Advice to Writers

Don't write about what you know—write about what you're interested in. Don't write about yourself—you aren't as interesting as you think.
TRACY CHEVALIER

It is in the thousands of days of trying, failing, sitting, thinking, resisting, dreaming, raveling, unraveling that we are at our most engaged, alert, and alive.
DANI SHAPIRO

"I’m interested in the way a character imagines his or her own reality, navigates it, gets it wrong, has a new idea, and rebuilds…”
http://bit.ly/2Ui3HRM

Writer’s block results from too much head. Cut off your head. Pegasus, poetry, was born of Medusa when her head was cut off. You have to be reckless when writing. Be as crazy as your conscience allows.
JOSEPH CAMPBELL

A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world. That means trying to understand, take in, connect with, what wickedness human beings are capable of; and not be corrupted—made cynical, superficial—by this understanding.
SUSAN SONTAG

Think about your first ten pages as being all about: Who is my character? How do I reveal my character as best as I possibly can?
SHONDA RHIMES

"If you’re lost in the plot or blocked, retrace your steps to where you went wrong…”
http://bit.ly/2UcvFhL

It takes an awful long time to not write a book.
DOUGLAS ADAMS

Your first writing is as delicate as a seedling. Don’t show it to some yahoo who wouldn’t know an orchid from kudzu.
CAROLYN SEE

If you don’t cry out or sing, then don’t write.
ANAÏS NIN

"I don't quite understand about understanding poetry. I experience poems with pleasure: whether I understand them or not I'm not quite sure…”
http://bit.ly/2Ui3hLl

Just posted, exclusive ATW Interview with Alan Ziegler:
http://bit.ly/2UlPzqO

"I think there are very few rules that can’t be broken. I think there is only one that is very difficult to break. I have seen it broken, but not very often. It’s that something has to change…”http://bit.ly/2Uk0QYo

"My working method has more often than not involved the subtraction of weight…”http://bit.ly/2UcMv04

I really don’t have any theories about #literature in general. I have these stories, I have these characters, I have the sense of voice that I get.
LOUISE ERDRICH

No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.
VIRGINIA WOOLF