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Chuck Wendig Quotes

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Famous Chuck Wendig Quotes

“Again, Benji was reminded of the girl’s absurd bravery. She had nothing to gain here. The man, Clade Berman, was nowhere near her own sister. He presented no danger to anyone but his own family. That marked her as someone who had a lot of untapped courage - there was that word again, echoing the conversation with Arav - or someone who cared little for herself or her own life. (He wondered idly, How often do those two things intertwine?)”

CourageBraveryHeroismSelf Sacrifice
Book:Wanderers
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“Failure. Never before has a thing gotten such a bad rap as failure. And why wouldn't it? It's failure. In a video game, failure means to fucking die, to drop into a pit of lava while the princess remains unsaved (oh, sexist video games, when will the lady plumber save the prince instead of the other way around?). You fail a class and it's like -- *poop noise* -- you failed, you're held back, time is wasted, money is lost, you suck, you stupid person. Hell with that. Failure is brilliant. Failure is how we learn. Every great success and every kick-ass creator is the product of a hundred failures, a thousand, some epic-big, some micro-tiny. We learn the right moves by taking the wrong turns. Failure should not drag you into the pits of personal despair but rather leave you empowered. Failure is an instructional manual written in scar tissue.”

Failure
Book:500 Ways to Write Harder
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“Here are the two states in which you may exist: person who writes, or person who does not. If you write: you are a writer. If you do not write: you are not. Aspiring is a meaningless null state that romanticizes Not Writing. It’s as ludicrous as saying, “I aspire to pick up that piece of paper that fell on the floor.” Either pick it up or don’t. I don’t want to hear about how your diaper’s full. Take it off or stop talking about it.”

HumorAdviceAspiring Writers
Author:Chuck Wendig
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“ALL ARE WELCOME. (NO FIGHTING.) That rule is simple on the surface, but not easy in the execution, because Maz Kanata's castle has been a meeting place since time immemorial-- a nexus point drawing together countless lines of allegiance and opposition, a place not only where friend and foe can meet, but where complex conflicts are worn down flat so that all may sit, have a drink and a meal, listen to a song, and broker whatever deals their hearts or politics require. That's why the flags outside her castle represent hundreds of cities and civilizations and guilds from before forever. The galaxy is not now, nor has it ever been, two polar forces battling for supremacy. It has been thousands of forces: a tug-of-war not with as ingle rope but a spider's web of influence, dominance, and desire. Clans and cults, tribes and families, governments and anti-governments. Queens, satraps, warlords! Diplomats, buccaneers, droids! Slicers, spicers, ramblers, and gamblers! To repeat: ALL ARE WELCOME. (NO FIGHTING.)”

Maz Kanata
Book:Life Debt
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“Characters exist in a flat line until we challenge them - sometimes they challenge themselves, sometimes they're challenged by other people, by nature, by robots, or by fungal infections in and around one's nether-country. Stories need conflict across the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual spectra. Accidents, betrayals, cataclysm, desperation, excess - these are the letters in the alphabet of conflict.”

PeopleNeedsWritingCountrySometimesCharacterStoriesSpiritualChallengesLinesEmotionalConflictIntellectualLettersBetrayalAccidentsFlatsExcessDesperationRobotsAlphabetInfection
Author:Chuck Wendig
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“You've got all these characters and yet, you're hovering over one character like a fly over a stinky diaper. Realize that you've got a kickass superpower: you can possess and take-over anybody inside the story. With the power of Point-of-View, you can drag us along for the ride. You can shove us into their eyes, their minds, you can force us to piggyback on their experiences past and present. Sometimes untangling a knotted-up tale means looking at it from different eyes: what better eyes than those of the other characters inside the story?”

WritingMindMeanDifferentSometimesCharacterStoriesEyePastForceRealizingViewsPoint Of ViewTalesDragSuperpowerPast And PresentDiapersHoveringAlong For The RideStinkyKickass
Author:Chuck Wendig
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“When in doubt, the rule of threes is a rule that plays well with all of storytelling. When describing a thing? No more than three details. A character's arc? Three beats. A story? Three acts. An act? Three sequences. A plot point culminating in a mystery of a twist? At least three mentions throughout the tale. This is an old rule, and a good one. It's not universal - but it's a good place to start.”

WritingWellsPlayCharacterStoriesThreeDoubtMysteryBeatsUniversalDetailsTalesStorytellingPlotTwistsSequenceDescribingArcsGood PlaceWhen In Doubt
Author:Chuck Wendig
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“Read your work out loud. Don't give me that look. Read your work aloud. Don't argue. Don't fight. It will help. I promise. I promise. I guarantee it. If you find it didn't help you, lemme know. I will let you Taser me in the face. And by "me," I mean, some other guy who will be my stand-in. Probably some real estate agent or tollbooth attendant.”

