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Creative-writing Quotes

Workshop Hermeticism, fiction for which the highest praise involves the words 'competent,' 'finished...

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Isn't the writing of good prose an emotional excitement?""Yes, of course it is. At least, when you g...

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I often said that writers are of two types.There is the architect, which is one type. The architect,...

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If you criticize what you’re doing too early you’ll never write the first li

You don't write a novel out of sheer pity any more than you blow a safe out of a vague longing to be...

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Create a character with an obsession, then follow.

She was strangely unaware that she could look and see freshly for herself, as she wrote, without pri...

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Picture of Robert M. Pirsig
Robert M. PirsigZen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

By the early-afternoon hours, if your brain is normal, it's running strictly on inertia and reflex. ...

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Picture of Scott Adams
Scott AdamsThe Joy of Work: Dilbert's Guide to Finding Happiness at the Expense of Your Co-Workers

Keep your whole being on the thing you are turning into words. The minute you flinch, and take your ...

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What I am going to propose is that you write a novel.As you know, the practical advantages of being ...

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Ted HughesPoetry in the Making: An Anthology

The difference between a fairly interesting writer and a fascinating writer is that the fascinating ...

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There is no correct way to write a novel, or rather, there is only one, and that one way is to make ...

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At one time I thought the most important thing was talent. I think now that — the young man or the y...

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At one time I thought the most important thing was talent. I think now that — the young man or the y...

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When the lyrical muse sings the creative pen dances.

Anecdotes don't make good stories. Dig down so far that what finally comes out is not even what you ...

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Does any program really improve anybody, as much as simply identifying them? And, after identifying ...

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Does any (MFA) program really improve anybody, as much as simply identifying them? And, after identi...

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