{"id":219,"date":"2013-05-23T23:30:41","date_gmt":"2013-05-24T03:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/?page_id=219"},"modified":"2015-01-25T14:06:50","modified_gmt":"2015-01-25T18:06:50","slug":"writetips","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/writetips\/","title":{"rendered":"WriteTips"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;q=arkangel+shakespeare\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-460 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Arkangel_BBC.jpg\" alt=\"Arkangel_BBC\" width=\"400\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Arkangel_BBC.jpg 400w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Arkangel_BBC-300x185.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><a style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;q=arkangel+shakespeare\">Arkangel Shakespeare<\/a>,<span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714;\">\u00a0a multimillion dollar production five years in the making using 350+ actors. \u00a0Eventually the copyright for this project will be released &#8212; in the meantime check public libraries.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Unorthodox Research Methods:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/youtube.com\">YouTube<\/a> is invaluable for idiomatic dialogue, gleaning unique terminology from farmers to astronauts&#8230;also useful for finding musical instruments, songs, etc., from the region\/language\/time period about which you are writing. (Can&#8217;t go wrong starting with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oVaT0pfi9LQ\">Martin DX1 AE<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/openmikes.org\">Open Mics<\/a>: work from a laptop or kindle in a bar with a free open mic night at a college near you to stay in touch with coming generations. Who knows, after half a decade you might pick up a guitar to write songs for your scripts too.<\/li>\n<li>Google &#8220;quotes [your subject\/theme]&#8221; and &#8220;proverbs [your setting\/time period\/demo]&#8221; likewise for idioms, how to, etc&#8230;such as &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/#safe=off&amp;q=quotes+sailing\">quotes sailing<\/a>&#8221; or &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/#safe=off&amp;q=Saudi+proverbs\">Saudi proverbs<\/a>&#8221; or &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/#safe=off&amp;q=Korean+idioms\">Korean idioms<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n<li>Use\u00a0<a class=\"imgScanned\" href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/AskHistorians\">\/r\/AskHistorians<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a class=\"imgScanned\" href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/futurology\">\/r\/futurology<\/a>\u00a0or \/r\/_____ [region, demo, occupation, etc]<\/li>\n<li>Attend\u00a0conferences (such as <a href=\"http:\/\/marssociety.org\">the Mars Society<\/a>&#8216;s or the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcancercongress.org\">World Cancer Congress<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Go to locations in which your story is set and write there: judicial courts, religious institutions, hospitals, <a href=\"http:\/\/al-anon.org\">AL-ANON<\/a> meetings&#8230;<\/li>\n<li>Read poetry of the region, occupation, ethnicity of your characters&#8230;glean unique terms, single words&#8230;not to rewrite their poetry in your script, but to find genuinely beautiful perspectives and terminology\u00a0to capture something more ephemeral (off-the-nose) of your subject&#8217;s\u00a0indigenous\u00a0atmosphere&#8230;<\/li>\n<li>Likewise comedy: google &#8220;[ethnicity\/country\/subject] comedian&#8221;&#8230;say if you are writing a script set in Russia&#8230;? Google &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/#safe=off&amp;q=Russian+comedian\">Russian comedian<\/a>&#8221; &#8211; there&#8217;ll be youtube videos of Russian comedians speaking in English ; )<\/li>\n<li>Search for torrents of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thegreatcourses.com\">The Great Courses<\/a>\u00a0(or The Teaching Company TTC) etc for indepth lectures on your subject.<\/li>\n<li>Ask friends: &#8220;do you know anyone who went to jail?&#8221; &#8220;from this country?&#8221; &#8220;a police officer?&#8221; &#8220;an addict?&#8221; &#8211; be honest and sincere &#8220;I&#8217;m writing a story, I need a character who&#8230;&#8221; then\u00a0<em>listen<\/em>\u00a0and use a voice recorder on your smart phone to transcribe their actual conversation&#8230;capture <em>their<\/em> voice, it will be\u00a0<em>totally<\/em>\u00a0different from even what you think may be word-for-word notes transcribed\u00a0during the conversation&#8230;record them.<\/li>\n<li><a class=\"imgScanned\" href=\"https:\/\/images.google.com\/\">https:\/\/images.google.com<\/a>\u00a0amazing what painters, photographers, cartoonists, and illustrators have thought about your theme.<\/li>\n<li>Create\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/support.twitter.com\/articles\/76460-using-twitter-lists\">Twitter lists<\/a> specifically for your themes\u00a0and characters to glean idioms, ideas., etc., from contemporary real-llife characters&#8230;<\/li>\n<li>Create a browser favorites folder for bookmarks useful to writing your theme or characters&#8217; voices&#8230;bookmark youtube channels, twitter feeds., blogs., etc., by real-life persons similar to your characters.<\/li>\n<li>Multi-task while listening to podcasts on your theme by real-life characters.<\/li>\n<li>Google for\u00a0a core vocabulary list of\u00a0the languages used in\u00a0your settings &#8211; if in a foreign country, time period, etc&#8230;these are only 500 &#8211; 1,000 common &#8220;sight words&#8221; necessary for fluency&#8230;a series drama (such as &#8216;Marco Polo&#8217;) could easily incorporate the entire core list of Italian and Mandarin each season, through off-hand comments, quick replies, casual remarks, etc., accompanied by body gestures and facial expressions to encourage the audience to &#8220;feel&#8221; the foreign language as a native.\u00a0Over time as humanity becomes more intelligent in the coming decades we will able to &#8220;learn&#8221; Latin, Sanskrit, Attic Greek, Hebrew, Mandarin, etc., through immersive entertainment&#8230;&#8230;would be nice to live among geniuses.<\/li>\n<li>Compile in <a href=\"http:\/\/ervernote.com\">Evernote<\/a>&#8230;research will lead to more projects, more writing&#8230;&#8221;the more you write, the more you&#8217;ll want to write&#8221;.<\/li>\n<li>Remember,\u00a0Reality is\u00a0<em>weird<\/em>, super strange&#8230;if your world and characters are as gritty and idiomatic and genuine as Reality, with experiences and expressions tangential at moments to your main storyline, your audience will buy into nearly any twists as Real Life.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff00ff;\">Read prayer books at hospitals : ) best writing\u00a0<em>ever ever ever<\/em>, gorgeous &#8230;the Nobel Committee should give a prize to hospital prayer rooms!\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Kurt Vonegut:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nmVcIhnvSx8\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-461\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Screen-Shot-2012-05-19-at-8.52.15-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2012-05-19 at 8.52.15 PM\" width=\"130\" height=\"162\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Every sentence of your story must reveal character or advance action<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Every sentence must do one of two things-reveal character or advance action.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Start as close to the end as possible.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them-in order that the reader may see what they are made of.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>David Ogilvy:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Ogilvy-Advertising-David\/dp\/039472903X\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-481\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Screen-Shot-2012-05-19-at-8.39.41-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2012-05-19 at 8.39.41 PM\" width=\"130\" height=\"155\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Write the way you talk. Naturally.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification,attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Never write more than two pages on any subject.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Check your quotations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning \u2014 and then edit it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If you want ACTION, don\u2019t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The better you write, the higher you go in Ogilvy &amp; Mather. People who think well, write well. Woolly minded people write woolly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches. Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Henry Miller:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Tropic-Cancer-Henry-Miller\/dp\/0802131786\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-480\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Screen-Shot-2012-05-19-at-8.23.37-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2012-05-19 at 8.23.37 PM\" width=\"130\" height=\"193\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Work on one thing at a time until finished.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Start no more new books, add no more new material to \u2018Black Spring.\u2019<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Don\u2019t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Work according to Program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">When you can\u2019t create you can work.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Cement a little every day, rather than add new fertilizers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Keep human! See people, go places, drink if you feel like it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Don\u2019t be a draught-horse! Work with pleasure only.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Discard the Program when you feel like it\u2014but go back. Concentrate. Narrow. Exclude.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Write first and always. Painting, music, friends, cinema, all these come afterwards.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>MORNINGS: If groggy, type notes and allocate, as stimulus. If in fine fettle, write.<\/p>\n<p>AFTERNOONS: Work of section in hand, following plan of section scrupulously. No intrusions, no diversions. Write to finish one section at a time, for good and all.<\/p>\n<p>EVENINGS: See friends. Read in caf\u00e9s.Explore unfamiliar sections \u2014 on foot if wet, on bicycle if dry.Write, if in mood, but only on Minor program.Paint if empty or tired.Make Notes. Make Charts, Plans. Make corrections of MS.<\/p>\n<p>Note: Allow sufficient time during daylight to make an occasional visit to museums or an occasional sketch or an occasional bike ride. Sketch in caf\u00e9s and trains and streets. Cut the movies! Library for references once a week.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>John Steinbeck:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-6W0ZM6DrD8s\/T-8qfCchASI\/AAAAAAAAC-A\/gOwSJjsveW4\/s1600\/images.