“Writing is part intuition and part trial and error, but mostly it’s very hard work.”
— Cheryl Strayed
Monday Quoteday
“This sentence has five words.
Here are five more words.
Five-word sentences are fine.
But several together become monotonous.
Listen to what is happening.
The writing is getting boring.
The sound of it drones.
It’s like a stuck record.
The ear demands some variety.
Now listen.
I vary the sentence length, and I create music.
Music.
The writing sings.
It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony.
I use short sentences.
And I use sentences of medium length.
And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”
— Gary Provost
Monday Quoteday
“Short stories do not say this happened and this happened and this happened. They are a microcosm and a magnification rather than a linear progression.” — Isobelle Carmody
Monday Quoteday
“When in doubt, the rule of threes is a rule that plays well with all of storytelling. When describing a thing? No more than three details. A character’s arc? Three beats. A story? Three acts. An act? Three sequences. A plot point culminating in a mystery of a twist? At least three mentions throughout the tale. This is an old rule, and a good one. It’s not universal — but it’s a good place to start. ”
— Chuck Wendig
Monday Quoteday
Monday Quoteday
“One can be absolutely truthful and sincere even though admittedly the most outrageous liar. Fiction and invention are of the very fabric of life.” — Henry Miller
Monday Quoteday
“Write while the heat is in you. … The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with.” — Henry David Thoreau
Monday Quoteday
“Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now.” — Annie Dillard
Monday Quoteday
“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is … the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” — Mark Twain
Monday Quoteday
“There is only one plot—things are not what they seem.” — Jim Thompson