Three Thoughts... from Other Writers

Three Thoughts… from Other Writers

By Brad R. Cook

I’ve been bringing you my thoughts on writing, so this week I thought I’d share what other writers think about the craft. Here are three different authors advice on writing – in convenient graphic form. By the way, there are hundreds of these on the internet. I’m a big fan of them, and I will post these as my background to remind me that all writers have similar struggles.

1 – I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I’m afraid of. – Joss Whedon

2 – Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. – Anton Chekhov

3 – If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.   

– Elmore Leonard

What is your favorite writing mantra from a famous author? Let us know in the comments.

Brad R. Cook, author of the YA steampunk series, The Iron Chronicles. Iron Horsemen - http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Horsemen-The-Chronicles/dp/0989207951 and Iron Zulu - http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Zulu-Book-Two-Chronicles/dp/0989207978.  A member of SCBWI, he currently serves as Historian of St. Louis Writers Guild after three and half years as its President. Learn more at www.bradrcook.com, on Twitter @bradrcook https://twitter.com/bradrcook, or on his blog Thoughts from Midnight on tumblr http://bradrcook.tumblr.com/