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-477\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/images.jpeg\" alt=\"images\" width=\"130\" height=\"172\" \/><\/a>If there is a magic in story writing, and I am convinced there is, no one has ever been able to reduce it to a recipe that can be passed from one person to another. The formula seems to lie solely in the aching urge of the writer to convey something he feels important to the reader. If the writer has that urge, he may sometimes, but by no means always, find the way to do it. You must perceive the excellence that makes a good story good or the errors that makes a bad story. For a bad story is only an ineffective story.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death and in the second place, unlike the theater, it doesn\u2019t exist. In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person\u2014a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If a scene or a section gets the better of you and you still think you want it\u2014bypass it and go on. When you have finished the whole you can come back to it and then you may find that the reason it gave trouble is because it didn\u2019t belong there.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Beware of a scene that becomes too dear to you, dearer than the rest. It will usually be found that it is out of drawing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If you are using dialogue\u2014say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Emma Coats:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-iEOKZ9EYAmc\/T9ajYfk0JAI\/AAAAAAAACmQ\/Q59p5dBFHGk\/s1600\/Screen+Shot+2012-06-11+at+10.01.04+PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-522\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Screen-Shot-2013-05-26-at-10.33.42-AM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2013-05-26 at 10.33.42 AM\" width=\"130\" height=\"186\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">You gotta keep in mind what&#8217;s interesting to you as an audience, not what&#8217;s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Trying for theme is important, but you won&#8217;t see what the story is actually about til you&#8217;re at the end of it. Now rewrite.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You&#8217;ll feel like you&#8217;re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Finish your story, let go even if it&#8217;s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">When you&#8217;re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN&#8217;T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you&#8217;ve got to recognize it before you can use it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you&#8217;ll never share it with anyone.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th \u2013 get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Give your characters opinions. Passive\/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it&#8217;s poison to the audience.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Why must you tell THIS story? What&#8217;s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That&#8217;s the heart of it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don&#8217;t succeed? Stack the odds against.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">No work is ever wasted. If it&#8217;s not working, let go and move on &#8211; it&#8217;ll come back around to be useful later.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best &amp; fussing. Story is testing, not refining.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d&#8217;you rearrange them into what you DO like?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">You gotta identify with your situation\/characters, can&#8217;t just write \u2018cool&#8217;. What would make YOU act that way?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">What&#8217;s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Anne Lamott:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Bird-Some-Instructions-Writing-Life\/dp\/0385480016\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-524\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Screen-Shot-2013-05-26-at-10.34.06-AM1.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2013-05-26 at 10.34.06 AM\" width=\"130\" height=\"197\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he&#8217;d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother&#8217;s shoulder, and said, &#8220;Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason why they write so little. But we do. We have so much we want to say and figure out.<\/p>\n<p>You begin to string words together like beads to tell a story. You are desperate to communicate, to edify or entertain, to preserve moments of grace or joy or transcendence, to make real or imagined events come alive. But you cannot will this to happen. It is a matter of persistence and faith and hard work. So you might as well just go ahead and get started.<\/p>\n<p>Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It\u2019s like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can\u2019t stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Mark Twain:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mark_twain\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-525\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Screen-Shot-2013-05-26-at-10.38.57-AM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2013-05-26 at 10.38.57 AM\" width=\"130\" height=\"177\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Use the right word, not its second cousin.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">As to the Adjective: when in doubt, strike it out.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">You need not expect to get your book right the first time. Go to work and revamp or rewrite it. God only exhibits his thunder and lightning at intervals, and so they always command attention. These are God&#8217;s adjectives. You thunder and lightning too much; the reader ceases to get under the bed, by and by.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Substitute damn every time you&#8217;re inclined to write very; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Use good grammar.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Damnation (if you will allow the expression), get up &amp; take a turn around the block &amp; let the sentiment blow off you. Sentiment is for girls. . . . There is one thing I can&#8217;t stand and won&#8217;t stand, from many people. That is, sham sentimentality.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English&#8211;it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don&#8217;t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Write without pay until somebody offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon this circumstance with the most implicit confidence as the sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>George Orwell:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-UKafXFJ0GkQ\/T7hCleIY5QI\/AAAAAAAACHM\/HIxIQp-LBsU\/s1600\/Screen+Shot+2012-05-19+at+9.01.41+PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-483\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Screen-Shot-2012-05-19-at-9.01.41-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2012-05-19 at 9.01.41 PM\" width=\"130\" height=\"188\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Never use a long word where a short one will do.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Never use the passive where you can use the active.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Never use a foreign phrase, scientific word, or jargon word if you can use everyday equivalent.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>J.K. Rowling:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-FmQD1FFa2H4\/T7hHdYDKNxI\/AAAAAAAACHk\/K-DY8WlMyyE\/s1600\/220px-J._K._Rowling_2010.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-475\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/220px-J._K._Rowling_2010.jpg\" alt=\"220px-J._K._Rowling_2010\" width=\"130\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><em>Tip 1: Don\u2019t rush to roll out your product:<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cDestiny is a name often given in retrospect to choices that had dramatic consequences.\u201d Although Rowling had been a writer all her life, she was slow to publish. She said, \u201cI had written two novels before I had the idea for Harry, though I&#8217;d never tried to get them published (and a good job too, I don&#8217;t think they were very good).\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Tip 2: When a great idea grabs you, grab back:<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou sort of start thinking anything&#8217;s possible if you&#8217;ve got enough nerve.\u201d Great ideas are unmistakably powerful in their announcement and come when least expected. Rowling says: &#8220;Where the idea for Harry Potter actually came from, I really couldn&#8217;t tell you. I was traveling on a train between Manchester and London and it just popped into my head. I spent four hours thinking about what Hogwarts would be like. By the time I got off at King&#8217;s Cross, many of the characters in the books had already been invented.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>Tip 3: Persevere, persevere and persevere:<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is our choices&#8230;that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.\u201d Rowling moved to Portugal to teach English as a Second Language in 1991 and married her first husband the following year. They divorced in 1993. The next year, she moved to Scotland. At this point, she was an unemployed single mother living on welfare. In 1995, she completed her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher&#8217;s Stone, typing it out on an old manual typewriter. She handed in the book to twelve publishing houses. They all rejected it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>Tip 4: Don\u2019t let anyone sidetrack you from your goal:<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you&#8217;re holding out for universal popularity, I&#8217;m afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time.\u201d Her editor, though, says that he \u201cadvised Rowling to get a day job, since she had little chance of making money in children\u2019s books.\u201d It\u2019s a good thing she didn\u2019t let this advice discourage her\u2014all seven volumes of the Harry Potter series have broken sales records. What a shining role model Rowling is for small business owners. She didn\u2019t let anyone stand in the way of her goal\u2014not even herself.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>Tip 5: Each of us has a unique contribution to make to the world:<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just write what I wanted to write. I write what amuses me. It&#8217;s totally for myself. I just wrote the sort of thing I liked reading when I was younger (and still enjoy now!). I didn&#8217;t expect lots of people to like them, in fact, I never really thought much past getting them published.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Margaret Atwood:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-qkVIRRIeRWo\/T7hCzjJGXDI\/AAAAAAAACHU\/ZQEpuNC_4Vc\/s1600\/013bc060ada0f180127ff110.L._V192476236_SL200_.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-473\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/013bc060ada0f180127ff110.L._V192476236_SL200_.jpg\" alt=\"013bc060ada0f180127ff110.L._V192476236_SL200_\" width=\"130\" height=\"174\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can\u2019t sharpen it on the plane, because you can\u2019t take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If both pencils break, you can do a rough sharpening job with a nail file of the metal or glass type.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Take something to write on. Paper is good. In a pinch, pieces of wood or your arm will do.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If you\u2019re using a computer, always safeguard new text with a memory stick.