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Quote by David Foster Wallace

“One paradox of professional writing is that books written solely for money and/or acclaim will almost never be good enough to garner either.”

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David Foster Wallace

American novelist known for his unique literary style and profound insights into modern life. His works include 'Infinite Jest' and 'The Broom of the System'. more

“When I say or write something, there are actually a whole lot of different things I am communicating. The propositional content (i.e., the verbal information I'm trying to convey) is only one part of it. Another part is stuff about me, the communicator. Everyone knows this. It's a function of the fact there are so many different well-formed ways to say the same basic thing, from e.g. "I was attacked by a bear!" to "Goddamn bear tried to kill me!" to "That ursine juggernaut did essay to sup upon my person!" and so on.”

Knows Way Writing Trying Wells Persons Different Whole Facts Stuff Information Bears Function Communicate Different Things Essays Kill Me Communicators Basic Things Juggernaut

Author:David Foster Wallace

“Under fun's new administration, writing fiction becomes a way to go deep inside yourself and illuminate precisely the stuff you don't want to see or let anyone else see, and this stuff usually turns out (paradoxically) to be precisely the stuff all writers and readers share and respond to, feel.”

Way Want Feels Writing Turns Fun Stuff Fiction Share Reader Administration Deep Inside Writing Fiction

Book:Both Flesh And Not

Source: Both Flesh And Not

“Of course, the fact that Dostoevsky can tell a juicy story isn't enough to make him great. If it were, Judith Krantz and John Grisham would be great fiction writers, and by any but the most commercial standards they're not even very good.”

Ifs Writing Enough Facts Stories Would Be Courses Fiction Standards Very Good Good Writing Fiction Writers Juicy

Author:David Foster Wallace

“Some words have to be explicitly uttered, Lenore. Only by actually uttering certain words does one really DO what one SAYS. 'Love' is one of those words, performative words. Some words can literally make things real.”

Writing Doe Real Certain Love Is Lenore

Author:David Foster Wallace

“You have a great deal of yourself on the line, writing- your vanity is at stake. You discover a tricky thing about fiction writing; a certain amount of vanity is necessary to be able to do it all, but any vanity above that certain amount is lethal.”

Writing Able Certain Lines Deals Fiction Amount Vanity Stakes Tricky Fiction Writing

Book:The David Foster Wallace Reader

Source: The David Foster Wallace Reader

“Postmodern irony and cynicism's become an end in itself, a measure of hip sophistication and literary savvy. Few artists dare to try to talk about ways of working toward redeeming what's wrong, because they'll look sentimental and naive to all the weary ironists. Irony's gone from liberating to enslaving. ... The postmodern founders' patricidal work was great, but patricide produces orphans, and no amount of revelry can make up for the fact that writers my age have been literary orphans throughout our formative years.”

“No one can call themselves a writer until he or she has written at least fifty stories.”

Writing Stories Written Fifty

Author:David Foster Wallace

“I AM A PERSON WHO THINKS ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE SPIRIT WHEN I WRITE. I THINK ABOUT WHAT CAN'T BE KNOWN AND ONLY IMAGINED. I OFTEN SENSE A SPIRIT OR FORCE OR MEANING BEYOND MYSELF. I LEAVE IT OPEN AS TO WHAT THE SPIRIT IS, BUT I CONTINUE TO MAKE GUESSES.”

Thinking Writing Persons Spirit Force Known

Author:Amy Tan

“Writing is not hard. Just get paper and pencil, sit down, and write as it occurs to you. The writing is easy-it's the occurring that's hard.”

Writing Hard Easy Paper Down And Pencils Paper And Pencil

Author:Stephen Leacock

Quote by David Foster Wallace

Author

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