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Saturday, January 10, 2015

SECRETS OF FAMOUS WRITERS



I. THOROUGHNESS


SIR ISAAC NEWTON --



     “Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.” 

He appeals to me, not for thoroughness, but for his habit of often getting up, 

sitting on the side of the bed, and looking off into space for sometimes an hour.   

A man after my own heart!!

     But he wrote his CHRONOLOGY 15 times before he was satisfied with it.



EDWARD GIBBONS --

     “The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.”

     The great historian wrote MEMOIRS 9 times!



II. PERSEVERANCE



BENJAMIN DISRAELI --

     “Most people die with their music still locked up inside them.”

     He reached success only through a series of literary failures 

that his critics mocked as "indications of literary lunacy."



C.S. LEWIS -- 

     “She's the sort of woman who lives for others - you can tell the others by their hunted expression.”  
      
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was rejected more than 800 times before he was accepted.



III. REWRITING



STEPHEN KING --

"Talent is cheaper than table salt.  

What separates talented individuals from successful authors is a lot of hard work and re-writes."



ERNEST HEMINGWAY --

"The first draft of anything is shit."   

He wrote 47 different endings to A FAREWELL TO ARMS.



JOYCE CAROL OATES --

"The pleasure is the rewriting."


IV. AUTHENTICITY




F. SCOTT FITZGERALD --

"You’ve got to sell your heart, your strongest reactions, 

not the little minor things that only touch you lightly, the little experiences that you might tell at dinner.

This is especially true when you begin to write, when you have not yet developed the tricks of interesting people on paper,

when you have none of the technique which it takes time to learn. When, in short, you have only your emotions to sell.

This is the experience of all writers.

It was necessary for Dickens to put into Oliver Twist the child’s passionate resentment at being abused and starved that had haunted his whole childhood.

Ernest Hemingway’s first stories ‘In Our Time’ went right down to the bottom of all that he had ever felt and known. 

In ‘This Side of Paradise’ I wrote about a love affair that was still bleeding as fresh as the skin wound on a haemophile."


WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SOME OF 
THE SECRETS OF GREAT WRITING?

10 comments:

  1. The first Narnia book was rejected that many times? Been a real shame if he'd given up.

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  2. Some great ones here, Roland. Joyce Carol Oates's, "The pleasure is in the rewriting," particularly resonates. As strongly as I believe there is no right process, anyone who truly detests rewriting is probably on the wrong path.

    I don't have a secret to great writing, but I have a secret that helps me take pleasure in my work even though it's not great: Write like no one's reading.

    VR Barkowski

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  3. I can't believe Lewis faced that much rejection. Wow. I'm in good company!

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  4. Alex:
    Luckily for all his Narnia fans, he kept right on submitting, right?

    VR:
    Yes, I enjoy fleshing out scenes and making them click. Wrong path. I could probably write a travelogue on that road!! My secret is WRITE AS IF TO A RESPECTED FRIEND. :-)

    Milo:
    We both are!! :-)

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  5. I love these quotes and facts. Who knew C.S. Lewis could sound like Dorothy Parker. But personally, I don't have any secretes to writing. But I can say I know when characters I've created have come alive, because that's when they take over their part of the story and tell it their way.

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  6. This post inspires me. It is so true that hard work and perseverance, on our writing, will pay off or so says the masters. :)

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  7. Great post, many things that could or could not have happened in the world of writings... we can take away so much and find our place.

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  8. What Disraeli said is sadly true. King is on the mark with his quote. I'd like to be afforded the luxury of staring into space for an hour at a time and just dreaming--or should I say I wish I had the will to do so.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  9. Arlee:
    Yes, my schedule will not permit me to stare off into space, sitting on the side of my bed!

    Disraeli and king -- what a team, right?

    David:
    That's so nice of you to say!

    Jeremy:
    Each of us has our place. I believe mine is behind the 8 Ball!

    Teresa:
    The experts, even my undead ones, have a point. But so many persevere and practice to no avail. Just look at poor Emily Dickinson!

    Helena:
    Dean Koontz says the same thing you do. C S Lewis revealed his humor and compassion in his thousands of personal letters. As I read the collections of his letters, I am amazed at the depth of the man!

    SORRY, EVERYONE, FOR THE LATE RESPONSES. I WORKED 16 STRAIGHT HOURS YESTERDAY, DRIVING OVER 500 MILES IN BLINDING RAIN.

    I have slept most of the day. Good of you all to still visit me!

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