“Cut like crazy. Less is more. I've often read manuscripts - including my own - where I've got to the beginning of, say, chapter two and have thought: “This is where the novel should actually start.” A huge amount of information about character and backstory can be conveyed through small detail. The emotional attachment you feel to a scene or a chapter will fade as you move on to other stories. Be business-like about it.” FeelsShouldTwoCharacterStoriesMovingMy OwnNovelCuttingCrazyInformationEmotionalHugeAmountSceneIncludingDetailsAttachmentFadesChaptersManuscriptsLess Is MoreSmall Details Author:Sarah Waters
“I think if you look at any facet of nature in enough detail, you find it fascinating. How could you not? The universe is so full of marvels. Here's an example -- rain, the shape of rain. I was minding my own business, working on my book, looking out the window, and it was raining and I was noticing that the raindrops were falling in that classic round-looking way, and I thought, 'I wonder if raindrops really are round?' So I started researching it a little, and I discovered that raindrops change shape 300 times a second.” IfsThinkingWayLooksLittlesBookEnoughFallUniverseMy OwnWonderExampleShapesRainWindowRoundsDetailsClassicFascinatingNoticingOwn BusinessFacetsRaindropsMinding My Own Business Author:Diane Ackerman
“I should say that, in addition to my tree-love (it was originally called The Tree), it arose from my own pre-occupation with the Lord of the Rings, the knowledge that it would be finished in great detail or not at all, and the fear (near certainty) that it would be 'not at all'. The war had arisen to darken all horizons. But no such analyses are a complete explanation even of a short story.” ShouldWarStoriesWould BeMy OwnLordTreeDetailsFinishedRingsCertaintyAnalysisExplanationHorizonOccupationShort Story Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
“While I am writing about the details of my own intimate encounters and journeys in America and the Far East.” WritingAmericaMy OwnJourneyDetailsEastIntimateEncountersRama Author:Frederick Lenz
“I came up in comics doing lots of DIY self-published stuff, producing my own books, handling all the details of creation and production. And theatre is something that's really attractive to me, as it's a similarly accessible form - it has a lot of the same sort of down-and dirty DIY spirit, where you can make a lot with a little.” LittlesBookSelfFormSpiritStuffMy OwnCreationDown AndProductionsDetailsTheatreDirtyAttractiveDiy Author:Fred Van Lente
“I can write with authority only about what I know well, which means that I end up using surface details of my own life in my fiction.” KnowsWritingWellsMeanI CanEndsMy OwnFictionAuthorityDetailsSurfaceMy Own Life Author:Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie