Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Quote of the Day 12/30

I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged...I had poems which were re-written so many times I suspect it was just a way of avoiding sending them out. - Erica Jong

Monday, December 22, 2008

Quote of the Day 12/23

To be a writer is to sit down at one's desk in the chill portion of every day, and to write; not waiting for the little jet of the blue flame of genius to start from the breastbone - just plain going at it, in pain and delight. To be a writer is to throw away a great deal, not to be satisfied, to type again, and then again, and once more, and over and over.... - John Hersey

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Quote of the Day 12/20

There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are. - Somerset Maugham

Friday, December 19, 2008

Quote of the Day 12/19

You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed. - Larry Niven

Thursday, December 18, 2008

WRITING PROMPT 12/19

Write about something you want but cannot have.

Quote of the Day 12/18

As the saying goes: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” This adage is never so true as with writers. Oftentimes, there is a hesitancy to submit queries or manuscripts for fear of rejection; but this becomes a faded memory when the excitement of acceptance and approval resounds from an editor. Only through rejection can we savor the warmth of acceptance. – Laurie Graziano, Writers’ Journal

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Quote of the Day 12/17

I find that I actually have to write in order to discover my ideas. I think you could allow yourself to never get started if you tried to guess in advance what was going to inspire you. – Jay McInerney

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Quote of the Day 12/16

When one door of happiness closes another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. -
Helen Keller

Monday, December 15, 2008

Quote of the Day 12/15

There is no mistaking the dismay on the face of a writer who has just heard that his brain child is a deformed idiot.
- L. Sprague de Camp

Friday, December 12, 2008

Quote of the Day 12/12

You aim for what you want and if you don't get it, you don't get it, but if you don't aim, you don't get anything. - Francine Prose

WRITING PROMPT 12/12

Ah, the difference between men and women.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Quote of the Day 12/11

Writing is very hard work. Having fun at the keyboard too often translates into failure to exercise self-discipline. – John Saul

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Quote of the Day 12/09

When we get rejections, and almost everyone does, the tendency is to regard publishers as the enemy. This is counter-productive. The publisher is our great ally, and the bridge between us and the general public who will read our books. – Maeve Binchy

Monday, December 8, 2008

Quote of the Day 12/08

The ideal view for daily writing, hour on hour, is the blank brick wall of a cold-storage warehouse. Failing this, a stretch of sky will do cloudless if possible. ~ Edna Ferber

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Quote of the Day 12/06

Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any.
- Orson Scott Card

Friday, December 5, 2008

WRITING PROMPT 12/05

Today is not a good day. Write about a series of mishaps, one bad thing after another.

Quote of the Day 12/05

Reading usually precedes writing and the impulse to write is almost always fired by reading. Reading, the love of reading, is what makes you dream of becoming a writer. - Susan Sontag

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Got Writer's Block?

Okay, we all know there is no such thing as writer's block but I found a site of writing prompts that is different. You "generate" the prompt yourself. Check it out at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index.php. It looks different than anything I've ever seen and could actually help you with your writing, even if you are in the middle of a story. And there are contests too, and you can see everyone's submissions.

I haven't looked around too much because I am writing my Christmas Eve Box rhyming clues. Gotta do that in one sitting or it won't get done. Back to it!

Keep happy!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Quote of the Day 11/3

The reason one writes isn't the fact he wants to say something. He writes because he has something to say. - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Quote of the Day 12/02

Storytelling is healing. As we reveal ourselves in story, we become aware of the continuing core of our lives under the fragmented surface of our experience. We become aware of the multifaceted, multichaptered ' I ' who is the storyteller. We can trace out the paradoxical and even contradictory versions of ourselves that we create for different occasions, different audiences... Most important, as we become aware of ourselves as storytellers, we realize that what we understand and imagine about ourselves is a story. And when we know all this, we can use our stories to heal and make ourselves whole. - Susan Wittig Albert