Last Line First

"If I didn't know the ending of a story, I wouldn't begin. I always write my last line, my last paragraph, my last page first."
- Katherine Anne Porter

I prefer to start in the middle and work my way out. Either direction, there's only 1/2 of a story to write.



© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Do It in Private

"Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards."
   - Robert Heinlein

One time, when I was working on my first novel, I went to a coffee shop and wrote in public. Writing was still new to me; I didn't know what I didn't know. So I go to this place, sit with latte and laptop, and enter the fictitious world of my story, where my hero had goals, obstacles to overcome to achieve those goals, a love interest, an antagonist with competing goals, and a character arc that was only half of a rainbow.

As I got into the story, I got out of the present. I saw the story as it unfolded in my mind, grinning through one whole scene, smiling at a twist in plot, raising my arms in wonder, laughing out loud at the irony, and stopping once to have a drink of the latte. The cup was full. The drink was cold.

In their furtive glances, I realized that the people in the coffee shop were thinking what Robert Heinlein said in his quotation. "[Write] in private." As for washing my hands afterwards? Let's just say I write in a much cleaner genre.




© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Seat of Your Feet

"The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair."
- Mary Heaton Vorse

Writing quotations reveal writers. While most writers understand and share certain truths about writing--like the need to write every day--some come up with clever little thoughts that I do not share. Apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair? That's funny, but it's also irrelevant. I write on my feet.

My son built a stand-up desk for me after I complained that chair writing was taking my strength. With muscles, it's use them or lose them and, after only four years of writing every day, sitting for hours in front of a keyboard, out of the elements, indoors, warm, soft, and sedate, I discovered chair writing is unhealthy writing.

Maybe it would be different if I could still run. Between writing, I would go out, get my legs working, arms pumping, lungs gasping, and blood gushing. That would be something! Then I could safely sit for hours and write. I could laugh out loud at Mary Heaton Vorse's little quotation. As it is, I adapted her words to my situation.

The art of writing, then, is the art of applying the seat of the feet to the head of the floor.



© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Enough Rope to Hang

"I would never write about anyone who is not at the end of his rope."

- Stanley Elkin

Instead of the end of their ropes, write about characters with enough rope to hang themselves. It raises the stakes, ups the tension, tingles the spine, and turns the page.



© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

First is the Heart

"The last thing one settles in writing a book is what one should put in first."
- Pascal
The first thing one settles in writing a book is his heart.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Today's Writers

"The trouble with young writers is that they are all in their sixties."
    - W. Somerset Maugham
The trouble with today's writers is they're the fallout of the sixties.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

"The cure for writer's cramp is writer's block."

     - Inigo de Leon

It's simple: What the keyboard did for writer's cramp, writing does for writer's block.



© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Prices to Pay

"You must want to enough. Enough to take all the rejections, enough to pay the price of disappointment and discouragement while you are learning. Like any other artist, you are learning your craft- then you can add all the genius you like."
     - Phyllis Whitney


Rejection, disappointment, and discouragement are small prices to pay when you're pursuing a passion.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

First Loves

"Little Red Riding Hood was my first love. I felt that if I could have married Little Red Riding Hood I should have known perfect bliss."

- Charles Dickens

Goldilocks would have been my first love, if it wasn't for those damn bears.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Afford Poverty

"As a younger man I wrote for eight years without ever earning a nickel which is a long apprenticeship, but in that time I learned a lot about my trade."
      - James Michener

No longer young, in my fifth year of writing, learning the trade, and earning just above a nickel, I advise aspiring writers to start young -- while they can afford poverty.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

A Reason

"Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think."

- La Bruyere

Life is not a genre for those who write. It's a reason.



© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

All That You Want

"Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Read more than you write, learn more than you know, then write all that you want.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Two Parts Decision

Recipe for Writer's block: One part enthusiasm, two parts decision, and three parts procrastination.

- S.R. Lundin


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Mere Habit

"The mere habit of writing, of constantly keeping at it, of never giving up, ultimately teaches you how to write."

- Gabriel Fielding

If habit is not the greatest teacher, it's easily the most inspirational.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Writing Day

"Being a real writer means being able to do the work on a bad day."
- Norman Mailer

When every day is a writing day, everyday is a good day.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Screenplay to Movie

Screenplay is to movie what grin is to smile.  
    - S.R. Lundin


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Live Present Tense

"Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit."

- Henry David Thoreau

Change season to present in the above quotation, and Thoreau gives excellent advice to writers. Live, breathe, drink, taste, and see: Be present in the present tense.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

From Novel to Screen

Going from novel to screen requires a thousand decisions about what to cut and what to keep. Thankfully, the answer to one simple question helps every time: Does it (the scene) forward the story? Yes? Keep it. No? kill it. Not sure? Cut it. When you master the movement of story you reduce adapting to a problem of time. Unfortunately, no one has a solution for time.
             - S.R. Lundin



© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Failure Lacks Endurance

Keep writing. Failure lacks endurance. - S.R. Lundin


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Guts of a Writer

"Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely essential."

       - Jessamyn West

Discipline, persistence, patience, endurance -- the guts of a writer.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved