Category: Quotes

  • Writing and editing is like sculpting a garden

    I love to work in the garden, pulling weeds, and occasionally being creative with new plantings. I love tugging at weeds and hearing the slrrp as they surrender their grip and let go. Writing is a lot like weeding . . . letting go and enjoying the moment. Not always worrying about the end product; just enjoying the moment of complete surrender.

    Later, after the writing seedlings have sprouted, it’s time for editing, which is a lot like pruning. When I’m pruning a fruit tree or a rose bush, I make a few snips, stand back to see how it looks and how it’s shaping up. It’s the same with editing. . . . make a few changes, then re-read. Keep what’s good and continue pruning until the piece has shaped to satisfaction.

    Crepe Myrtle & Sage 8.09

    Marlene C

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  • The only sin writers can commit is . . .

    “The only sin writers can commit is not to write.” — Eleanor Hyde, originally in the August 1976 issue of the Writer Magazine, reprinted in the August 2014 issue.

    Note from Marlene: So, you are itching to write and need a jumpstart? Go to the prompts page of this blog for ideas.

    Click here for more prompts and read what others have written. Scroll down and click on a plaque.

    Writing Prompts

     

    Marlene C

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  • It doesn’t matter whether the story is set in the present day, 100 years ago hence, or . . .

    “It doesn’t matter whether the story is set in the present day, 100 years ago hence, or in a place that has never and could never exist outside the pages of a book: The writer’s job is to present an utterly convincing and wholly seamless world,” Simon Morden, author of fantasy novel Arcanum. — The Writer Magazine, July 2014

    Ireland Countryside. Jim C. March

     

     

    Photo by Jim C. March

    Marlene C

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  • Follow your heart and intuition . . . Steve Jobs

    “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” — Steve Jobs
    Click here for more Steve Jobs quotes.
    Map by Romain.Steve Jobs PlacesMap of “Steve’s Places” by  Romain Moisescot, Webmaster, all about Steve Jobs.com

    I love what Romain has done with his blog, especially the January 26, 2013 post, since I love catching movie gaffes.
    And being a writer, of course I love stories. Here’s the story behind all about Steve Jobs.com:

    “My name is Romain Moisescot and I am the webmaster of all about Steve Jobs.com. By webmaster I mean the owner, designer, developer and editor of the website, which is a one-man operation. I started it on February 24, 2006, Steve Jobs’s 51st birthday… and my 19th.

    The website was named all about Steve back then, but its objective was the same as today’s: to bring you (and me) the most complete online resource about Steve Jobs. Although I had been an avid Mac user since my early teens, I had become a huge fan of the man after reading his biography by Alan Deutschman, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs, in 2004. After trying to gather more information about him, I was desperate to see that no good website was dedicated to him: so I decided to build one.”

    Note from Marlene:  I love this. . . love Romain’s Can-do attitude.  Create and build what your heart desires.

     

    Marlene C

  • Feeling your way in the dark . . .

    “The way I write, it’s like feeling your way in the dark. You don’t know if it’s going to catch fire  — not just your imagination, but your emotions.” — Dan Coshnear

    Northern California writer Dan Coshnear is the author of two collections of stories, Jobs & Other Preoccupations (Helicon Nine 2001) and Occupy & Other Love Stories (Kelly’s Cove Press 2012). Born in Baltimore in 1961, he has traveled in Europe, Canada, Mexico, Haiti, and all over the U.S., often by thumb, and once for a few thousand miles by freight train. After living on Cape Cod and in New York and San Francisco, he finally settled with his wife, Susan, in a house under some very tall trees along the Russian River in Sonoma County, California. His stories have been published in Fourteen Hills, juked, The Missouri Review, Third Coast and Zyzzyva.

    Occupy CoshnearAbout Dan’s latest publication . . . Occupy & Other Love Stories

    “To occupy means to be present, to be available emotionally, to stand up for oneself, and sometimes to protest. The opposite is absence. To be rendered silent, useless, vacant because of fear or confusion or despair. Each of the stories presents a challenge, not only to an individual character but to a relationship. This short story collection from award-winning California author Daniel Coshnear includes 12 stories about occupation, featuring ordinary heroes. A thoughtful mood is reinforced with 16 full color images from Oakland artist and UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus Squeak Carnwath.”

     

    Marlene C

  • I went deep into storytelling mode — Becca Lawton

    Today’s quote is from Write Free – Attracting the Creative Life by Rebecca Lawton and Jordan E. Rosenfeld.

    Rebecca wrote:

    “I wrote another personal essay, in part with the column in mind but mostly with the intention of simply telling my story. There was a message I wanted to convey in the piece: one of loss and sadness, but also of triumph and survival. Because I had taken my focus off publication while writing, I went deep into storytelling mode. Much of the writing for the piece was done in subconscious writing fashion. When I finished a decent draft, I went outside to water my flower garden. I felt a certainty that hadn’t been there before. the essay was so good, so moving. I knew it would be published — if not in the target column, then certainly elsewhere.”

    WandNote from Marlene: What strikes me as being important in this passage is when Becca let go of the thought of publishing, she was able to go “deep into storytelling mode.” That’s my wish for you.

    Write whatever you want to write. Don’t worry about a thing. . . don’t think about publishing, don’t think about anyone looking over your shoulder. No judging. No criticizing. Just write.

    Marlene C

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  • Your gut may lead you astray, but . . .

    “Your gut may lead you astray, but it’s never wrong. If you don’t have the guts to act on something and the moment passes, you will always remember that you were a gutless wonder. In gut we trust.” Herb Caen

    Herb Caen (1916–1997) was a journalist whose daily column of local goings-on and insider gossip, social and political happenings, painful puns and offbeat anecdotes appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle for nearly  sixty years.

    Herb Caen

    “The secret of Caen’s success [was] his outstanding ability to take a wisp of fog, a chance phrase overheard in an elevator, a happy child on a cable car, a deb in a tizzy over a social reversal, a family in distress and give each circumstance the magic touch that makes a reader an understanding eyewitness of the day’s happenings.”  Wikipedia

     

    Marlene C

  • All writing is . . . E. B. White

    All writing is communications; creative writing communication through revelation — it the Self escaping into the open. — E. B. White   The Paris Review Interview

    E. B. WhiteE.B. White was a contributor to The New Yorker, co-author of The Elements of Style and author of Charlotte’s Web.

    Marlene C

  • When one is freshly informed. . . . Joan Anderson

    When one is freshly informed, has a serendipitous experience, one’s mood is changed, one’s heart is changed. That is why taking the time to see, hear, be present to images and language that arise from new experiences have the power to change one from one way to another. — A Year by the Sea, by Joan Anderson.

    A Year by the Sea

    Marlene C

  • Being optimistic is like a muscle . . .

    “Being optimistic is like a muscle that gets stronger with use. Makes it easier when the tough times arrive. You have to change the way you think in order to change the way you feel.” — Robin Roberts, Everybody’s Got Something, her memoir.

    Note from Marlene:  Sometimes the sweetness of serendipity brings tears to my eyes. I have a list of quotes to post on Thursday Quote Day on The Write Spot Blog.  This one, by Robin Roberts, was next in line when I looked in my quotes file. I booted up to post the quote and surprise!  There was a post waiting for approval by marcyt, writing about cancer and doctors and well, you should read this one.

    robin robertsMarcyt’s post is in sync with Robin’s quote.  Thank you, marcyt, for your lovely, poignant, gorgeous writing.

    Everyone:  Please . . . do make comments on any of the posts on The Write Spot Blog. I welcome your participation.

    Marlene C