Advice Quotes

Storytelling is in our DNA. It's what differentiates humans from other species: we don't just communicate information. We tell stories.

Write at the edges of the day.

Authorpreneurship is the businesses side of writing

If you wanna be a writer, you must learn to paint a picture with words.

Keep trying, especially at first. It can be very discouraging if your submissions keep being rejected by a publisher, but if your work is what people want to read, you should get there eventually!

The unwritten novel has a basilisk’s stare.

There's no such thing as the middle of nowhere. Something is happening everywhere. You just have to find the story in it.

Let your emotions guide your hand to the paper and watch how your sorrows can turn into beauty. For tears relieve your body but writing relieves your heart.

Don’t write like your mentors

There's no rule for better writing. It's best to make your own rules, and see what works best for you.

I thought you could beat, pummel, and thrash an idea into existence. Under such treatment, of course, any decent idea folds up its paws, turns on its back, fixes its eyes on eternity, and dies.

A clever trick does not a concept make.

Remember: Bad timing equals great plot twists.

Rule #1: Writing is for the creative brain. Editing is for the critical brain. Separate them appropriately.

Act one: put your characters in a tree. Act two: throw rocks at them. Act three: get them down again.

I usually end have one outrageous minor character. He or she says the stuff I wish I had said in real life. Readers will love that character.

I was always taught to write the book you want to read. It's a philosophy I haven't wavered from since.

If you can't give the is-ness of a thing give the not-ness of it! The main thing is to hook up, get the wheels turning, sound off. When your brakes jam, try going in reverse. If often works.

Cutting words can cut your readers but if the intention is pure, the story will resonate loud and true.

Ultimately, then, creativity and originality lie not in the avoidance of established forms but in the imaginative use of them.

Writers need to be open to trying new things. My first bestseller was a cookbook, and from that experience I learned things about marketing a book that benefitted me greatly.

Don't have every dialog go in a straight line to solve the problem. Let your characters argue, be sarcastic, disagree or joke around.

Read. Write. Read some more. Explore the universe through your writing. Practice and learn what moves you and what doesn't.

WHILE writing, just try to have fun with your ms. Enjoy the process, but push on. Always push toward the finish line!

I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear>

Writing is a solitary endeavor, being an author is not.

Any time a beloved character is killed off, it affects the audience in a very powerful way, especially in a series.

I've been rejected a hundred times. It just takes that one person who totally believes in you!

I think the first draft is so challenging because that elusive BALANCE is so challenging.

Not knowing stuff - like how your story ends before you start writing - is the seed of a lot of writer’s block.

The more time you can put between you and your manuscript, the more fresh your eyes become and the more mistakes you’ll catch.

What I can tell you is DO IT. Publish book one and get book two out as soon as possible. There are very few Harper Lee’s. Most of us are going to have to write a few books to get good at it.

Screw the beaten path! Do your thing. Write the best story you can. the rest will fall into place.

ALWAYS hook a reader. If a detail is unnecessary, it doesn't belong in your work, long or short! Make everything intriguing. If you have to describe a desk, make it awesome.

Let your eyes be the camera and your imagination be the set.

Whenever I write I always transport myself into the story to get a better glimpse to what I am capturing.

A love of writing is far greater than any word count.

I learn from everything I do, right and wrong. I think it helps me grow as a writer and a person.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. A finished manuscript is AWESOME! So go, go, go! *waves pompoms*

Writer's Block: making authors miserable since the Stone Age.

You are an author! You will be a published author. Take pride in that, and present only your best work. Then, continue to improve, so your best gets even better.

Writing is like knitting. Stitch after stitch, word by word, and before you know it you have a book ... or a jumper!

Any advice for how to be a successful author?""Yes. Don't be a woman. And be dead. And do both at the same time, if you can.

Graft at your craft!

How to write a book? Start writing, continue writing and finish writing.

Our lives make awesome stories, especially if you don't get too attached to the thread of your own narrative.

If you have nothing good to say about someone, write a book about them. - Carmen Fox, Life Motto

Tighten your prose so the story flows.

The shock of recognition is a moment of excitement that shakes the soul. It may be hard to describe, but like other forms of love, you will know it when you feel it

Park your ego and listen to your readers. They can be your best friend or your worst enemy. But chances are you'll learn something from them.