I think it was Gordon Lish who said, Never be sincere when you write. Sincerity is the death of good fiction.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Structural rules for writing
“But suppose, asks the student of the professor, we follow all your structural rules for writing, what about that “something else” that brings the book alive? What is the formula for that? The formula for that is not included in the curriculum.” — Fannie Hurst
Sunday, July 20, 2008
A special Hell for writers
If there is a special Hell for writers it would be in the forced contemplation of their own works, with all the misconceptions, the omissions, the failures that any finished work of art implies. — John Dos Passos
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Failures in the realm of creation
We have been educated to such a fine—or dull—point that we are incapable of enjoying something new, something different, until we are first told what it’s all about. We don’t trust our five senses; we rely on our critics and educators, all of whom are failures in the realm of creation. In short, the blind lead the blind. It’s the democratic way. - Henry Miller
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