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Quotes tagged “Writing Advice”

“Writing has NEVER flowed for me. Not once, not a word, not ever. I have dragged every book I’ve written, kicking and screaming, into existence.”
— Myke Cole, via twitter.com
Tagged: Writing, Writing Advice, Writer's Truth, Motivational
“We had a question this morning: How do you come up with names for characters and places in Science Fiction and Fantasy? Easy. STEAL 'EM.

Kidding. You can't have Mr. Spuck go to Chogwarts. But you can take inspiration. Start by considering names that stuck with you. Why?

Luke Skywalker = Timeless Biblical name + portmanteau of something space-y. There's a rhythm, a grandness to it. Sounds like destiny.

Han Solo = Short, sweet, like a punch. Solo = alone-- he's a rugged loner. Han = close enough to familiar words to sound like a name.

They key here is that things are close enough to words/names we know to seem reasonable and be memorable. Your mouth can make the sounds.

Start with a base and get creative. I used Old Norse in Phasma. Some Fantasy uses Latin or Old English. What's the flavor of your world?

I've heard Pat Rothfuss talk about names and mouthfeel. Skyzzyx souds evil and spiderlike, while Alverdale sounds grand, elven.

So you can pick a base, a sound, a vowel you like and riff on it when you're alone. Say it out loud. How does it feel when you say it?

"Evil" sounds: s, k, v, ee, anything with 'mort' in it Grand things often have more syllables, long vowels Rough things are short, abrupt

Other great sources for names to steal/riff on: Old tombstones, old phonebooks, old maps, Behind the Name, the SSA census list online.

Caveat: If you're blatantly borrowing from a different culture than your own, be super careful and do your research.

The key is saying the name. Tasting it. Cadence is important. Your reader's going to see that name 600+ times. It should be tasty.

1-1: Dirk Pitt 1-2: Han Solo 1-3: Luke Skywalker 2-2: Sookie Stackhouse 3-1: Criminy Stain 4-2: Hermione Granger. It should feel right.


Especially unusual but still approachable names *really* grab us. 7 of 9? Jayne? Eleven? Blade? Character must live up to that promise.

Time for my personal pet peeve: Introducing a protagonist as Katherine "Kat" Smith. No one does that in real life. She's just Kat.

Naming is super fun, but don't let it slow you down. You could daydream a perfect name... or write 2000 words. Guess which one matters?

I'll often just slap Tom or Mary name in while first drafting, and at the end, I know the right name. I do a Find & Replace. Boom. Done.

Trust your instincts with names. If one pops into your head, don't spend 3 days mulling it. Just start writing. Perfect doesn't exist.

Planet names are funny, though. 'Earth' sounds like a dying groan. Consider: Was the planet named by outsiders or natives? Why?

The main thing about names is that you don't let them slow you down. The character makes people love the name, not the other way around.

As a new writer, I thought a name could make or break a protagonist/story. Nope. It's just another aspect of worldbuilding.”
— Delilah S. Dawson, via twitter.com
Tagged: Writing, Writing Tips, naming characters, Writing Advice
“For me, I want to query a finished book--not end on a cliffhanger, assuming they'll pick up a series. So I would make build a rich world with places to explore and plenty of characters but definitely end the book in a satisfying way. If it sells, you can switch up the ending.”
— Delilah S. Dawson, via twitter.com
Tagged: Writing, Writing Advice, story endings, ending a book, ending a novel
“If your writing is compelling from page 1, NO ONE CARES WHAT THE TITLE IS. Titles can change. No one rejects an amazing book because the title is bad.”
— Delilah S. Dawson, via twitter.com
Tagged: Writing, Writing Advice, finding an agent, publishing a book
“I don't edit a thing until I have a finished first draft. That way lies madness, or at least the opportunity to fall into a pit of hot garbage that will remind me how much I suck and convince me I forgot how to write. Finish the first draft. fix it later.”
— Delilah S. Dawson, via twitter.com
Tagged: Writing, Writing Advice, just write, Writing A Book
“1. Here's the question: How do you get more comfortable with descriptive writing? And I'll add: Without verging into purple prose or an info dump. This ties in with worldbuilding, which is one of my favorite things.

