5 Quotes on Writing

“The only kind of writing is rewriting.”          ~  Ernest Hemingway

“Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters.”   ~ Victor Hugo

“Kill your darlings.”       ~ William Faulkner

(i.e., be willing to cut or delete even your fav lines for the overall good of the writing.  Not easy, but often it’s the answer.

“Describe, don’t label.”  ~ Val Serrano.   This derives from the old famous quote “Show, don’t tell.”  But how to show becomes the question?  And describe is the answer.

Basic example:  She has pretty hair. (label=pretty) vs.  Her long, dark brown hair made her look like a shampoo ad model.  (Not my best writing, but you get the idea).  Here, the fictional character is describing the girl’s hair as he sees it, which also slightly characterizes him.

“The secret of being tiresome is to tell everything.”          ~ Voltaire

Great quote on the concept of knowing what to leave out being as important as knowing what to include in your story.

Author: Valerie Serrano

Valerie Serrano has a master of fine arts degree in creative writing and a bachelor of arts in psychology. Valerie taught English and writing in New York for seven years (1996-2003), and has been teaching creative writing classes online through www.LetsWrite.com and in Santa Rosa, California, where she now resides, since 2012. Her small business is called Let's Write! from which she also offers editing, self-publishing help, and more (such as motivation to good but scared writers). Val loves every minute of it, especially when students have the gumption to take their writing from first (very) rough draft to (self) published. Valerie has self-published her own novel called The Archangel of Hamilton Beach and a children’s picture book, Horses Talk Funny, both available on Amazon and via her blog. Val loves to say: So, Let's Write! View all posts by Valerie Serrano