IfsKnowsGivingWritingLooksMeanRealHelpingFacesGuyFightingPromiseGive MeWork OutArguingAgentsLoudGuaranteesEstatesI PromiseOther GuysEstate AgentsTasers
Author:Chuck Wendig
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“Storytelling is an act of cruelty. We are cruel to our characters because to be kind is to invite boredom, and boredom in storytelling is synonymous with big doomy death-shaped death. So: be cruel to your protagonist. Rob him of something. Something important. Something he needs. A weapon. An asset. A piece of knowledge. A loved one. A DELICIOUS PIE. Take it away! Force him to operate without it. Conflict reinvigorates stale stories. New conflict, or old conflict that has evolved and grown teeth.”

NeedsWritingKindImportantCharacterStoriesBigsForcePiecesConflictWeaponsTeethStorytellingCrueltyBoredomBe KindAssetsInvitesLoved OnesPieDeliciousStaleProtagonists
Author:Chuck Wendig
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“The easiest way to separate yourself from the unformed blobby mass of "aspiring" writers is to a) actually write and b) actually finish. That's how easy it is to clamber up the ladder to the second echelon. Write. And finish what you write. That's how you break away from the pack and leave the rest of the sickly herd for the hungry wolves of shame and self-doubt. And for all I know, actual wolves.”

KnowsWayWritingSelfEasyBreakDoubtMassShameHungryPacksLaddersHerdsSelf-doubtAspiring Writers
Author:Chuck Wendig
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“Question the Chestnuts. Chestnuts: the new name for boobs? No. NO. Why would you even say that? Get your mind out of the gutter. No, by "chestnuts" I mean, "those old pieces of writing advice that you hear as common refrain." 'Write what you know.' 'Adverbs give Baby Jesus hemorrhoids.' 'If you write a prologue, an orphan loses his sight.' All the "old saws" need to be put on the chopping block.”

IfsKnowsNeedsGivingWritingMindMeanJesusNamesLosesCommonSawsPiecesAdviceBabySightBlockWriting AdviceOrphanRefrainGuttersChoppingChestnutsAdverbsPrologueBaby JesusHemorrhoids
Author:Chuck Wendig
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“Let someone else take a crack at [your story]. Sometimes, even after time has passed, we're just too close to the thing. You don't want to kill your darlings or, maybe it's the opposite: you just want to kill all of it with cleansing fire. Let someone else confirm or veto your feelings. They'll also bring new questions and complexities to the table, too.”

WantWritingSometimesStoriesFeelingsFireOppositesTablesComplexityCracksDarlingCleansingVeto
Author:Chuck Wendig
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“Nobody becomes a writer overnight. Well, I'm sure somebody did, but that person's head probably went all asplodey from paroxysms of joy, fear, paranoia, guilt and uncertainty. Celebrities can be born overnight. Writer's can't. Writers are made - forged, really, in a kiln of their own madness and insecurities - over the course of many, many moons. The writer you are when you begin is not the same writer you become.”

WritingWellsPersonsMadeJoyCoursesBornMoonMadnessGuiltUncertaintyInsecurityParanoiaForged
Author:Chuck Wendig
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“Writing is the act of creation. Put words on page. Words to sentences, sentences to paragraphs, paragraphs to 7-book epic fantasy cycles with books so heavy you could choke a hippo. But don't give writing too much power, either. A wizard controls his magic; it doesn't control him. Push aside lofty notions and embrace the workmanlike aesthetic. Hammers above magic wands; nails above eye-of-newt. The magic will return when you're done. The magic is what you did, not what you're doing.”

GivingWritingBookDoneEyeFantasyToo MuchMagicCreationReturnPagesEmbraceNotionHeavySentencesCyclesAestheticNailsEpicHammersWizardsChokeLoftyParagraphWandsNewtsHippoMagic WandsToo Much Power
Author:Chuck Wendig
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“In my mind, only one inviolable precept exists in terms of being a successful writer: you have to write. The unspoken sub-laws of that one precept are: to write, you must start writing and then finish writing. And then, most likely, start writing all over again because this writing "thing" is one long and endless ride on a really weird (but pretty awesome) carousel. Cue the calliope music.”

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Author:Chuck Wendig
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“The story goes that every Jedi constructs his own lightsaber, and every penmonkey constructs his own pen. Meaning, we all find our own way through this crazy tangle of possibility. This isn't an art, a craft, a career, or an obsession that comes with easy answers and isn't given over to bullshit dichotomies. We do what we do in the way we do it and hope it's right. Read advice. Weigh it in your hand and determine its value. But at the end of the day - and at the start of it - what you should be doing is writing. Because thinking about writing and talking about writing just plain isn't writing.”

ThinkingWayShouldWritingArtEndsStoriesHandsValuesGivenEasyAnswersTalkingCareersCrazyAdvicePossibilityDetermineObsessionCraftsThe End Of The DayPensBullshitConstructsDichotomyEasy Answers
Author:Chuck Wendig
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