The distinguishing difference between the commercial, such as Grisham, and the literary writer, is the attention paid to the individual meaning and resonance of words, and the respect shown for the reader's intelligence...."
Sol Stein
Once precision is abandoned as a linguistic or literary virtue, vague generalization is one of the two remaining possibilities, gibberish being the second.
Wendell Berry
Love words, agonize over sentences. And pay attention to the world.
Susan Sontag
All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery. Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.
George Orwell
Write without fear. Edit without mercy.
Widely Attributed
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
Maya Angelou
Take the time to try a sentence one way, then another. The art of sentence making comes down to experimentation, skill, and variety. Just because you can do the three-and-a-half-somersault tuck off the high board doesn’t mean you must ditch the gorgeous swan dive. Good sentences can be short and muscular, and they can be long and graceful. Like the imagination, they shift and surprise.
Constance Hale
Write like you’re seven feet high and very muscular; be tough with your characters, your stories, and your readers. They will remember your toughness as a blessing.
Sol Stein
Punctuation tells the reader how to hear your writing. That’s what it’s for.
Ursula K. Le Guin
To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.
Herman Melville
It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly.
C.J. Cherryh
All the words I use in my stories can be found in the dictionary—it’s just a matter of arranging them into the right sentences.
Somerset Maugham
Edit savagely.
Jenna Goudreau
Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.
Zadie Smith
