The Creative Act is Not Pure

The creative act is not pure. History evidences it. Sociology extracts it. The writer loses Eden, writes to be read and comes to realize that he is answerable.

NADINE GORDIMER

Stay Close to the Edge

I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.

KURT VONNEGUT

Trust Your Reader

Trust your reader. Not everything needs to be explained. If you really know something, and breathe life into it, they'll know it too.

ESTHER FREUD

The Most Important Lesson in the Writing Trade

The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.

ROBERT HEINLEIN

There Is Such Thing As Too Much Revision

There is such thing as too much revision—I’ve seen things that were amazing in the 17th version get flattened out in the 23rd—but nothing is born perfect. Well, some things almost are, but they’re freaks.

REBECCA SOLNIT

Never Dumb Things Down

I tell my students that when you write, you should pretend you’re writing the best letter you ever wrote to the smartest friend you have. That way, you’ll never dumb things down. You won’t have to explain things that don’t need explaining. You’ll assume an intimacy and a natural shorthand, which is good because readers are smart and don’t wish to be condescended to.

JEFFREY EUGENIDES

Don't Look Back Until You've Written An Entire Draft

Don't look back until you've written an entire draft, just begin each day from the last sentence you wrote the preceding day. This prevents those cringing feelings, and means that you have a substantial body of work before you get down to the real work which is all in...the edit.

WILL SELF

Sneak Up On Your Material

Sneak up on your material. Don’t go crashing after it through the forest with a machete. Sit down, be quiet, let the material catch up with you.

CAROLYN SEE

The Smaller the Ball, the More Formidable the Literature

The smaller the ball, the more formidable the literature. There are superb books about golf, very good books about baseball, not many good books about football or soccer, very few good books about basketball and no good books at all about beach balls.

GEORGE PLIMPTON

The Fiction Writer Appeals Through the Senses

The beginning of human knowledge is through the senses, and the fiction writer begins where the human perception begins. He appeals through the senses, and you cannot appeal through the senses with abstractions.

FLANNERY O'CONNOR