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Do back exercises. Pain is distracting.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Hold the reader\u2019s attention. (This is likely to work better if you can hold your own.) But you don\u2019t know who the reader is, so it\u2019s like shooting fish with a slingshot in the dark. What fascinates A will bore the pants off B.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and a grip on reality. This latter means: there\u2019s no free lunch. Writing is work. It\u2019s also gambling. You don\u2019t get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but essentially you\u2019re on your own. Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don\u2019t whine.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">You can never read your own book with the innocent anticipation that comes with that first delicious page of a new book, because you wrote the thing. You\u2019ve been backstage. You\u2019ve seen how the rabbits were smuggled into the hat. Therefore ask a reading friend or two to look at it before you give it to anyone in the publishing business. This friend should not be someone with whom you have a romantic relationship, unless you want to break up.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Don\u2019t sit down in the middle of the woods. If you\u2019re lost in the plot or blocked, retrace your steps to where you went wrong. Then take the other road. And\/or change the person. Change the tense. Change the opening page.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Prayer might work. Or reading something else. Or a constant visualisation of the holy grail that is the finished, published version of your resplendent book.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>William Goldman:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-SYgowqBIwLA\/T7hHycBNRUI\/AAAAAAAACHs\/XtwcSXeA0hc\/s1600\/president.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-478\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/president.jpg\" alt=\"president\" width=\"130\" height=\"173\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Thou shalt not take the crisis out of the protagonist\u2019s hands.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Thou shalt not make life easy for the protagonist.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Thou shalt not give exposition for exposition\u2019s sake.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Thou shalt not use false mystery or cheap surprise.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Thou shalt respect thy audience.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Thou shalt know thy world as God knows this one.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Thou shalt not complicate when complexity is better.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Thou shalt seek the end of the line, taking characters to the farthest depth of the conflict imaginable within the story\u2019s own realm of probability.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Thou shalt not write on the nose \u2013 put a subtext under every text.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Thou shalt rewrite.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Ann Patchett:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/220px-Ann_Patchett_2012_Shankbone.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-474\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/220px-Ann_Patchett_2012_Shankbone.jpg\" alt=\"220px-Ann_Patchett_2012_Shankbone\" width=\"130\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">People like to ask me if writing can be taught, and I say yes. I can teach you how to write a better sentence, how to write dialogue, maybe even how to construct a plot. But I can\u2019t teach you how to have something to say.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Ideas are everywhere. Lift up a big rock and look under it, stare into a window of a house you drive past and dream about what\u2019s going on inside. Read the newspaper, ask your father about his sister, think of something that happened to you or someone you know and then think about it turning out an entirely different way.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If you want to write and can\u2019t figure out how to do it, try this: Pick an amount of time to sit at your desk every day. Start with twenty minutes, say, and work up as quickly as possible to as much time as you can spare. Do you really want to write? Sit for two hours a day.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Based on my own experience, I believe the brain is as soft and malleable as bread dough when we\u2019re young. I am grateful for every class trip to the symphony I went on and curse any night I was allowed to watch The Brady Bunch, because all of it stuck\u2026.Think about this before you let your child have a Game Boy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If you want to study the master of the well-constructed chapter\u2014and plot and flat-out gorgeous writing\u2014read Raymond Chandler. The Long Goodbye is my favorite.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Many writers feel that plot is pass\u00e9; they\u2019re so over plot\u2014who needs plot?\u2014to which I say, learn how to construct one first and then feel free to reject it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Even if you\u2019re writing a book that jumps around in time, has ten points of view, and is chest-deep in flashbacks, do your best to write it in the order in which it will be read, because it will make the writing, and the later editing, incalculably easier.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">One method of revision that I find both loathsome and indispensable is reading my work aloud when I\u2019m finished. There are things I can hear\u2014the repetition of words, a particularly flat sentence\u2014that I don\u2019t otherwise catch.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">I got better at closing the gap between my hand and my head by clocking in the hours, stacking up the pages. Somewhere in all my years of practice\u2014I don\u2019t know where exactly\u2014I arrived at the art.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">No one should go into debt to study creative writing. It\u2019s simply not worth it. Do not think of it as an investment in yourself that you\u2019ll be able to recoup later on. This is not medical school.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>William Safire:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-Right-Word-Place-Time\/dp\/0743242440\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-484\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Screen-Shot-2012-05-19-at-9.04.06-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2012-05-19 at 9.04.06 PM\" width=\"130\" height=\"197\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Remember to never split an infinitive.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">The passive voice should never be used.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Do not put statements in the negative form.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Verbs have to agree with their subjects.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Proofread carefully to see if you words out.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">A writer must not shift your point of view.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">And don\u2019t start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Don\u2019t overuse exclamation marks!!<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Always pick on the correct idiom.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">The adverb always follows the verb.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Neil Gaiman:<\/strong> (read his free short stories <a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2011\/12\/neil_gaimans_free_short_stories.html\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>)<br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Neil_Gaiman\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-530\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Screen-Shot-2013-05-26-at-11.02.20-AM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2013-05-26 at 11.02.20 AM\" width=\"129\" height=\"173\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Write.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Finish what you\u2019re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Put it aside. Read it pretending you\u2019ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Remember: when people tell you something\u2019s wrong or doesn\u2019t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Laugh at your own jokes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you\u2019re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it\u2019s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I\u2019m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Zadie Smith:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-_WGscAZtH-E\/UGh43Pxn6-I\/AAAAAAAAJHU\/ej-uVCatZx4\/s1600\/zadiesmith.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-485\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/zadiesmith.jpg\" alt=\"zadiesmith\" width=\"130\" height=\"120\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">When still a child, make sure you read a lot of books. Spend more time doing this than anything else.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">When an adult, try to read your own work as a stranger would read it, or even better, as an enemy would.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Don&#8217;t romanticize your &#8216;vocation&#8217;. You can either write good sentences or you can&#8217;t. There is no &#8216;writer&#8217;s lifestyle&#8221;. All that matters is what you leave on the page.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Avoid your weaknesses. But do this without telling yourself that the things you can&#8217;t do aren&#8217;t worth dooing. Don&#8217;t mask self-doubt with contempt.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Leave a decent space of time between writing something and editing it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Avoid cliques, gangs, groups. The presence of a crowd won&#8217;t make your writing better than it is.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Work on a computer that is disconnected from the internet.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Don&#8217;t confuse honors with achievement.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Tell the truth through which veil comes to hand &#8211; but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Elmore Leonard:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Elmore_Leonard\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-527\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Screen-Shot-2013-05-26-at-10.43.51-AM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2013-05-26 at 10.43.51 AM\" width=\"130\" height=\"174\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Never open a book with the weather.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Avoid prologues.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Never use a verb other than &#8220;said&#8221; to carry dialogue.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Keep your exclamation points under control!<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Never use the words &#8220;suddenly&#8221; or &#8220;all hell broke loose.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Same for places and things.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Leave out the parts readers tend to skip.