2. So. Worldbuilding starts on page 1. The words you use, the things you point out, the rhythm of your words: They all harmonize to paint the background setting for your story. The book/genre should suggest the appropriate tone and voice. What does that mean?

3. Epic Fantasy: The chaka trees creaked in the gale-force winds, driving the black dragons into the crystalline caves where they growled warnings to their eggs. Urban Fantasy: Oily rain pattered the cracked asphalt and reflected the flickering neon of the late night pizza dive.

4. Each thing you choose to point out should be unique to your world and story. Each adjective is carefully chosen for voice and genre. These details don't always happen in the first draft. In the first draft, just get it on the page. Make it beautiful and specific later.

5. Mind you, the descriptive language we see on the page will depend on the POV you've chosen. You can get away with a lot more if it's in first person and voicey. But then, of course, you've got to watch out for pages of "I'm the kind of guy who" and "let me describe my life."

6. There is no formula for "the right amount" of descriptive language. It works or it doesn't. If you reread it and start skipping lines to get to character/dialogue, you need to cut stuff. If you read it and have trouble picturing the scene, you need to add stuff. Find balance.

7. Writing descriptively is a skill. Time on task. Consider all the senses, not just visual. What sounds, smells are there? What's the temperature? Can your character taste the petrichor or market spices? How does all this sensory input make them feel? Oppressed? Comforted?

8. One thing that helped me with descriptive language was joining a writing group where we did timed exercises. Had to quickly settle on a scene and get it on the page. I learned to give flavor immediately, using cultural shorthand and expressive vocabulary in small vignettes.

9. Another thing that helped was my use of playlists for story development, which you can read about here: http://www.whimsydark.com/blog/2016/5/17/how-and-why-to-make-a-book-playlist … The playlist keeps the flavor of the book on my tongue. It makes me see things, imagine a more lush background.

10. When writing 1st person description, consider what this person would notice that others wouldn't. How does their unique background and situation impact what would draw their attention? How would they describe something in a way no one else could? Which senses would dominate?

11. Descriptive language is all about flavor. Condense it down to syrup. For me: Wicked as They Come = sweet red wine, green vines, mist Servants of the Storm = oppressive ozone, rusty metal, swamp Wake of Vultures = dry desert, orange buttes, dun horses

