quotations

Shutting Up Instead of Talking

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According to Hersh, “songwriting is about shutting up instead of talking.”

Hersh is Kristin Hersh, a songwriter.

This quote reminds me of the old one about writing being easy, just slit your wrists and bleed over the paper, something like that. Possibly less dramatic and drastic sounding, but with the same meaning.

In the end most communication is about shutting off one thing so the flow of ideas can come from another source.… Read the rest

Liking the Creative Struggle

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creativestruggleI lost track of where I found this. But, I like it.

Typing in the text for those who can’t see it from the image:

Through this mild and harmless struggle, I acquired a hobby. “How agitated I am when I am in the garden, and how happy I am to be so agitated,” Jamaica Kincaid writes in My Garden Book.

… Read the rest

Quotes for Creative People

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Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up – Picasso

You have to love your work or you become alienated from your life – Brad Roberts, Crash Test Dummies

I came across these two quotes this week. I kept them on my desktop and nearly deleted the file without saving it tonight.… Read the rest

MicroBlogging: Short Notes to the World

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Microblogging is a liberating experience. You narrow down your focus to the essentials and leave out all the extra explanations.

When you post for a microblog you jot down, announce and make note. You don’t have to add a lot of context. You can skip an illustration – unless your post is the illustration, in that case you can skip the worlds.

… Read the rest

Quotes for Writers from Seven Steps on the Writer’s Path 2

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They can’t yank a novelist like they can a pitcher. A novelist has to go the full nine, even if it kills him. – Ernest Hemingway
The perfect journey is circular – the joy of departure and the joy of return. – Dino Basili

The medals don’t mean anything and the glory doesn’t last. It’s all about your happiness.… Read the rest

Quotes for Writers from Seven Steps on the Writer’s Path

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The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never scoring. – Bill Copeland

It takes five years to break in and fifteen years to support yourself as a writer. – Sue Grafton

With the power of conviction there is no sacrifice. – Pat Benatar

I wrote for twelve years and collected 250 rejection slips before getting any fiction published, so I guess outside reinforcement isn’t all that important to me.… Read the rest

Science and Technical Writing

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Originally posted to SuiteU, part of Suite101. SuiteU is being removed from the site. I wanted to save the ecourses so this resource would not disappear.

Science & Tech Writing

By Melissa A. Nelson

Introduction

The practice of Scientific and Technical communications has been around for years; however the fields are both considered new fields. While there have been writers writing about the latest scientific discoveries since Aristotle, and technology since before the printing press was invented, the fields were not given these names until just the last few decades.

… Read the rest

Writing Well

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Originally posted to SuiteU, part of Suite101. SuiteU is being removed from the site. I wanted to save the ecourses so this resource would not disappear.

Writing Well

By Katherine Swarts

Introduction

Professional authors hear it on a regular basis: “I could write a book, too, if I had the time.” Obvious implication: writing is easy.

… Read the rest