On Writing – Quotes, Snippets, Encouragements
Quotes
"Being a writer is not a goal, it is a journey." — Anonymous
"Becoming a writer is not a goal, it is a journey." — Anonymous
Snippets
• Gary Provost – On Writing
"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 – (Nov 1944 – May 1995)
American writer and writing instructor, author of works including Make every word count: a guide to writing that works—for fiction and nonfiction (1980) and 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing: Proven Professional Techniques for Writing with Style and Power (1985).
• John Braine — Writing a Novel
John Braine began his book on writing a novel (Writing a Novel [1974]), with an anecdote about the late Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951), the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Lewis, who struggled with alcoholism, turned up very late and very drunk to deliver a talk about writing to a group of Harvard students. He stumbled on stage up to the lectern and started off by yelling out, "Hands up, all those that want to be writers!" When almost everyone's hand in the large audience shot up, he gave them a lingering steely glare and offered an acerbic: "Then why the hell aren't you at home writing?" before stumbling off the stage and going home. (some say he used a stronger word than 'hell')
Encouragements
We do not write, we rewrite... again, and again, and again....
