If you don’t understand that story is character and not just idea, you will not be able to breathe life into even the most intriguing flash of inspiration.
– Elizabeth George
Category: Quotable
Quotable 215
We write by the light of every story we have ever read.
– Richard Peck
Quotable 214
No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.
– Nancy H. Kleinbaum
(said by Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society)
Quotable 213
The germ of a story is a new and simple element introduced into an existing situation or mood.
– Malcolm Cowley
Quotable 212
He who writes carelessly confesses thereby at the very outset that he does not attach much importance to his own thoughts.
– Arthur Schopenhauer
Quotable 211
I’m just writing a story that I want to read.
– Jean Marie Auel
Quotable 210
The beginning writer needs talent, application and aspirin.
– James Thurber
Quotable 209
Good writing works from a simple premise: your experience is not yours alone, but in some sense a metaphor for everyone’s.
– Dorianne Laux
Quotable 208
I am drawn to any story that makes me want to read from one sentence to the next. I have no other criterion.
– Jhumpa Lahiri
Quotable 207
Nothing is more satisfying than to write a good sentence. It is no fun to write lumpishly, dully, in prose the reader must plod through like wet sand. But it is a pleasure to achieve, if one can, a clear running prose that is simple yet full of surprises. This does not just happen. It requires skill, hard work, a good ear, and continued practice.
– Barbara W. Tuchman