Writer's Quotes - David Lubar

From the guy who writes seriously funny books.
And is a master of puns.  (click on over to his website to see what I mean)
David Lubar

In six words, tell a complete -- no, wait. Better idea. Much better. In six words, or fewer, or more, write an interesting sentence. Write another, related to the first. And another. Keep going until you have a story, an essay, or a novel. Repeat, as needed.

Writer's Quotes - Jane Yolen

Inspiration from Jane Yolen:

Three writing rules I live by. 
- Write something every day. (BIC). 
- Revision is your best friend. 
- A manuscript in the drawer or on the laptop that isn't sent out cannot be bought. 

And two rules that even well known writers stumble over: 
- the editor is your colleague, not your enemy. 
- And a rejection is not the end of a dream. 
- Rowling had over 30 rejections and when finally published it was in a very small edition by Bloomsbury in the UK. 
L'engle's A WRINKLE IN TIME had 29 rejections. 
Suess's first book book well over 30 rejections. As I understand it, he was ready to self-publish it. (enter editor, Bennett Cerf.)

Writer's Quotes - Richard Peck

The award winning author, Richard Peck, died last week.
He said, in a speech to the Library of Congress Book Festival in 2013:

"I'm a writer because I never had a teacher who said, "Write what you know."
If I'd been limited to writing what I know, I would have produced ONE unpublishable haiku."
He added:
"Beatrix Potter never was a rabbit.
J.K. Rowling did not attend Hogwarts School."

Writer's quotes - Patricia Wrede

Advice from one of my favorite authors.
(I say - authors - because I have so many favorites)

"Talent is way down on the list of things you need to write; it comes in a distant fourth, after persistance, motivation, and discipline. 
And the reason is that "talent" is as common as mud; what's rare is the motivation to sit down and actually do something with it, the discipline to do it regularly, and the persistance to stick with it until it's finished. 
I know oodles of extremely talented people who will never publish anything, because they won't ever sit down and actually *write* anything, much less finish it." -- Patricia Wrede

Writer's Quotes - Stephen King

I'm attaching a link to a chart listing 14 pieces of writing advice from Stephen King.
Good for all writers.
Readers will also find this informative.  It might let you know just why that self-published book you bought was so unsatisfying and why traditionally published books, that are revised many times by the writer plus helpfully improved by an editor at a traditional publishing house, are so much better and more satisfying.

Writer's Quotes - Gene Wolfe

Neil Gaiman has a book called The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction and it's so full of good quotes that I might have to buy the book so I can refer to them from time to time.

Here's one he says Gene Wolfe told him about the act of Writing:
"You never learn how to write a novel.  You just learn how to write the novel that you're writing."

Truth.

Writer's Quotes - poets

Thoughts from a couple of poets:

Too many poets delude themselves by thinking the mind is dangerous and must be left out. Well, the mind IS dangerous and must be left in.  

Robert Frost

When I went to school, I knew poetry was not a dead thing.  I knew it was always written by the living, even though the dateline said the mind was dead.

Stephen Vincent Bene't

Writing Advice

Patricia Wrede says:

There is "No ONE True Way to Write!"

That is all.
Think about it.

Writing for a living

Without going into whether or not you actually CAN earn a living with your writing, much-pubhished author Marion Dane Bauer has written a blog post (on her blog, Just Thinking) about HOW to organize your life when you write for a living. Click on over.  Words to think about.
wo

Write a Better Cover Letter

WOW.  I just found some great advice about writing cover letters when you submit to publishers. Check it out on the Literally Advice blog.

 (How quickly did it take you to realize that this person lives in Great Britain?  But the writing advice is still spot on.)

Do your stories continually lead the reader on by listing events -- "and then this happened" "and then that happened" "and then"?  (yes, I did put the question mark outside of the quotes here -- for emphasis.)

Or do you follow the advice of the guys who created South Park.  "This happened and therefore that happened, but later this happened because..."

Click on over to Editor Cheryl Klein's blog where she shows the South Park guys talking about this.  In addition she discusses "desire lines."  What's that?  If you are a writer of fiction and you don't know, you need to know and she has a good explanation.  Enjoy.

Activate your Story!

Agent Jill Corcoran gives wonderful advice on her blog.

Last year one of her posts talked about your book's beginning chapter. She says, "I have been doing a lot of first 10 pages critiques lately, and I find myself writing…START YOUR STORY and ACTIVATE YOUR STORY on almost 100% of the manuscripts. Choosing where to start you story is so very important in grabbing your reader and willing him to keep reading, captivating him so he cannot put your book down."
To read more of this blog entry, click here on Jill Corcoran Books.  

To read her latest blog entries, click here.  
Don't be dismayed by her advertising the publication of her authors' new books, there's also a lot of great writing advice in between the book notices.  (and you might find leads to books you might want to read. I did.)
-wo

Editor gives writing advice

Some of the best writing advice I've seen lately is on Cheryl Klein's Blog right here.

Among the articles about writing she has posted is this:
Finding a Publisher and Falling in Love: A Convivial Comparison

Many of her gems of advice are copies of speeches she has made at various writer's conventions.
(Check out the "Picture Book Cookie" one.)

And if you're not sure just who she is -- she was the continuity editor for Harry Potter books, and also edits other books in her job as assistant to Arthur Levine at Scholastic.

-wendieO