“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter — it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
– Mark Twain
“I name a character a certain name and I can’t get them to talk. I change the name, and I can’t get them to shut up.”
– Elmore Leonard
“The more time I spend on the outline, the easier it is to write the book.”
– John Grisham
“I see the notion of talent as quite irrelevant. I see instead perseverance, application, industry, assiduity, will, will, will, desire, desire, desire.”
– Gordon Lish
“The moment you don’t feel emotion toward a character you’ve created, start over.”
– Dick Perry
“Instead of stating a situation flat out, let the reader watch a character in action and listen to his dialogue.Show to bring a character to life.”
– Janet Evanovich
“Give us a character in motion. Something happening to a person from line one. Make that a disturbing thing, or have it presage something disturbing.”
– James Scott Bell
“Your first chapter sells your novel. Your last chapter sells your next novel.”
– Mickey Spillane
“A painter starts with a number of rough sketches that would never be mistaken for the finished canvas. Yet writers feel they have to nail it on the first draft or they never will. Nothing could be further from the truth….The fact is, artists have to work at it.”
– Stuart Spencer
“Persevere!”
– J.K. Rowling’s response when asked what advice she would give to aspiring writers
“Bad decisions make good stories.”
– Unknown
“Create characters correctly and you won’t be lonely.”
– Dick Perry
