Friday, July 24, 2009

10 Writing Tips

I found this list of tips with quotes from famous writers -- good for both laughs and insight.
  1. Cut the boring parts

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

  2. Eliminate unnecessary words

    Substitute “d***” every time you’re inclined to write “very;” your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~Mark Twain

  3. Write with passion

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

  4. Paint a picture
  5. Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov

  6. Keep it simple

    Vigorous writing is concise. ~William Strunk Jr.

  7. Do it for love

    Write without pay until somebody offers to pay. ~Mark Twain

  8. Learn to thrive on criticism

    You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance. ~Ray Bradbury

  9. Write all the time

    Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed. ~Ray Bradbury

    The way you define yourself as a writer is that you write every time you have a free minute. If you didn’t behave that way you would never do anything. ~John Irving
  10. Write what you know … or what you want to know

    If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

    Learn as much by writing as by reading. ~Lord Acton

  11. Be unique and unpredictable
  12. I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite. ~G.K. Chesterton

    Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative. ~Oscar Wilde

    Zest. Gusto. How rarely one hears these words used. How rarely do we see people living, or for that matter, creating by them. Yet if I were asked to name the most important items in a writer’s make-up, the things that shape his material and rush him along the road to where he wants to go, I could only warn him to look to his zest, see to his gusto. ~Ray Bradbury

1 comment:

Kiirsi said...

Loved this. Thanks!