Advice From the Great Ones

(P.S. As a writer, these quotes are some of the best pieces of advice i have ever come across. More than anything they are real words from real people who have been through the pain and agony of 'write's block'. I just HAD to share it with my writer friends to let them know that the best of us go through the same frustration and if they made it, we still have hope. Happy writing!)

"Don't wait. Writers are the only artists I know who expect to get somewhere by waiting. Writing is what teaches you. Writing is what leads to inspiration. Writing is what generates ideas. Nothing else-and nothing less." - Daniel Quinn

"Planning to write is not writing. Outlining... researching... talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing." - E.L. Doctorow

"The idea is to get the pencil moving quickly. Once you've got some words looking back at you, you can take two or three, throw them away and look for others." - Bernard Malamud

"Write about what really interests you, whether it is real things or imaginary things, and nothing else." - C S Lewis

"If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack." - Winston Churchill

"Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing." - Meg Chittenden

"Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time... The wait is simply too long." - Leonard S. Bernstein

"Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." - E.L. Doctorow

"Talking is a hydrant in the yard and writing is a faucet upstairs in the house. Opening the first takes all the pressure off the second." - Robert Frost

"Write without pay until somebody offers to pay." - Mark Twain

"A professional writer is an amateur that doesn't quit." - Richard Bach

"Leap, and the net will appear." - Gaelen Foley

"Go, then - there are other worlds than these." - Stephen King

If your words are boring, it's because you've been reading too many newspapers and magazines. Read the works of literary giants and you'll start thinking giant thoughts.

As you read, so will you write.

What have you been reading lately?

Roy H. Williams