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Stephen King:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/On-Writing-Stephen-King\/dp\/0743455967\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-479\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Screen-Shot-2012-05-19-at-8.18.36-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2012-05-19 at 8.18.36 PM\" width=\"130\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\"><em>Get to the point.<\/em> Don\u2019t waste your reader\u2019s time with too much back-story, long intros or longer anecdotes about your life. Reduce the noise. Reduce the babbling. In On Writing King gets to his points quickly. Get to your point quickly too before your reader loses patience and moves on.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\"><em>Write a draft. Then let it rest.<\/em> King recommends that you crank out a first draft and then put it in your drawer to let it rest. Now, how long you let your text rest may vary. King puts his manuscripts away for several months before rereading and start the editing process. I often let a post rest for a day or two before I start editing (as I\u2019m sure many other bloggers do from time to time too). This enables you to get out of the mindset you had when you wrote the draft and get a more detached and clear perspective on the text. It then becomes easier to edit, add and cut in a sometimes kinda ruthless way. The result is most often a better text.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\"><em>Cut down your text.<\/em> When you revisit your text it\u2019s time to kill your darlings and remove all the superfluous words and sentences. Removing will declutter your text and often get your message through with more clarity and a bigger emotional punch. Don\u2019t remove too much text though or you may achieve the opposite effects instead. King got the advice to cut down his texts by 10 percent from an old rejection-letter and has followed this advice for decades. While editing my blog I\u2019ve found that 10 percent seems to be a pretty good figure not just for mammoth-sized books.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\"><em>Be relatable and honest.<\/em> King has an honest voice in his fiction and in his memoir. He tells it like it is and makes us relate to him and his characters. Since King\u2019s fiction often is of an odd kind with strange plots that seldom happen to normal people I think one of his strengths as a writer is being able to write relatable content anyway. One of the keys to doing that is to have an honest voice and honest characters with both bad and good sides to them. People we can relate to with all of their faults, passions, fears, weaknesses and good moments. King\u2019s characters seem human. That creates a strong connection to the reader who starts caring about the characters. Another key to being honest and relatable is keeping a conversational style. Keeping it simple and using language that isn\u2019t unnecessarily complicated. Using the words that first come to mind.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\"><em>Don\u2019t care too much what others may think.<\/em> King admits to being needy about the emotional feedback he gets when he lets his wife read a new story for the first time. He gets a kick out of hearing her laugh so she cries or just cry because something in manuscript really touched her. But he has also gotten tons of mail over the years from people who confuse his sometimes nasty characters with the writer. Or just thinks he should wind up in hell. And King hasn\u2019t always been a favourite among literary critics either. But from what I gather he just sits down at his desk and keeps writing every morning anyway. If you listen too much to your critics you won\u2019t get much done. Your writing will probably become worse and less fun. And criticism is often not even about you anyway.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\"><em>Read a lot.<\/em> When you read you always pick up things. Sometimes it might be reminders about what you know you should be doing while you write. Sometimes it\u2019s some cool idea or just the world and atmosphere the writer is painting. Sometimes it\u2019s something totally new that makes your jaw drop. That one is my favourite. And sometimes you learn what you should avoid doing. There are almost always lessons you can learn. If you want to be a better writer you need to read a lot to get fresh input, broaden your horizons and deepen your knowledge. And to evolve you need to mix yourself up with new influences and see what happens. How do you find time to read more? You can cut down on other evening activities like watching TV-shows you don\u2019t care for that much anyway. Or, as King suggests, you can bring a book to waiting rooms, treadmills or toilets. I like to plug in an audiobook while I\u2019m on the bus or walking somewhere.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\"><em>Write a lot<\/em>. I\u2019ve saved the most important tip for last. To become a better writer you probably \u2013 and not so surprisingly \u2013 need to write more. Many of the best in different fields \u2013 Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods \u2013 have gone beyond normal limits of practise. And so they reap extraordinary results. But what do you do when you don\u2019t feel like writing? Waiting for inspiration can become a long wait.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>A few additional tips:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Description begins in the writer\u2019s imagination, but should finish in the reader\u2019s.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn\u2019t in the middle of the room. Life isn\u2019t a support system for art. It\u2019s the other way around.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don\u2019t have time to read, you don\u2019t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/KMBA-Ira-Glass-Quote.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-488 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/KMBA-Ira-Glass-Quote.png\" alt=\"KMBA-Ira Glass Quote\" width=\"679\" height=\"904\" srcset=\"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/KMBA-Ira-Glass-Quote.png 679w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/KMBA-Ira-Glass-Quote-225x300.png 225w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/KMBA-Ira-Glass-Quote-640x852.png 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 679px) 100vw, 679px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8220;Basically the more rules a person lays down as to what a script needs to be &#8211; the less they know what they&#8217;re doing. Because, in reality, when you get really good at writing, you hear the music. And structure becomes second nature.&#8221;\u00a0<span style=\"color: #888888;\"><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Marc Zicree<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Quotes on Writing:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Not diaries:\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Modern_Library_100_Best_Novels\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Modern_Library_100_Best_Novels<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Being a writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the internet.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Single worst piece of writing advice I ever got was to stay away from the Internet because it would only waste my time.<\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"> Cory Doctorow<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If you have no sense of urgency to succeed in life&#8230;YOU WILL NOT.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Best prescription for writer\u2019s block: FEAR OF POVERTY.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Peter Mayle<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Somewhere along the line pernicious critics have invested the American reading and writing public with the idea that entertaining fiction and serious ideas do not overlap. This would have surprised Charles Dickens, not to mention Jane Austen, John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Bernard Malamud, and hundreds of others. Not one of these writers wrote their greatest works in the first person. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Stephen King<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Leave the dishes unwashed and the demands on your time unanswered. Be ruthless and refuse to do what people ask of you. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Lynne Schwartz<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Begin with an individual and you find that you have created a type; begin with a type and you find that you have created \u2014 nothing. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Fitzgerald<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Breathe in experience, breathe out poetry. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Muriel Rukeyser<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Saul Bellow<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">You can\u2019t learn to write in college. It\u2019s a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you do\u2014and they don\u2019t. They have prejudices. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Ray Bradbury<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Kurt Vonnegut<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">The ideal reader of my novels is a lapsed Catholic and failed musician, short-sighted, color-blind, auditorily biased, who has read the books that I have read. He should also be about my age. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Anthony Burgess<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Of course I thought I was Jo in Little Women. But I didn\u2019t want to write what Jo wrote. Then in Martin Eden I found a writer-protagonist with whose writing I could identify, so then I wanted to be Martin Eden\u2014minus, of course, the dreary fate Jack London gives him. I saw myself as (I guess I was) a heroic autodidact. I looked forward to the struggle of the writing life. I thought of being a writer as a heroic vocation. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Susan Sontag<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Don\u2019t live with anybody who doesn\u2019t support your work. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Grace Paley<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If you did not write every day, the poisons would accumulate and you would begin to die, or act crazy or both \u2013 you must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Bradbury<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">A person who dares to waste an hour of time has not discovered the value of life. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Darwin<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Kill writing procrastination for good with three words: Do your best. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Angela Booth<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">When asked what was the most frightening thing he had ever encountered, novelist Ernest Hemingway said, \u201cA blank sheet of paper.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">I don&#8217;t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Pearl S. Buck<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Writing a book is like putting a message in a bottle and throwing it in the ocean. You never know if it will reach any shores. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Isabel Allende<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Don\u2019t wait for 100% acceptance of yourself before you write, or even 8% acceptance. Just write. