Showing posts with label Mark Twain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Twain. Show all posts

Saturday, January 4, 2025

QUOTES ABOUT WRITING

“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
― Anton Chekhov

“Substitute 'damn' 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

“If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” ― Stephen King

“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” ― Madeleine L'Engle

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

“Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it.”
― Lloyd Alexander

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”
― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” ― Toni Morrison

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” ― Robert Frost

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
― Mark Twain, The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain: A Book of Quotations


ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
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Sunday, May 6, 2012

Twain on writing...

Mark Twain had a way with words, and sometimes he wrote about writing.

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."

"As to the adjective, when in doubt, strike it out."

"Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very'; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." (My favorite)

"The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to say."

"Write without pay until somebody offers to pay."

This isn't about writing, but there's something profound in there, I think. “It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.”

“Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.”

Another one not on writing ... “When angry, count to four. When very angry, swear.”

Twain had this thing about adjectives. “A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.”

For some reason, there are a lot of auburn-haired folks in literature. “When red-haired people are above a certain social grade their hair is auburn."

And, finally ... “Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often."

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ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,
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