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Quote by William Carlos Williams

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William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams

William Carlos Williams was an American poet born on September 17, 1883, and died on March 4, 1963. His poetry style emphasized colloquialism and the depiction of everyday life, which had a profound impact on American poetry. more

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“Cross out as many adjectives and adverbs as you can. ... It is comprehensible when I write: "The man sat on the grass," because it is clear and does not detain one's attention. On the other hand, it is difficult to figure out and hard on the brain if I write: "The tall, narrow-chested man of medium height and with a red beard sat down on the green grass that had already been trampled down by the pedestrians, sat down silently, looking around timidly and fearfully." The brain can't grasp all that at once, and art must be grasped at once, instantaneously.”

IfsMenWritingDoeArtHardHandsDifficultAttentionBrainClearFiguresHe ManRedCrossesGreenMediumsCraftsGrassHeightSatTallBeardAdjectivesPedestriansAdverbsGreen GrassAdjectives And Adverbs
Author:Anton Chekhov
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“My attitude toward punctuation is that it ought to be as conventional as possible. The game of golf would lose a good deal if croquet mallets and billiard cues were allowed on the putting green. You ought to be able to show that you can do it a good deal better than anyone else with the regular tools before you have a license to bring in your own improvements.”

IfsShowsAbleGamesCan DoLosesDealsAttitudeOughtToolsGreenGolfImprovementCraftsConventionalYou Can Do ItGrammarLicenseMy AttitudePunctuationCroquet
Book:Ernest Hemingway Selected Letters 1917-1961
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“Sometimes language gets in the way of the story's feelings. The reader finds himself experiencing the language of the story rather than the story. The words sit there on the page like coins, with their own opacity, as though they're there for their own sake. "A man goes into a phone booth, stirring coins in his palm." "Stirring" is such an obviously selected word. You can feel the writer looking for the word as he sat at the typewriter.”

MenWayFeelsSometimesStoriesFeelingsLanguageReaderPagesSakePhonesCraftsSatCoinsPalmsStirringSelectedTypewritersPhone Booth
Author:Leonard Michaels
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