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Natalie Goldberg<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">My prescription for writer\u2019s block is to face the fact that there is no such thing. It\u2019s an invented condition, a literary version of the judicial \u201cabuse excuse.\u201d Writing well is difficult, but one can always write something. And then, with a lot of work, make it better. It\u2019s a question of having enough will and ambition, not of hoping to evade this mysterious hysteria people are always talking about. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Thomas Mallon<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Appealing workplaces are to be avoided. One wants a room with no view, so imagination can meet memory in the dark. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Dillard<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Alcohol never prevented me from writing. But when I quit \u2014 on January 24, 1977, at 9:30 A.M.\u2014my fiction got better. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Elmore Leonard<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Advice for a young writer: work, work, work, sit at your desk and sweat. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Shelby Foote<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">E.B. White<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Not writing is probably the most exhausting profession I\u2019ve ever encountered. It takes it out of you. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Lebowitz<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Doctorow<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Don\u2019t write it right, just write it\u2014and then make it right later. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Tara Moss<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Goethe<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">I&#8217;m just writing a story that I want to read. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Auel<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">I\u2019ve always tried out material on my dogs first. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Steinbeck<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Whatever you do\u2026avoid piles. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Eliot<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Allende once said that writing a book is like putting a message in a bottle and throwing it in the ocean. You never know if it will reach any shores.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Plath<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">I&#8217;m just writing a story that I want to read. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Jean Marie Auel<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">It\u2019s unnatural, spending most of one\u2019s waking hours going into a room alone. You have to protect your writing time. You have to protect it to the death. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">William Goldman<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Read widely and with discrimination. Bad writing is contagious. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">P.D. James<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">#1 FH rule: if you have earned a Friendly Helper you sure as hell do not need drugs. Ever. They destroy me.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Be the Light, not the Moth; speak for the innocent and forgotten, your work becomes holy. The world like me will rise to help you.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Be regular and orderly like a bourgeois, so that you may be violent and original in your work. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Flaubert<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Only God gets things right the first time. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Stephen King<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">One who labors diligently need never despair, for all things are accomplished by diligence and labor. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Menander<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.<\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"> Basil King<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Frank Capra<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">When I am writing, I am doing the thing I was meant to do. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Anne Sexton<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don\u2019t feel I should be doing something else. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Gloria Steinem<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">The act of writing is an act of optimism. You would not take the trouble to do it if you felt that it didn\u2019t matter. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Edward Albee<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">To write something, you have to risk making a fool of yourself. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Anne Rice<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">The only reason for being a professional writer is that you just can\u2019t help it. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Leo Rosten<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Sidney Smith<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Writing a book is like washing an elephant: no good place to begin or end &amp; it&#8217;s hard to keep track of what you&#8217;ve already covered. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Anon !!!!!<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If you could get up the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">David Viscott<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Anon<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If you really want to do something, you&#8217;ll find a way. If you don&#8217;t, you&#8217;ll find an excuse. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Anon<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Success follows trying. Failure also follows trying. Nothing, however, follows nothing. So try! <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Anon<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Not Diaries:<\/span><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\"> \u201cA good novel tells us the truth about its hero; a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.&#8221; <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">G K Chesterton<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Don&#8217;t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Faulkner<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">No regime has ever loved great writers, only minor ones. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Alexander Solzhenitsyn<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Thomas Alva Edison<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">A professional writer is an amateur who didn\u2019t quit. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Richard Bach<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">I don&#8217;t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Pearl S. Buck<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">My prescription for writer\u2019s block is to face the fact that there is no such thing. It\u2019s an invented condition, a literary version of the judicial \u201cabuse excuse.\u201d Writing well is difficult, but one can always write something. And then, with a lot of work, make it better. It\u2019s a question of having enough will and ambition, not of hoping to evade this mysterious hysteria people are always talking about. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Thomas Mallon<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">You don&#8217;t find time to write. You make time. It&#8217;s my job. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Nora Roberts<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Best advice I&#8217;ve ever received: Finish.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Peter Mayle<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<div style=\"margin: 0px;\">\n<hr \/>\n<div>\n<p>Archive of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\">#WriteTip<\/a>\u00a0Posts via\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/oceanbluesky\" target=\"_blank\">Oceanbluesky<\/a>:<\/p>\n<div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p><a dir=\"ltr\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search\/?q=%23Writetip&amp;src=hash\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#Writetip<\/a>\u00a0from Gilbert similar to &#8220;The best writing advice I\u2019ve ever heard Don&#8217;t write like you went to college&#8221; Kahn<a dir=\"ltr\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/kV8CgdiQ\" data-pre-embedded=\"true\">pic.twitter.com\/kV8CgdiQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Fascinating wiki article useful to understanding communication, visual, dialogue, etc\u00a0<a dir=\"ltr\" title=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Constructed_language\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/VOzcywZE\" target=\"_blank\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Constructed_language\">http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Constructed_language\u00a0\u2026<\/a>\u00a0<a dir=\"ltr\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search\/?q=%23writetip&amp;src=hash\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#writetip<\/a><a dir=\"ltr\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/hDq02stt\" data-pre-embedded=\"true\">pic.twitter.com\/hDq02stt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If Shakespeare handled this character differently he might have undermined Puritan Rev which came AFTER him<a dir=\"ltr\" title=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rake_(character)\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/Bn9pzrNH\" target=\"_blank\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rake_(character)\">http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rake_(character)\u00a0\u2026<\/a>\u00a0<a dir=\"ltr\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search\/?q=%23writetip&amp;src=hash\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Each character&#8217;s dialogue should sound unique &amp; different; easy way to hear what this is really like? Talk shows with guest panels<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23writetip\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"#ListenWhileUDraw\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23ListenWhileUDraw\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#ListenWhileUDraw<\/a>\u00a0New favorite YouTube channel: this one is devoted to endangered languages!