writers-on-writing

To become a WRITER I had to learn to INTERRUPT, to speak up, to speak a little louder, and then LOUDER, and then to just speak in my own voice which is NOT LOUD AT ALL.

I don__ put that pressure on myself (to write every day), but I do tend to write every day. It__ not pressure__t__ pressure release.

Maybe I write because I__e learned to show certain parts of my heart on the page that I still struggle to capture in speech.

Writers don't suffer from insanity, they depend upon it!

Every reader, as he reads, is actually the reader of himself. The writer's work is only a kind of optical instrument he provides the reader so he can discern what he might never have seen in himself without this book. The reader's recognition in himself of what the book says is the proof of the book's truth.

I've always considered writing the most hateful kind of work. I suspect it's a bit like fucking, which is only fun for amateurs. Old whores don't do much giggling.

But what is life without a passion?

Shy people are my favorites. The unmistakable glint of shyness in someone's eyes can mesmerize me for years!

A good writer should be able to communicate to the reader, 'I know your life. I know what you have truly experienced. It__ not right or wrong. It__ survival. It__ making mistakes, and trying to redeem yourself. It__ imperfections, and trying to make yourself better. It__ outrages, and crimes, and insults, which often are not righted, which you have to fix yourself, in your own mind, in your own heart, so that you are not poisoned'.

Why do I love writing YA? Because I get a chance to re-live my youth knowing all I know now...

What's my favorite part that I've written? That__ like asking me to choose which of my kids is least ugly!

Having authored numerous and pretty versatile write-ups, I can__ say that anything other than my soul, heart and life experience can be called a prominent part of every book I ever wrote

The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone.

We still and always want waking. We should amass half dressed in long lines like tribesmen and shake gourds at each other, to wake up; instead we watch television and miss the show.

Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy. ...this book...is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.

Writers have come to master nearly every trade. They are inventors and entrepreneurs of character, plot, and dialogue. They are the eager scientists that can__ wait to try out their new experiment. They are the maestros of the symphony that plays in their head, conducting what happens, where, and at what precise moment. They are engineers and architects that design the structure of their piece so it stands the test of time and continues to fire on all cylinders. They play mechanics and doctors in their revisions, hoping they prescribe the correct diagnosis to fix the piece__ 'boo boos'. They are salesmen who pitch not an idea or a product, but themselves, to editors, publishers, and more importantly, their readers. They are teachers who through their craft, preach to pupils about what works and what doesn__ work and why. Writers can make you feel, can make you think, can make you wonder, but they can also grab your hand and guide you through their maze. Similar to what Emerson stated in 'The Poet,' writers possess a unique view on life, and with their revolving eye, they attempt to encompass all. I am a writer.

You will not publish 100% of the books you don__ write.

...but every person who does serious time with a keyboard is attempting to translate his version of the world into words so that he might be understood.