“My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying . . . one must ruthlessly suppress everything that is not concerned with the subject. If, in the first chapter, you say there is a gun hanging on the wall, you should make quite sure that it is going to be used further on in the story.” IfsShouldFirstsHas BeensEndsStoriesUsedLyingMy OwnWrittenSubjectsWallGunConcernedCrossesChaptersHanging On Author:Anton Chekhov
“As subjects, we all live in suspense, from day to day, from hour to hour; in other words, we are the hero of our own story. We cannot believe that it is finished, that we are 'finished,' even though we may say so; we expect another chapter, another installment, tomorrow or next week.” BelieveMayStoriesNextHoursWeekSubjectsHeroTomorrowFinishedSuspenseChaptersDay To DayNext Week Book:The humanist in the bathtub Source: The humanist in the bathtub
“There are innumerable writing problems in an extended work. One book took a little more than six years. You, the writer, change in six years. The life around you changes. Your family changes. They grow up. They move away. The world is changing. You're also learning more about the subject. By the time you're writing the last chapters of the book, you know much more than you did when you started at the beginning.” KnowsWorldWritingYearsLittlesBookProblemLastsMovingGrowsGrowing UpSubjectsSixOur FamilyChaptersLearning More Author:David McCullough
“Out of the trunk, the branches grow; out of them, the twigs. So, in productive subjects, grow the chapters.” GrowsSubjectsBranchesProductiveChaptersTrunksTwigs Book:Moby Dick Source: Moby Dick
“No other book has been so chopped, knifed, sifted, scrutinized, and vilified. What book on philosophy or religion or psychology or belles lettres of classical or modern times has been subject to such a mass attack as the Bible? With such venom and skepticism? With such thoroughness and erudition? Upon every chapter, line and tenet?” Has BeensBookPhilosophyLinesPsychologyModernSubjectsMassChaptersSkepticismModern TimesVenomEruditionThoroughness Author:Bernard Ramm