<a title=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=FLmbtQpU9Hd-RtiDmdRbHoUw&amp;feature=plcp\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/dujf63Rl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=FLmbtQpU9Hd-RtiDmdRbHoUw&amp;feature=plcp\" data-ultimate-url=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=FLmbtQpU9Hd-RtiDmdRbHoUw&amp;feature=plcp<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23writetip\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#writetip<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#amwriting\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23amwriting\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#amwriting<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"#ListenWhileUDraw\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23ListenWhileUDraw\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#ListenWhileUDraw<\/a>\u00a0Ron Serling &#8220;angry young man&#8221; 1960s interview on self-censorship &amp; integrity\u00a0<a title=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RzBQSR-c9Y4\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/JJoX0sjz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RzBQSR-c9Y4\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RzBQSR-c9Y4<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#wrtietip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23wrtietip\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#wrtietip<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#amwriting\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23amwriting\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#amwriting<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"#ListenWhileUDraw\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23ListenWhileUDraw\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#ListenWhileUDraw<\/a>\u00a0Ron Serling on writing for television\/film<a title=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=evnNy541L9Q&amp;feature=BFa&amp;list=PL81FCF447E8C70158\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/Dw6TeM10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=evnNy541L9Q&amp;feature=BFa&amp;list=PL81FCF447E8C70158\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=evnNy541L9Q&amp;feature=BFa&amp;list=PL81FCF447E8C70158<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23writetip\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#writetip<\/a><a title=\"#amwriting\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23amwriting\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/lawnrocket\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"lawnrocket\">@lawnrocket<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Virtually the only things humans create lasting thousands of years are stories. (The Long Now Foundation vid:<a title=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sIm8sSFFmxo\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/BL1LCzZ0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"youtube.com\/watch?v=sIm8sS\u2026\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sIm8sSFFmxo\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sIm8sSFFmxo<\/a>\u00a0)\u00a0<a title=\"#write\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23write\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#write<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My mother is love My father is love My prophet is love&#8221; Rumi (&#8220;sell cleverness, buy bewilderment&#8221; as in&#8211;&gt;<a title=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Mathnawi-Jalaluddin-Rumi-Volume-Set\/dp\/0906094275\/ref=sr_1_35?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1330929911&amp;sr=8-35\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/W8sHdthW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"amazon.com\/Mathnawi-Jalal\u2026\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Mathnawi-Jalaluddin-Rumi-Volume-Set\/dp\/0906094275\/ref=sr_1_35?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1330929911&amp;sr=8-35\">http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Mathnawi-Jalaluddin-Rumi-Volume-Set\/dp\/0906094275\/ref=sr_1_35?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1330929911&amp;sr=8-35<\/a>\u00a0)\u00a0<a title=\"#wrtietip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23wrtietip\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#wrtietip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Character Study&#8217; columns in thhe NYTimes<br \/>\n<a title=\"http:\/\/topics.nytimes.com\/top\/news\/newyorkandregion\/columns\/character_study\/index.html\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/0HGGh7OR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"topics.nytimes.com\/top\/news\/newyo\u2026\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/topics.nytimes.com\/top\/news\/newyorkandregion\/columns\/character_study\/index.html\" data-ultimate-url=\"http:\/\/topics.nytimes.com\/top\/news\/newyorkandregion\/columns\/character_study\/index.html\">http:\/\/topics.nytimes.com\/top\/news\/newyorkandregion\/columns\/character_study\/index.html<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/crazymorse\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"crazymorse\">@crazymorse<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/A_robots_sun\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"A_robots_sun\">@A_robots_sun<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/AdviceToWriters\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"AdviceToWriters\">@AdviceToWriters<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23writetip\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#writetip<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#amwriting\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23amwriting\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#amwriting<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Holy God&#8230;Shakespeare&#8217;s plays from around the world!! Arabic, Korean&#8230;hundreds!\u00a0<a title=\"http:\/\/globalshakespeares.org\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/JlDcrvfp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"globalshakespeares.org\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/globalshakespeares.org\" data-ultimate-url=\"http:\/\/globalshakespeares.org\/\">http:\/\/globalshakespeares.org<\/a>\u00a0THX2\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/lauraine_a\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"lauraine_a\">@lauraine_a<\/a><a title=\"#amwriting\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23amwriting\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/%23writetip\" data-query-source=\"hashtag_click\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"#Writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23Writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#Writetip<\/a>: &#8220;The best writing advice I\u2019ve ever heard: Don&#8217;t write like you went to college.&#8221; Alice Kahn (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/paigeinathens\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"paigeinathens\">@paigeinathens<\/a>\u00a0&#8220;biblical length&#8230;;)<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"#Writing\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23Writing\" rel=\"nofollow\">#Writing<\/a>\u00a0places to observe full spectrum society (not Starbucks): Walmart County Courthouses Parades Beaches Hospital Em Waiting Room&#8230;DMV<\/p>\n<p>Need Shakespearian dialogue jesters comedic relief? Befriend panhandlers best conversationalists n our cocooned society\u00a0<a title=\"#amwriting\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23amwriting\" rel=\"nofollow\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Background for very cool, meaningful adventure story: preventing high-tech rhino poaching\u00a0<a title=\"http:\/\/www.endangeredspeciesprintproject.blogspot.com\/2011\/01\/hi-tech-poachers-decimating-rhinos-in.html\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/BlpAVwgy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"bit.ly\/znctZ5\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/znctZ5\" data-ultimate-url=\"http:\/\/www.endangeredspeciesprintproject.blogspot.com\/2011\/01\/hi-tech-poachers-decimating-rhinos-in.html\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/znctZ5<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writing\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writing\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writing<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#film\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23film\" rel=\"nofollow\">#film<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/lawnrocket\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"lawnrocket\">@lawnrocket<\/a><\/p>\n<p>From Badlands &amp; Grand Canyon to the Everglades &amp; Petrified Forest check out Environ Conscious\u00a0<a title=\"#Art\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23Art\" rel=\"nofollow\">#Art<\/a>\u00a0Residence Programs<a title=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;q=off+season+national+parks+artists+in+residence&amp;rls=en\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/JWToiv2m\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"bit.ly\/zzLMXW\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/zzLMXW\" data-ultimate-url=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;q=off+season+national+parks+artists+in+residence&amp;rls=en\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/zzLMXW<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"#Writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23Writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#Writetip<\/a>\u00a0worldwide phenom: wealthy are cocooned; the poor are social, talkative, filled with stories, jokes, &amp; 1liners; especially homeless<\/p>\n<p>2books 4creative blocks &#8220;On Writing&#8221;<a title=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Writing-Stephen-King\/dp\/0743455967\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/MranyRVA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"amazon.com\/Writing-Stephe\u2026\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Writing-Stephen-King\/dp\/0743455967\">http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Writing-Stephen-King\/dp\/0743455967<\/a>\u00a0&#8220;Bird by Bird&#8221;\u00a0<a title=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Bird-Some-Instructions-Writing-Life\/dp\/0385480016\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/EPlnUq38\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"amazon.com\/Bird-Some-Inst\u2026\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Bird-Some-Instructions-Writing-Life\/dp\/0385480016\">http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Bird-Some-Instructions-Writing-Life\/dp\/0385480016<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#amwriting\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23amwriting\" rel=\"nofollow\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/lawnrocket\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"lawnrocket\">@lawnrocket<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/a_robots_sun\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"a_robots_sun\">@a_robots_sun<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Little Drummer Boy&#8217; perfect story\/character for the Great Recession &#8220;I have no gifts to bring&#8230;&#8221;<a title=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WkXDby0kZ1I\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/b1WyCzQ3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"youtube.com\/watch?v=WkXDby\u2026\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WkXDby0kZ1I\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WkXDby0kZ1I<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#amwriting\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23amwriting\" rel=\"nofollow\">#amwriting<\/a><br \/>\nOne of my favorite examples of integrity: Brando listening to his Muses at 1:25\u00a0<a title=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=f_nXWeMFEt4&amp;NR=1\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/ejjjzpQC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"youtube.com\/watch?v=f_nXWe\u2026\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=f_nXWeMFEt4&amp;NR=1\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=f_nXWeMFEt4&amp;NR=1<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/lawnrocket\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"lawnrocket\">@lawnrocket<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/A_robots_sun\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"A_robots_sun\">@A_robots_sun<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#art\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23art\" rel=\"nofollow\">#art<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#film\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23film\" rel=\"nofollow\">#film<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Motivation