I had no idea that Barack Obama curses before public speaking. I think I know at whom he curses before going on stage. I was as shocked Read More...
Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very”; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.
I get up in the morning, torture a typewriter until it screams, then stop.
Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.
The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.
I haven’t got 10 rules that guarantee success, though I promise I’d share them if I did. The truth is that I found success by stumbling off alone in a direction most people thought was a dead end, breaking all the 1990s shibboleths about children’s books in the process.
No one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader’s intelligence or whose attitude is patronizing.
The reason 99% of all stories written are not bought by editors is very simple. Editors never buy manuscripts that are left on the closet shelf at home.
I write the last line, and then I write the line before that. I find myself writing backwards for a while, until I have a solid sense of how that ending sounds and feels. You have to know what your voice sounds like at the end of the story, because it tells you how to sound when you begin.
To me, movies and music go hand in hand. When I’m writing a script, one of the first things I do is find the music I’m going to play for the opening sequence.
I have a structured songwriting process. I start with the music and try to come up with musical ideas, then the melody, then the hook, and the lyrics come last.
You may be able to take a break from writing, but you won’t be able to take a break from being a writer.
Keep a small can of WD-40 on your desk — away from any open flames — to remind yourself that if you don’t write daily, you will get rusty.
























