Frankisms

“Surprise gets our attention. … Interest keeps our attention. — Chip Heath”

writing

“Suspense is weakened in direct proportion to the expectancy of outcome. In other words, the longer you can keep the reader from guessing the ending, the better. — James Scott Bell”

writing

“Talent without craft is like fuel without an engine. It burns wildly but accomplishes nothing. — Robert McKee”

writing

“Telling readers what to feel not only annoys them but pushes them right out of the story. — Lisa Cron”

writing

“Tension comes from unmet desire. So readers need to know what the character wants but cannot get and what he is doing to try to get it. — Steven James”

writing

“Tension is always about a questionable outcome. Deprive the character, and therefore the reader, of a satisfactory resolution until the very end. — Cheryl St.John”

writing

“Tension is created when a detail raises an unanswered question. — Laurie Alberts”

writing

“That charity which longs to publish itself, ceases to be charity. — Ulrich von Hutton”

writing

“The act of writing down memories changes them. They become more real. — Robin Hemley”

writing

“The act of writing is the act of discovering what you believe. — David Hare, 1947–”

writing

“The art of writing is all about the inspiration of the moment and the excitement of riding the wave of an idea. — Elizabeth George”

writing

“The atmosphere we create for ourselves is an essential factor in our relationship with writing. — Jane Anne Staw”

writing

“The best conflict is one that appears unsolvable, so heap difficult situations on your characters and make them prove their mettle. — Cheryl St.John”

writing

“The best fiction involves a main character who has a problem, an issue, and unresolved inner conflict. — Jeff Gerke”

writing

“The best hook or idea in the world won’t sway me if the sentences and the storytelling don’t inspire. — Megan Lynch, senior editor at Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin.”

writing

“The best promotion is between the covers of the last book. — Donald Maass”

writing

“The big print giveth and the fine print taketh away. — Bishop Fulton Sheen”

writing

“The bigger the word, the less emotion it conveys. — Lisa Cron”

writing

“The biggest disadvantage of using multiple points of view in the novel is confusing your readers. — Sherri Szeman”

writing

“The biggest mistakes that inexperienced writers make are including absolutely everything someone might say in real life. — Sherri Szeman”

writing

“The closer you are to achieving reality in your story, the more your readers will buy into it. — Cheryl St.John”

writing

“The closer you come to being your fictional character, the more intimately you’ll want to know him. — James Thom”

writing

“The comma requires the writer to use intelligent discretion and to be simply alert to potential ambiguity. — Lynne Truss”

writing

“The Crisis must be true dilemma—a choice between irreconcilable goods, the lesser of two evils, or the two at once that places the protagonist under the maximum pressure of his life. — Robert McKee”

writing

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning—and the lightning bug. — Mark Twain”

writing

“The digital revolution means your writing will be more accessible than ever—and that means it had better be your best work. — Jonathan Karp”

writing

“The dramatic tension in a story is the result of something or someone opposing the resolution of the conflict. — Dara Marks”

writing

“The emotional lives of our characters are the key to our whole story. — Ann Hood”

writing

“The ending is the first thing you must know before you begin writing. — Syd Field”

writing

“The ending of one thing is always the beginning of something else. — Syd Field”

writing

“The fire of experience forges people into complex beings. — Cheryl St.John”

writing

“The first step any writer takes toward the “magic” that seems to come with professionalism is simply to sit down and write. — Marjorie Holmes”

writing

“The first step in good writing is to get something written. — Cecil Murphey”

writing

“The function of a story is to create a particular reaction in a given reader. — Dwight V. Swain”

writing

“The hero has to do something when we meet him so that we like him and want him to win. — Blake Snyder”

writing

“The hook is an emotional invitation. The writer issues a subtle promise that every word will be as powerful as the opening line. — DiAnn Mills”

writing

“The less you tell us how to feel, the more likely we’ll feel exactly what you want us to. — Lisa Cron”

writing

“The lure of the unknown draws the reader further and further into the story. Revealing too much takes away the seductive lure of discovery. — Cheryl St.John”

writing

“The main problem with quotations arises when writers assume that quotations speak for themselves. — Gerald Graff”

writing

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over a man who can’t read them. — Mark Twain”

writing