break: winning Nicholl Fellowship script excerpts<a title=\"http:\/\/www.oscars.org\/awards\/nicholl\/fellows\/25thscripts.html\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/ZX5w78lu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"oscars.org\/awards\/nicholl\u2026\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.oscars.org\/awards\/nicholl\/fellows\/25thscripts.html\" data-ultimate-url=\"http:\/\/www.oscars.org\/awards\/nicholl\/fellows\/25thscripts.html\">http:\/\/www.oscars.org\/awards\/nicholl\/fellows\/25thscripts.html<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#film\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23film\" rel=\"nofollow\">#film<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#amwriting\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23amwriting\" rel=\"nofollow\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/lawnrocket\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"lawnrocket\">@lawnrocket<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/A_robots_sun\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"A_robots_sun\">@A_robots_sun<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Only bad writers think their work is really good&#8221; Diana Athill; &#8220;The 1st draft of anything is shit&#8221; Hemingway\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/lawnrocket\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"lawnrocket\">@lawnrocket<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/A_robots_sun\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"A_robots_sun\">@A_robots_sun<\/a>\u00a0: )<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Why Adding Space to Any Story Makes It Better&#8221; : )<a title=\"http:\/\/io9.com\/5867361\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/bMq9hT6y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"io9.com\/5867361\/why-ad\u2026\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/io9.com\/5867361\/why-adding-in-space-to-any-concept-really-does-make-it-better\/\" data-ultimate-url=\"http:\/\/io9.com\/5867361\">http:\/\/io9.com\/5867361\/why-adding-in-space-to-any-concept-really-does-make-it-better\/<\/a>\u00a0RT\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/jeff_foust\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"jeff_foust\">@jeff_foust<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/lawnrocket\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"lawnrocket\">@lawnrocket<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/louiedelcarmen\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"louiedelcarmen\">@louiedelcarmen<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/firstnamedani\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"firstnamedani\">@firstnamedani<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;10,000 hours rule&#8221;\u00a0<a title=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8&amp;q=10,000+hours+rule&amp;rls=en\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/eESvy897\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"google.com\/search?client=\u2026\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;q=10,000+hours+rule&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8\" data-ultimate-url=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8&amp;q=10,000+hours+rule&amp;rls=en\">http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;q=10,000+hours+rule&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8<\/a>RT\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/lawnrocket\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"lawnrocket\">@lawnrocket<\/a>\u00a0(that is 1 of my fav quotes : )<a title=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/oceanbluesky\/status\/144651523840946176\/photo\/1\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/rpwWq6RW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"pic.twitter.com\/rpwWq6RW\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/oceanbluesky\/status\/144651523840946176\/photo\/1\" data-media-h=\"386\" data-media-w=\"516\" data-twitter-media-url=\"true\">http:\/\/pic.twitter.com\/rpwWq6RW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Case for Adverbs: Without merrily we would row row row a boat downstream &amp; think it a nightmare&#8221;<a title=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/entertainment\/archive\/2011\/12\/why-i-am-proudly-strongly-and-happily-in-favor-of-adverbs\/249336\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/QHgVRnJQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"theatlantic.com\/entertainment\/\u2026\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/entertainment\/archive\/2011\/12\/why-i-am-proudly-strongly-and-happily-in-favor-of-adverbs\/249336\/\" data-ultimate-url=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/entertainment\/archive\/2011\/12\/why-i-am-proudly-strongly-and-happily-in-favor-of-adverbs\/249336\">http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/entertainment\/archive\/2011\/12\/why-i-am-proudly-strongly-and-happily-in-favor-of-adverbs\/249336\/<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#amwriting\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23amwriting\" rel=\"nofollow\">#amwriting<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Need character? &#8216;Daruma&#8217; Japan&#8217;s most pop good luck talisman!\u00a0<a title=\"http:\/\/www.onmarkproductions.com\/html\/daruma.shtml\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/Wpty0vwU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"onmarkproductions.com\/html\/daruma.sh\u2026\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.onmarkproductions.com\/html\/daruma.shtml\" data-ultimate-url=\"http:\/\/www.onmarkproductions.com\/html\/daruma.shtml\">http:\/\/www.onmarkproductions.com\/html\/daruma.shtml<\/a>\u00a0also netsuke\u00a0<a title=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?bih=1068&amp;biw=1044&amp;client=safari&amp;ei=sqvHTsKDBsqCtgfg7IGRDA&amp;hl=en&amp;prmd=imvnsbl&amp;q=netsuke&amp;rls=en&amp;sa=X&amp;source=univ&amp;tbm=isch&amp;tbo=u&amp;ved=0CGQQsAQ\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/KFVt6lfy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-display-url=\"google.com\/search?q=netsu\u2026\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=netsuke&amp;hl=en&amp;client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;prmd=imvnsbl&amp;tbm=isch&amp;tbo=u&amp;source=univ&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=sqvHTsKDBsqCtgfg7IGRDA&amp;ved=0CGQQsAQ&amp;biw=1044&amp;bih=1068\" data-ultimate-url=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?bih=1068&amp;biw=1044&amp;client=safari&amp;ei=sqvHTsKDBsqCtgfg7IGRDA&amp;hl=en&amp;prmd=imvnsbl&amp;q=netsuke&amp;rls=en&amp;sa=X&amp;source=univ&amp;tbm=isch&amp;tbo=u&amp;ved=0CGQQsAQ\">http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=netsuke&amp;hl=en&amp;client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;prmd=imvnsbl&amp;tbm=isch&amp;tbo=u&amp;source=univ&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=sqvHTsKDBsqCtgfg7IGRDA&amp;ved=0CGQQsAQ&amp;biw=1044&amp;bih=1068<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#amwriting\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23amwriting\" rel=\"nofollow\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1;\">Souls desperate broken&amp;thankful n ways we may never experience write directly to God: read hospital chapel prayer books\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1;\" title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1;\">\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1;\" title=\"#NaNoWriMo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23NaNoWriMo\" rel=\"nofollow\">#NaNoWriMo<\/a><\/div>\n<p>For writing\/researching a historical adventure this is a wiki page worth bookmark<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Trade_route\">http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Trade_route\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#NaNoWriMo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23NaNoWriMo\" rel=\"nofollow\">#NaNoWriMo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Need a\u00a0<a title=\"#NaNoWriMo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23NaNoWriMo\" rel=\"nofollow\">#NaNoWriMo<\/a>\u00a0research folder accessible anywhere? Consider making a FB page for your project (also &#8216;useful&#8217; procrastination)\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Beware of\u00a0@celtx\u00a0&#8212; there&#8217;s no auto-recovery (like Word). Lose power and the most you will have auto-saved is five minutes past.\u00a0<a title=\"#NaNoWriMo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23NaNoWriMo\" rel=\"nofollow\">#NaNoWriMo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;25 Things U Should Know About\u00a0<a title=\"#NaNoWriMo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23NaNoWriMo\" rel=\"nofollow\">#NaNoWriMo<\/a>\u00a0&#8220;&#8230;the zero draft&#8230;wordmonkees&#8230;&#8221;Don\u2019t stop on November 30th&#8221;<a href=\"http:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/2011\/10\/04\/25-things-you-should-know-about-nanowrimo\/\">http:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/2011\/10\/04\/25-things-you-should-know-about-nanowrimo\/<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/A_robots_sun\">@A_robots_sun<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you are\u00a0<a title=\"#NaNoWriMo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23NaNoWriMo\" rel=\"nofollow\">#NaNoWriMo<\/a>&#8216;ing check out\u00a0@Elumir&#8217;sNaNoToons\u00a0Page on Facebook : )<a href=\"http:\/\/on.fb.me\/vtA55b\">http:\/\/on.fb.me\/vtA55b<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Children\u2019s Authors Who Broke Rules&#8221; Sendak Silverstein Geisel<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/09\/18\/books\/review\/the-childrens-authors-who-broke-the-rules.html\">http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/09\/18\/books\/review\/the-childrens-authors-who-broke-the-rules.html<\/a>#scbwi\u00a0<a title=\"#NaNoWriMo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23NaNoWriMo\" rel=\"nofollow\">#NaNoWriMo<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0#kidlitchat #illustration<\/p>\n<p>40 minute Iain McCaig interview &#8220;The Art of Visual Storytelling&#8221;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qNu4xzHTP60\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qNu4xzHTP60\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#NaNoWriMo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23NaNoWriMo\" rel=\"nofollow\">#NaNoWriMo<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For a #SciFi\u00a0<a title=\"#NaNoWriMo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23NaNoWriMo\" rel=\"nofollow\">#NaNoWriMo<\/a>\u00a0consider supporting &#8216;Mars to Stay&#8217; in a background subplot or context<a href=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/MarsToStay\">http:\/\/Facebook.com\/MarsToStay<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Abandoned Newborn Infants program (worth promotion) could inspire your rewrites of classic