Writer and Writing Quotation of the Day

Master in Death

Steven R. Lundin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Last Line First

Steven R. Lundin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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 only 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

Steven R. Lundin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Writer's Cramp and Block

Steven R. Lundin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:00:00 GMT

Prices to Pay

Steven R. Lundin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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

Steven R. Lundin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:00:00 GMT

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

All That You Want

Steven R. Lundin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:00:00 GMT

"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