Love What You Do

If you write every day with something to say,

You'll love what you do and not throw it away.
                - S.R. Lundin


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Surviving Interruptions

"The process of writing has something infinite about it. Even though it is interrupted each night, it is one single notation."
      - Elias Canetti

Writing is life's ultimate interruption.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Dressing and Stripping

"Writing is both mask and unveiling."

   - E.B. White

Yes sir. It's dressing and stripping.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Don't be Fooled

"Write your first draft with your heart. Re-write with your head."
- From the movie Finding Forrester

Don't be fooled. Do the opposite. If you write the first draft with your head and re-write with your heart, you will take months off the time it takes to finish your masterpiece.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Wonder

"We don't write what we know. We write what we wonder about."

                  - Richard Peck

I know the world is full of wonder, so what was Peck saying?


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Sitting on Top

"The best time for planning a book is when you're doing the dishes."

- Agatha Christie

When you're outside, the best place for planning a book is on top of a mower.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Equal Excitement

"Sure, it's simple, writing for kids . . . . Just as simple as bringing them up."
        - Ursula K. LeGuin

It's an equal excitement, sending a child off to college and a book off to production... Just as equal as the disappoint felt when either returns rejected.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Swing for the Fence

"If you're a singer you lose your voice. A baseball player loses his arm. A writer gets more knowledge, and if he's good, the older he gets, the better he writes."
            - Mickey Spillane

Regardless of age and experience, writers should swing for the fence. That's how to hit a home run.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Challenge for Fiction Writers

"The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think."

    - Edwin Schlossberg

The challenge for fiction writers is creating scenes readers can see, emotions they can feel, and thoughts they must think.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Master in Death

"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master."

- Ernest Hemingway

Concerning writers, master is a synonym for dead.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Splatter Write

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."

      - Scott Adams

Splatter words on a page and call it art? No thanks. Prepare with a bucket, write with a bucket, edit with a brush.



© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Learning to Write

"Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself."

     - Truman Capote

Beware that you do not spend so much time learning how to write that you never write.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Reward of Achievement

"To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing."

       - Elbert Hubbard

Criticism is a reward of achievement.


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Presence is Absence

"Writing is a struggle between presence and absence."
            - Lu Ji

While writing, presence is absence.



© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Idiots, Fools, and Buffoons

"In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning."

   - George Orwell

All writers, after encountering such passages and trying to understand them, uncovering their flaws, raging against the stupidity, and then coming to some final place of piece--if such a place exists--should consider the critic behind the criticism. It helps when creating believable characters who are idiots, fools, and buffoons.



© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

The End

"Advice to writers: Sometimes you just have to stop writing. Even before you begin."

- Stanislaw J. Lec

Instead of stopping before you begin, get started and quit at "The End."


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved

Had to be There

"Writing well means never having to say, 'I guess you had to be there.'"
      - Jef Mallett

Well written means being able to say, "I felt I was there."


© 2010 Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved