885 Quotes About Writing-advice

Imagination? It is the one thing beside honesty that a good writer must have. The more he learns from experience the more he can imagine.

Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.

But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure to go wrong.

From my writer's workshop, "Know when it's time to put everything you've got on the page. Then, rip open a vein and do it!

Sometimes, I’ll craft a scene that’s so poignant; on the last keystroke I’ll raise my hands high overhead and scream “Yes!” at the top of my lungs. I have yet to experience an orgasm so powerful and fulfilling.

Writing a book is a blood sport. If it doesn't hurt when you're done, you're probably doing something wrong.

Nouns and verbs are the guts of the language. Beware of covering up with adjectives and adverbs.

It's hard for me to believe that people who read very little - or not at all in some cases - should presume to write and expect people to like what they have written. Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time - or the tools - to write. Simple as that.

People say that writers write for money. From my own experience that's not true. I write for me. I publish for money.