stories<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/09\/30\/us\/10-years-of-hope-trying-to-save-abandoned-newborns.html?hp\">http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/09\/30\/us\/10-years-of-hope-trying-to-save-abandoned-newborns.html?hp\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#NaNoWriMo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23NaNoWriMo\" rel=\"nofollow\">#NaNoWriMo<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#Writetip\u00a0Great Recession will b cultural event like Vietnam1960s get ahead of it. Character traits frugal hardworking innovative hustle4$ok<\/p>\n<p>Consider creating a bookmark to learn new random word via this url\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/wordsmith.org\/words\/random.cgi\">http:\/\/wordsmith.org\/words\/random.cgi\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Consider creating a bookmark to open random\u00a0#wikipedia\u00a0page using this url<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Special:Random\">http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Special:Random<\/a>\u00a0#writetip\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur choices show what we are, more than our abilities\u201d Rowling\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/ocC2N5\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/ocC2N5<\/a>\u00a0Likewise for characters &amp; stories\u00a0#writetip\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a><\/p>\n<p>RT\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/AdviceToWriters\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"AdviceToWriters\">@AdviceToWriters<\/a>\u00a0&#8220;Go out and see something of life&#8230;&#8221;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/F3ClFJv\">http:\/\/t.co\/F3ClFJv<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0#writing #writetip<\/p>\n<p>Very helpful RT\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/AdviceToWriters\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"AdviceToWriters\">@AdviceToWriters<\/a>\u00a0&lt;- Highly Recommend #FF &#8220;10 Writing Mistakes&#8221;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/ejdCDk\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/ejdCDk<\/a>#writing #writetip\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a><\/p>\n<p>1 decent\u00a0#poem in your Inbox each day = thousands in a couple years<a href=\"http:\/\/www.poets.org\/poemADay.php\">http:\/\/www.poets.org\/poemADay.php<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>AMEN RT\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/AdviceToWriters\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"AdviceToWriters\">@AdviceToWriters<\/a>\u00a0&#8220;You can\u2019t learn to write in college&#8221;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.advicetowriters.com\/\">http:\/\/www.advicetowriters.com\/<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0#writing\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a>\u00a0might as well study science<\/p>\n<p>Thought-provoking YT channels for listening while you draw\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/smartyoutube\">http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/smartyoutube<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Gasp! Google Earth &amp; GPS as used by historians, authors, artists, &amp; archeologists\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/07\/27\/arts\/geographic-information-systems-help-scholars-see-history.html?_r=1&amp;hp\">http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/07\/27\/arts\/geographic-information-systems-help-scholars-see-history.html?_r=1&amp;hp<\/a>\u00a0#FactualFiction\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>RT\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/AdviceToWriters\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"AdviceToWriters\">@AdviceToWriters<\/a>\u00a0Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life. LAWRENCE KASDAN<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0#writing\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>RT\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/AdviceToWriters\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"AdviceToWriters\">@AdviceToWriters<\/a>\u00a0If it pleases you and you can write at all, it&#8217;s gonna please somebody else. CHARLAINE HARRIS<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0#writing\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Try to write among humans not sterile office\/Starbucks: Walmart &amp; hospital cafeterias dog runs trains\/buses park\/beach\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>One of my favorite consistently inspiring sites\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/badassoftheweek.com\/\">http:\/\/badassoftheweek.com<\/a>\u00a0#film\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a>\u00a0#art<\/p>\n<p>RT\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/AdviceToWriters\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"AdviceToWriters\">@AdviceToWriters<\/a>\u00a0The easiest thing to do on earth is not write. WILLIAM GOLDMAN\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a>#writing\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>3days ago I literally was trying 2figure out how 2bug a church&#8217;s confessional, really, not kidding&#8230;thankfuly\u00a0@SecretTweet\u00a0is mor efficient<\/p>\n<p>When readng\u00a0@secrettweet\u00a0keep n mind what Freud said, &#8220;If men knew how women thought, they would be ten times more bold!&#8221; Live who U R! B U!<\/p>\n<p>RT\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/AdviceToWriters\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"AdviceToWriters\">@AdviceToWriters<\/a>\u00a0There is no such thing as a good script. JOHN FORD\u00a0#screenwriting\u00a0<a title=\"#Writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23Writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#Writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Oh no, no. I&#8217;m going 2waste DAYS reading\u00a0@secrettweet\u00a0even if most is petty boring &amp;lame I LOVE honesty. Actualy som great material&amp;dialogue<\/p>\n<p>RT\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/AdviceToWriters\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"AdviceToWriters\">@AdviceToWriters<\/a>\u00a0If you want to work on your #art, work on your life. ANTON CHEKHOV<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0#literature #writing\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery\u201d is the most useless word in the English language and can always come out. FLORENCE KING<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search\/amwriting\">#amwriting<\/a>\u00a0#writing\u00a0<a title=\"#writetip\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/search?q=%23writetip\" rel=\"nofollow\">#writetip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>RT\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/AdviceToWriters\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"AdviceToWriters\">@AdviceToWriters<\/a>\u00a0Writing well means never having to say, \u201cI guess you had to be there.\u201d JEF MALLETT<\/p>\n<p>Great story about the power &amp; duties of your imagination shared by poet Wendell Berry<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/hiCclS\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/hiCclS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you need heroic dialogue or pov:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/thelede.blogs.nytimes.com\/2011\/02\/08\/subtitled-video-of-wael-ghonims-emotional-tv-interview\/?hp\">http:\/\/thelede.blogs.nytimes.com\/2011\/02\/08\/subtitled-video-of-wael-ghonims-emotional-tv-interview\/?hp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Heroic Imagination\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blog.ted.com\/2011\/02\/03\/phil-zimbardo-and-the-heroic-imagination-project-ted-blog-exclusive-video\/\">http:\/\/blog.ted.com\/2011\/02\/03\/phil-zimbardo-and-the-heroic-imagination-project-ted-blog-exclusive-video\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Tahrir Protesters Singing w\/Guitar (English Transcript) Enjoy!\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=gPhj5XnPjaU\">http:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=gPhj5XnPjaU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Girls already know they can be the main pirates; it&#8217;s the boys who aren&#8217;t getting the message.&#8221; &#8212;<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/hnTTS7\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/hnTTS7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re on a Mac go to Apple Icon &gt; Software Update to install OS update, new Mac Apps store opened today&#8230;Evernote = free, recommend<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Next Year&#8217;s Wars&#8221; 16 conflict zones for reflection and work\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.foreignpolicy.com\/articles\/2010\/12\/28\/next_years_wars?page=full\">http:\/\/www.foreignpolicy.com\/articles\/2010\/12\/28\/next_years_wars?page=full<\/a><\/p>\n<p>20,000 women and children have fled Ivory Coast (&#8230;microcosm of tribal politics worldwide)\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-africa-12091738\">http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-africa-12091738<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Tangled Directors Q&amp;A &#8211; Flynn&#8217;s Character dev &#8220;he&#8217;s very handsome&#8221; So he looks exactly like you two? LOL\u00a0#diversity\u00a0plz\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/aSoeRd\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/aSoeRd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>RT\u00a0@openculture\u00a0In case you missed it: iTunes U introduces free eBooks. Start by downloading the complete works of Shakespeare:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cultr.me\/aKBsbV\">http:\/\/cultr.me\/aKBsbV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Men nervous about her erotic intensity could feel superior by making fun of her intellectually&#8221; \u263c \u263c EXTRAORDINARY \u263c \u263c\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nyti.ms\/92C7Qz\">http:\/\/nyti.ms\/92C7Qz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>RT\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/lawnrocket\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-screen-name=\"lawnrocket\">@lawnrocket<\/a>\u00a0I assure you, when a girl sees a movie directed by or about a woman, she cares and notices.<\/p>\n<p>RT\u00a0@dosomething\u00a025,000 child brides a day is unacceptable. Follow\u00a0@girlup @zainabsalbi\u00a0and visit\u00a0www.girlup.org www.womenforwomen.org<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy,\u201d she cried, \u201care we getting more girls in the family?\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nyti.ms\/99JI4X\">http:\/\/nyti.ms\/99JI4X<\/a>\u00a0\u201cNothing in me feels like a girl\u201d like Shakespeare story<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arkangel Shakespeare,\u00a0a multimillion dollar production five years in the making using 350+ actors. \u00a0Eventually the copyright for this project will be released &#8212; in the meantime check public libraries. Unorthodox Research Methods: YouTube is invaluable for idiomatic dialogue, gleaning unique terminology from farmers to astronauts&#8230;also useful for finding musical instruments, songs, etc., from the region\/language\/time [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-219","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/219"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":458,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/219\/revisions\/458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/lighthouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}