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Quote by Nancy Kress

“In commercial fiction especially, everything in the story usually contributes directly to the plot The shorter the story, the truer this is”

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Nancy Kress

Nancy Kress is an American science fiction writer born on January 20, 1948. Her works are known for their profound social insights and unique perspectives on technological development, earning her numerous science fiction literary awards. more

“In writing you work toward a result you won't see for years, and can't be sure you'll ever see. It takes stamina and self-mastery and faith. It demands those things of you, then gives them back with a little extra, a surprise to keep you coming. It toughens you and clears your head. I could feel it happening. I was saving my life with every word I wrote, and I knew it.”

Giving Feels Writing Years Littles Self Results Demand Happenings Surprise Saving Extras Mastery Self Mastery Stamina

Author:Tobias Wolff

“There are, first of all, two kinds of authors: those who write for the subject's sake, and those who write for writing's sake. ... The truth is that when an author begins to write for the sake of covering paper, he is cheating the reader; because he writes under the pretext that he has something to say.”

Writing Firsts Kind Two Subjects Reader Truth Is Paper Sake Cheating Covering Pretext

Book:The Art of Literature: Top of Schopenhauer

Source: The Art of Literature: Top of Schopenhauer

“The job of the first eight pages is not to have the reader want to throw the book at the wall, during the first eight pages.”

Want Writing Firsts Book Jobs Wall Reader Pages Eight

Author:David Foster Wallace

“You write for the people in high school who ignored you. We all do.”

People Writing School High School Ignored

Author:Carolyn Kizer

“One word after another. That's the only way that novels get written and, short of elves coming in the night and turning your jumbled notes into Chapter Nine, it's the only way to do it. So keep on keeping on. Write another word and then another.”

Way Writing Night Novel Written Notes Nine Chapters One Word

Author:Neil Gaiman

“Fiction writers come up with some interesting metaphors when speaking of plot. Some say the plot is the highway and the characters are the automobiles. Others talk about stories that are "plot-driven," as if the plot were neither the highway nor the automobile, but the chauffeur. Others seem to have plot phobia and say they never plot. Still others turn up their noses at the very notion, as if there's something artificial, fraudulent, contrived.”

“Here's what I love: I love sitting at my desk, staring at the blank screen, and beginning that conversation with my imaginary friends.”

Writing Conversation Sitting Screens Staring Imaginary Blank Desks Imaginary Friend

Book:The Fifth Assassin: The Culper Ring Trilogy 2

Source: The Fifth Assassin: The Culper Ring Trilogy 2

“Fiction is very greedy. It will take all you know and then some. The first novel I tried to write, I was struck by this - the appetite of the blank page for ever more information, ever more data. An empty book is a greedy thing. You are right: You wind up using everything you know, and often more than once.”

Knows Writing Firsts Book Fiction Novel Information Wind Pages Empty Data Appetite Now And Then Blank Greedy Blank Pages

Author:John Updike

“Use no superfluous word, no adjective, which does not reveal something. Don't use such an expression as 'dim land of peace.' It dulls the image. It mixes an abstraction with the concrete. It comes from the writer's not realizing that the natural object is always the adequate symbol. Go in fear of abstraction.”

Writing Doe Use Realizing Natural Land Objects Expression Symbols Concrete Abstraction Adequate Superfluous Adjectives

Book:The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry: A Critical Edition

Source: The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry: A Critical Edition

“You don't sit up in a cave and write the Great American Novel and know it is utterly superb, and then throw it page by page into the fire. You just don't do that. You send it out. You have to send it out.”

Knows Writing Novel Fire Pages Caves Great American Superb

Author:Theodore Sturgeon

Quote by Nancy Kress

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