It’s Sunday, there’s a dismembered tree on my lawn, and the youngest child is recovering nicely from the ear infection that laid her low on Friday and sent us into a tizzy. Good day for pithy writing advice!
1. “Your protagonist must protag.” Unknown
2. “If you’re blocked, lower your sights.” Lawrence Block
3. Discipline is remembering what you truly desire. – unknown
4. “Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough.” George Washington Carver
5. “Writers block results from too much head. Pegasus, poetry was born of Medusa when her head was cut off. You have to be reckless when writing. Be as crazy as your conscience allows.” Joseph Campbell
6. “I always started a novel with one thing in mind: present the interesting characters facing an interesting situation, and then take the next logical step. At the end of the process you’ll have a novel. I never made a false start on a novel, and I never had writer’s block… that I can remember!” Howard Browne
7. “The thing with writing good sex scenes, as the thing with writing everything else, is this: telling detail, man. Not a chair: this chair. Not a cat: this cat. Not a sex scene, idealized or farcical, but this sex scene, right here, right now, with these two characters having this sex. When you get the off-beat, perfect detail just right, and it makes the scene concrete and real, that’s called fabulous reality. If you have that, you can do no wrong.” – Elizabeth Bear
8. “When asked, “How do you write?” I invariably answer, “One word at a time,” and the answer is invariably dismissed. But that is all it is. It sounds too simple to be true, but consider the Great Wall of China, if you will: one stone at a time, man. That’s all. One stone at a time. But I’ve read you can see that motherfucker from space without a telescope.” — Stephen King (Via Marjorie Liu’s blog)
9. “When a good writer is having fun, the audience is almost always having fun too. You can take that one to the bank.” Stephen King
10. “When you have a hard job to do, start now. Work every day. Finish.” Stephen Hunter, 47th Samurai
BRILLIANT!!!
LOVED #8.
LMAO
Jackie, #1 and 2 get me through many a tight writing corner.
Cracked me up, too. Pile up those words, they amass!
I think I’m going to have to quote #7 on my blog, Charli, giving you credit, too, of course. It’s so true. It’s easy to find writing sex over and over again monotonous, but not if you keep those particular characters and their quirks in mind.
Thanks…great post as always! 🙂
Awesome blog! All so true. I like in particular:
3. Discipline is remembering what you truly desire. – unknown
Denise A. Agnew
She has another great quote about writing sex scenes: in fiction, every scene must advance plot, advance character, worldbuild, and entertain. An erotic scene must do all of that…AND be hot. *g*
Denise, it’s very true. It’s easy to stay focused on a goal when it’s what you want.
Great quotes, espcecially #8. That’s a good reminder for days when you’re not getting much done. As long as you get a few words written, you’re progressing.
NJ, it’s so easy to think that if you only write a few words, or a few hundred words, it’s not enough. Why is that?