A few quotes, worth sharing.
Cut! Cut! Cut! Your reader has a life.
Easy reading is hard writing.
When a writer chooses names for characters, she has to believe they couldn't be called anything else.
A novel gives you a legitimate way to have a little world of your own creation.
(Quoting Somerset Maugham)
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are."
And my own personal favorite discovery this morning?
After about thirty pages, you should find your voice (or voices), and when you do, your characters will begin to speak and act on their own.
Whew. Thirty pages. Don't give up on those voices too soon.
Related post: Voice
My wife orders 25 of these every year and now I find I too love them! I sometimes just sit and read them and have taken to sending them to friends for Christmas. Thanks they are very wonderful!
ReplyDeleteRead a great anonymous quote today that read: THIS CHRISTMAS mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Write a love letter.Share some treasure. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Keep a promise. Find the time. Forgive an enemy. Listen. Apologize if you were wrong. Think first of someone else. Be kind and gentle. Laugh a little.Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love. Speak it again. Speak it still once again.