12. When you're using descriptive language, you're not describing exactly what is seen. You're using a unique combination of visuals, adjectives, other senses, and character input to create a mood. No one cares how many chairs there are; we want to feel the splintered wood.”
— Delilah S. Dawson, via twitter.com
Tagged: Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Tips, descriptive language, descriptive writing
“‘Write about what you know’ is the most stupid thing I’ve heard. It encourages people to write a dull autobiography. It’s the reverse of firing the imagination and potential of writers.”
— Kazuo Ishiguro, BOOKS Kazuo Ishiguro Talks Zuckerberg, Game Of Thrones And His New Novel
Tagged: Writing Advice
“When in doubt, write. To celebrate, write. As a balm, write. When you mess up, write. To escape, write. When the world burns, write.”
— Quiara Alegría Hudes, via twitter.com
Tagged: Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Tips, Writer Advice, Writing and Expression
“...writing is difficult...”
— Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet(Penguin Classics)
Tagged: Writing, Writing Advice, Writer Secrets, Being A Writer
“Think...of the world that you carry within you, and call this thinking whatever you like. Whether it is memory of your own childhood or longing for your own future - just be attentive towards what rises up inside you, and place it above everything that you notice round about.”
— Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet(Penguin Classics)
Tagged: Writing, Writing Advice, writing and thinking, Thinking
“(But then that is one of the severest test of an artist: he must always remain innocent and unconscious of his greatest virtues if he is to avoid depriving them of their uninhibitedness and purity.)...In spite of all this take deep pleasure in what is great about his work and must just make sure not to lose oneself to it and become an acolyte of this Dehmel-world...”
— Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet(Penguin Classics)
Tagged: Artist, artistic advice, writer, Writing Advice, Inspirational
“Attempt to raise the sunken sensations of this distant past; your self will become the stronger for it, your loneliness will open up and become a twilit dwelling in which the noise other people make is only heard far off. And if from this turn inwards, from this submersion in your own world, there come verses, then it will not occur to you to ask anyone whether they are good verses. Nor will you attempt to interest magazines in these bits of work: for in them you will see your beloved natural possessions, a piece, and a voice, of your life.”
— Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet(Penguin Classics)
Tagged: Writing, Writing Poetry, Writing Advice, Writing and Expression, Poetry, Poetry Advice, poetry of your life, Art & Expression, Life, Self-Reliance, Self Confidence, Self-Trust
“If your everyday life seems to lack material, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to summon up its riches, for there is no lack for him who creates and no poor, trivial place.”
— Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet(Penguin Classics)
Tagged: Writing, Writing Advice, Poetry, Poetry Advice, finding inspirations, Creativity, Life
“I hope when people ask what you’re going to do with your English degree and/or creative writing degree you’ll say: ‘Continue my bookish examination of the contradictions and complexities of human motivation and desire;’ or maybe just: ‘Carry it with me, as I do everything that matters.’ And then smile very serenely until they say, ‘Oh.’”
— Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
Tagged: Bookworm, Artist, writer, Creative, Humanities vs. Science, Art, Writing Advice, Writing Tips
“...admit to yourself whether you would die if it should be denied you to write. This above all: ask yourself in your night's quietest hour: must I write?”
— Rainer Maria Rilke, Letter to a Young Poet
Tagged: Writing, Writing Advice, Writing as an Expression, Writing and Expression, Writing As A Career
“Write like a lover. Write like you’re leaving yourself for another.”
— Bruce Smith, Devotions
Tagged: Writing, write, Writing Advice, Writer Advice
“Write relentlessly, until you find your voice. Then, use it.”
— David Sedaris, Writer’s Digest, October 2013, Volume 93, No. 7
Tagged: Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Tips
“I have advice for people who want to write. I don’t care whether they’re 5 or 500. There are three things that are important: First, if you want to write, you need to keep an honest, unpublishable journal that nobody reads, nobody but you. Where you just put down what you think about life, what you think about things, what you think is fair and what you think is unfair. And second, you need to read. You can’t be a writer if you’re not a reader. It’s the great writers who teach us how to write. The third thing is to write. Just write a little bit every day. Even if it’s for only half an hour — write, write, write.”
— Madeleine L’Engle
Tagged: Advice, Reading, Writing, Writing Advice, Journal
“The best writing is certainly when you are in love.”
— Ernest Hemingway, Conversations with Ernest Hemingway(Literary Conversations Series)
Tagged: Writing Advice, inspiration, love quotes
“That’s all we have, finally, the words, and they had better be the right ones.”
— Raymond Carver, A Storyteller's Shoptalk
Tagged: Words, Right words, Writing, Writing Advice, Writing and Expression, Writing As A Career, Literature

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This page was created by our editorial team. Each page is manually curated, researched, collected, and issued by our staff writers. Quotes contained on this page have been double checked for their citations, their accuracy and the impact it will have on our readers.

Kelly Peacock is an accomplished poet and social media expert based in Brooklyn, New York. Kelly has a Bachelor's degree in creative writing from Farieligh Dickinson University and has contributed to many literary and cultural publications. Kelly assists on a wide variety of quote inputting and social media functions for Quote Catalog. Visit her personal website here.

Kendra Syrdal is a writer, editor, partner, and senior publisher for The Thought & Expression Company. Over the last few years she has been personally responsible for writing, editing, and producing over 30+ million pageviews on Thought Catalog.