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