Writing and schizophrenia…

“Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”

~E. L. Doctorow

 

We can all be writers but…

“Anyone can become a writer. The trick is staying a writer.”

~Harlan Ellison

 

Benjamin Franklin tossing in his two cents on writing…

“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing.”

~Benjamin Franklin

 

Eliminate “very” from your writing…

“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

It’s okay to be preoccupied with writing…

“Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.”

~Gloria Steinem

(It pains me to put up a quote by Gloria Steinem, but it’s true. I never feel like I should be doing something else whenever I write.)

 

Good writing = putting one’s self on paper

“Write about what you know and care deeply about. When one puts one’s self on paper — that is what is called good writing.”

~Joel Chandler Harris

 

 

Don’t get all writerly…

“Sometimes a flat-footed sentence is what serves, so you don’t get all writerly: ‘He opened the door.’ There, it’s open.”

~Amy Hempel