Writer Quotes – Fave 3 this week
7 Great American Writers on Writing
A fantastic post with great author photos and comments. It’s a quick read to gobble up with your coffee.
25 Great Quotes to Inspire and Brighten Your Day
Amazing graphics.
105 Writing Tips from Professional Writers
A comprehensive list with interesting tidbits. A wee bit long for me, but you can stop when you’re full:)
Pondering the Break Out Premise
“…a premise is any single image, moment, feeling or belief
that has enough power and personal meaning for the author to set her story on fire,
propel it like a rocket for hundreds of pages, or perhaps serve as a finish line:
an ending so necessary that every step of the journey burns to be taken.”
( Donald Maass, Writing the Breakout Novel, p. 35)
I’d like one of those, or two.
I’m thoroughly enjoying Maass’s book, Writing the Breakout Novel, but omg, he sets the bar so high I have to stop every few pages to prevent a panic attack and quell my rising sense of vertigo. But he’s right. Absolutely right. Great stories, and it doesn’t matter if they are genre or literary, change us in a fundamental way and they rest on a break out premise. A premise that captures the heart, mind and soul of the reader.
Back to the drawing board.
Anyway, that’s what I’ve been thinking about.
Here’s Something to Think About
Peter Osnos wrote an interesting article, In China, 25 Million People Use Only Their Cell Phones to Read Books, published in The Atlantic. That’s got to have an impact on writing. Interesting times…
Thanks for reading. Have a wonderful week full of grand stories and smiles.
Photos: top 2 Corel, bottom from article sited.
Been missing you, Jo-Ann. I’m trying to limit my blogging, but I’m always glad to see your name pop up. Today’s post is a good example of why. The pictures and positive statements are super. When I taught high school theatre the “sponge” activity at the beginning of class as students were gathering was to copy down a positive quote. We get so much garbage thrown at us all day long, I thought it was a small strike for the good in all of us. Generally, the kids enjoyed the activity.
I didn’t take time to read all of the writer tips, but was struck by even the “old guys” said the same things we’re told today like limiting exclamation points. Who knew that idea had been around for so long?
As for a high bar . . . all we can do is keep stretching. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Marsha
Thanks for your kind and wise comments.
Theater! Your knowledge of acting must help in writing. That’s really cool. I like to visualize the action in every scene.
Always stretching, lol
Best Wishes
Jo-Ann
What a handy post full of inspiration! I like this! Thank you! Lisa McManus Lange
Hi Lisa
Such kind words. Thank you.
Best Wishes
Jo-Ann