence today than anyone can read. And most of them suck. Good luck trying to find a good one. It's like finding a needle in a hay stack.

Writing a novel is like a two-year love affair. The novel has a formation period ranging from instantaneous falling-in-love to decades. It then generally takes a year or two to write, during which it is consuming, riveting, and eventful. Once done, there is a recovery period. No other story can enter; one must use the hole left behind as a time of settling and reformation. When ready, we can move on, although, the essence of the experience will remain with us forever.

You have to make people care about your book. They have to love it or hate it. If they don't care about your book, you have failed as a writer.

No one has ever stood out by being a conformist.

Self-publishing is not nearly as easy as people think it is. Sure, you can upload some crappy manuscript online and slap some run-of-the-mill cover on it. But that doesn't mean anyone wants to read it.

The large companies that offer self-publishing services don't care whether you buy a copy of Dracula, a copy of Frankenstein, and a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey – or if you buy three "proof copies" of your own book. They still sold you three books.And they know that wannabe writers are so proud of their own crappy book, they'll buy a whole bunch of copies to give to their friends and family. Wannabe writers are their best customers.

Basically the self-publishing industry's business model is based on selling you your own book. You're giving them money so that you can feel like a writer.