Blog

The coolest ghostwriting blog on the planet.

Another victim from Hawaii.

October 14, 2022June 4, 2026

...

Wanted: Someone who works for free.

October 12, 2022June 4, 2026

Interesting. However, none of my writers works for free. And you don’t work for free, either. Can’t help you. Michael McKown Read More...

It’s tough being a writer. You kill several people and you lose your appetite.

August 7, 2022June 4, 2026

...

Thoughts while reading a digital pile of screenplays.

August 3, 2022June 4, 2026

...

If they don’t have a phone number, tell ’em to get lost.

June 10, 2022June 4, 2026

...

The real-life, super immediate critical priority rush wedding toast story.

May 23, 2022June 4, 2026

...

Useful advice from a successful screenwriter.

March 9, 2022June 4, 2026

...

Three new wedding-related articles are now online.

February 23, 2022June 4, 2026

...

The plus-size Jewish redneck lady has died: The ultimate obituary.

December 21, 2021June 4, 2026

...

An angry man called me today about an apparent ghostwriting scam.

October 5, 2021June 4, 2026

...

It always comes down to characters, and individual stories about courage.

Steven Bochco

The road to ignorance is paved with good editors.

George Bernard Shaw

A true author, no matter the medium, is an artist with godlike knowledge of his subject, and the proof of his authorship is that his pages smack of authority.

Robert McKee

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

Edward Albee

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

C. J. Cherryh

Easy reading is damn hard writing.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

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

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

My aim is to put down what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way I can tell it.

Ernest Hemingway

The fact is, I don’t know where my ideas come from. Nor does any writer. The only real answer is to drink way too much coffee and buy yourself a desk that doesn’t collapse when you beat your head against it.

Douglas Adams

Ever heard of a carpenter not going to work because he has “carpenter’s block”? If a writer can’t write, it’s because he doesn’t really want to, he isn’t ready to get it on paper or he’s just plain lazy.

Chet Cunningham

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

If you wait for inspiration to write, you’re not a writer. You’re a waiter.

Dan Poynter

I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.

Stephen Wright

A blank piece of paper is God’s way of telling us how hard it to be God.

Sidney Sheldon

What I loved most about calling myself a reporter was that it gave me an excuse to show up anyplace.

Jeanette Walls

It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil, trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.

William Faulkner

If you haven’t got an idea, start a story anyway. You can always throw it away, and maybe by the time you get to the fourth page you will have an idea, and you’ll only have to throw away the first three pages.

William C. Gault

I get up in the morning, torture a typewriter until it screams, then stop.

Clarence Budington Kelland

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.