The Washington Post’s neologism contest winners.

02 Dec, 2019

I came across this today and broke up laughing. These are seriously clever! Thanks to the Washington Post. I wasn't aware of their neologism contest, but I am now! Read and enjoy. Pass it along.

The Washington Post’s neologism contest winners.

December 2, 2019May 9, 2025

I came across this today and broke up laughing. These are seriously clever! Thanks to the Washington Post. I wasn’t aware of Read More...

Do you know what a playwright is? A playwright is someone who lets his guts hang out on the stage.

Edward Albee

The first chapter sells the book; the last chapter sells the next book.

Mickey Spillane

No one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader’s intelligence or whose attitude is patronizing.

E. B. White

You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.

Jodi Picoult

Reading and weeping opens the door to one’s heart, but writing and weeping opens the window to one’s soul.

M. K. Simmons

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.

Mark Twain

You may be able to take a break from writing, but you won’t be able to take a break from being a writer.

Stephen Leigh

Do not place a photograph of your favorite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.

Roddy Doyle

I have long felt that any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has just put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae or banana split.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr

Work on a computer that is disconnected from the Internet.

Zadie Smith

It is only natural to pattern yourself after someone. But you can’t just copy someone. If you like someone’s work, the important thing is to be exposed to everything that person has been exposed to.

Bob Dylan

The road to ignorance is paved with good editors.

George Bernard Shaw

It is perfectly okay to write garbage — as long as you edit brilliantly.

C. J. Cherryh

When writing a novel, that’s pretty much entirely what life turns into: “House burned down. Car stolen. Cat exploded. Did 1,500 easy words, so all in all it was a pretty good day.”

Neil Gaiman

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.

John Legend

Don’t annoy an author, you’ll end up in their book and you won’t look good.

Lawrence Wray

Plot is, I think, the good writer’s last resort and the dullard’s first choice.

Stephen King

Books aren’t written, they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.

Michael Crichton

Just don’t be boring!

Robert Liebmann

Read a thousand books and your words will flow like a river.