Home / Quotes / Quote by William Kittredge

Quote by William Kittredge

“In a story, nothing is real until it is acted upon.”

Author

William Kittredge, born in 1932, is a renowned American writer known for his depiction of rural life in the American West. His works have won numerous literary awards and have had a profound impact on contemporary literature. more

“I find that most people know what a story is until they sit down to write one. Then they find themselves writing a sketch with an essay woven through it, or an essay with a sketch woven through it, or an editorial with a character in it, or a case history with a moral, or some other mongrel thing.”

People Knows Writing Character Stories Moral Cases Essays Woven Editorials

Book:Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose

Source: Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose

“We continually use stories to hold up as mirrors to ourselves.”

Stories Use Mirrors

Author:William Kittredge

“In displaying the psychology of your characters, minute particulars are essential. God save us from vague generalizations! Be sure not to discuss your hero's state of mind. Make it clear from his actions. Nor is it necessary to portray many main characters. Let two people be the center of gravity in your story: he and she.”

People Mind Two States Character Stories Action Clear Psychology Minutes Hero Essentials State Of Mind Gravity Vague Generalization Main Characters Center Of Gravity

Author:Anton Chekhov

“Try to get your characters into interesting trouble. Allow your characters to misbehave. Let them stay out after 11.”

Trying Character Interesting Trouble

Author:Charles Baxter

“Never write about a place until you're away from it, because it gives you perspective. Immediately after you've seen something you can give a photographic description of it and make it accurate. That's good practice, but it isn't creative writing.”

Giving Writing Practice Creative Perspective Description Accurate Creative Writing

Author:Ernest Hemingway

“Rewriting is when writing really gets to be fun. . . . In baseball you only get three swings and you're out. In rewriting, you get almost as many swings as you want and you know, sooner or later, you'll hit the ball.”

Knows Want Writing Three Fun Baseball Balls Swings Sooner Or Later Rewriting

Author:Neil Simon

“When the writing is really working, I think there is something like dreaming going on. I don't know how to draw the line between the conscious management of what you're doing and this state. . . . I would say that it's related to daydreaming. When I feel really engaged with a passage, I become so lost in it that I'm unaware of my real surroundings, totally involved in the pictures and sounds that that passage evokes.”

Thinking Knows Feels Writing Real States Dream Lost Sound Lines Know How Involved Draws Conscious Management Related Engaged Passages Surroundings Daydreaming Evoke

Author:John Hersey

“You can't want to be a writer. You have to be one.”

Want

Author:Paul Theroux

“The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.”

Ifs Truth Evil Fear History Rage Tyranny Propaganda Tyrants Conqueror Mein Kampf Truth Be Told Universal Education War Victory Evils Of War Rise To Power

Author:Adolf Hitler

“Anyone living in Los Angeles who has opposable thumbs is required to write a screenplay.”

Writing Los Angeles Thumbs Screenplays

Book:Write Great Fiction - Plot & Structure

Source: Write Great Fiction - Plot & Structure

Quote by William Kittredge

Author

You May Also Like