18 quotes
The basic unit of writing practice is the timed exercise.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
You tell the truth and you depict it in detail.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
Writers move with grace in and out of many worlds.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
First of all, we looked for where there was energy.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
Use original detail in your writing. Life is so rich, if you can write down the real details of the way things were and are, you hardly need anything else.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
Push yourself beyond when you think you are done with what you have to say. […] It is beyond the point when you think you are done that often something strong comes out.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
Read a lot, listen well and deeply, and write a lot. […]
If you read good books, when you write, good books will come out of you.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
As writers we have to walk in the world in touch with that present, alert part of ourselves, that animal sense part that looks, sees, and notices - street signs, corners, fire hydrants, newspaper stands.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
See the big picture. You are committed to writing or finding out about it. Continue under all circumstances. Don't be rigid though.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
Be specific. "Don't say "fruit". Tell what kind of fruit.
Learn the names of everything: birds, cheese, tractors, cars, buildings.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
In a rainstorm, everyone quickly runs down the street with umbrellas, raincoats, newspapers over their heads. Writers go back outside in the rain with a notebook in front of them and a pen in hand. They look at the puddles, watch them fill, watch the rain splash in them.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
If you want a room to write in, just get a room. Don't make a big production out of it. If it doesn't leak, has a window, heat in the winter, then put in your desk, bookshelves, a soft chair, and start writing.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
Of course, you can sit down and have something you want to say. But then you must let its expression be born in you and on the paper. Don't hold too tight; allow it to come out how it needs to rather than trying to control it.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
Wait until you are hungry to say something, until there is an aching in you to speak. Then come back.
Don't worry. You won't have lost time. Your energy will be more direct and less wasted.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
I went home with the resolve to write what I knew and to trust my own thoughts and feelings and to not look outside myself. I was not in school anymore: I could say what I wanted.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
Anything we fully do is an alone journey. […] You are alone when you write a book. Accept that and take in any love and support that is given to you, but don't have expectations of how it is supposed to be.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
Just write. Just write. Just write. [...]
When we are in the heart of writing it doesn't matter where we are. We can write anyplace.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)
First, consider the pen you write with.
Think, too, about your notebook. […] A cheap spiral notebook lets you feel that you can fill it quickly and afford another. Also, it is easy to carry.
Writing Down the Bones (1986)