Frankisms

“It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you and who knows about you, even if they haven’t actually met you. — Bob Burg”

writing

“It’s part of the writing exercise to keep your head in the story even when you’re not at the computer. — Michael Connelly”

writing

“It’s pretty silly to see biblical scenes in which everyone sounds like they are speaking in the King James version of the Bible. — Kim Messer”

writing

“It’s the emotional impact that draws us in and keeps us coming back. — Cheryl St.John”

writing

“It’s understood in the industry that 80 percent of advances do not earn out. — Donald Maass”

writing

“It's easy to write a pure black villain. But that makes it both a cliché and lazy writing. — Jeff Gerke”

writing

“Journalism is literature in a hurry. — Matthew Arnold”

writing

“Journalism largely consists in saying “Lord Jones is Dead” to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive. — G.K. Chesterton”

writing

“Just about every one of us can point to at least one particularly humiliating failure. — Jane Anne Staw”

writing

“Just as we can travel to the ocean or up into the mountains to clear our lungs of toxic, urban air, we can place ourselves in a state of relaxation before we begin to write. — Jane Anne Staw”

writing

“Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. — William Faulkner”

writing

“Keep in mind always that readers do not usually know what you planned to include. They’ll never miss a deleted minor point, or even a minor section. … It is only later, in the context of the final work, that even a professional can judge the significance of each component of that work. — Theodore A. Rees Cheney”

writing

“Keep readers hooked by not giving them an ending to something you know they want to see resolved. — Joe Vitale”

writing

“Keep saying no to your characters. Whatever it is they want, hold it back. — Cheryl St.John”

writing

“Know your character before you put words on paper. — Cheryl St.John”

writing

“Knowing why rules exist sets you free to follow or break them with wisdom and expertise. — Cheryl St.John”

writing

“Language is often abstract, but life is not abstract. — Chip Heath”

writing

“Learn the rules well enough to forget about them, the way you learned to ride a bike. — Robert Pinkert”

writing

“Learning to make use of good critique is one of the most important skills a writer can develop. — Judith Barrington”

writing

“Let every phrase of dialogue or line of description either turn behavior and action or set up the conditions for change. — Robert McKee”

writing

“Let your characters have insecurities. Your main character should be someone the reader could imagine being or knowing. — Cheryl St.John”

writing

“Life is a writer’s raw material. Successful writers immerse themselves in it. — Dwight V. Swain”

writing

“Long sentences, judiciously used, sweep readers along as if they were lazily floating down a quiet river on an inner tube. — Joyce Ellis”

writing

“Look at your character’s goals, and ask yourself, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” Then take the worst thing a step further. — Cheryl St.John”

writing

“Loosen up. Practice. To talk well, talk a lot. To write well, write a lot and do it fast. — Robert Pinkert”

writing

“Make a habit of reading something inspiring and cheerful just before going to sleep. — H. Jackson Brown Jr”

writing

“Make a list of smells that start your thoughts going backward to moving or outstanding times in your life. — Paul Darcy Boles”

writing

“Make no mistake, great writing is secondary. Because if the reader doesn’t want to know what happens next, who cares how well it’s written? — Lisa Cron, long-time consultant and agent”

writing

“Make sure every character has “A Limp and an Eyepatch.” Every character has to have a unique way of speaking, but also something memorable that will stick him in the reader’s mind. — Blake Snyder”

writing

“Make sure readers have enough empathy to connect with the main character, feel enough emotion to stay intrigued by the story, and gain enough insight to see the world with new eyes when they’re done. — Steven James”

writing

“Many famous writers were rejected—but they persevered and were successful. — Kirby Anderson, host of “Point of View” radio talk show”

writing

“Many writers don’t get their beginning until they’ve finished their first draft. — Laurie Alberts”

writing

“Many writers think they are through when they write the story. Actually, that’s when crafting the story begins. — Terry Burns”

writing

“Micro-tension is the moment-by-moment tension that keeps readers in a constant state of suspense over what will happen—not in story, but in the next few seconds. — Donald Maass”

writing

“More than anything that you can do to illustrate voice for your reader, the character’s attitude will differentiate one character from another. — Elizabeth George”

writing

“Most authors write in their own voices. Every book they write sounds exactly like every other book they write, and if you were to talk to the author, you would find that his books sound like he does. — Sherri Szeman”

writing

“Most commercial fiction readers decide to read or not read within the first dozen pages. — Terry Burns”

writing

“Most great writers are word sculptors. They move paragraphs around like chess pieces on a game board. — Joe Vitale”

writing

“Most of us read for entertainment. — Ramona Richards”

writing

“Most writers slough off the most important part of their trade — editing their stuff, honing it and honing it until it gets an edge like a bullfighter’s killing sword. — Ernest Hemingway”

writing