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Hey, remember that scene where the alien bursts out of the guy’s chest? “If a story is in you, it has to come out.” ~William Faulkner
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Write without restraint! And then…restrain, restrain, restrain. “Write drunk, edit sober.” ~Ernest Hemingway
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You can’t steer a parked car. “You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” ~Jodi Picoult
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Everyone already knows you’re crazy. You might as well capitalize on it. “Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.” ~E. L. Doctorow
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Fake it till thou makest it. “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” ~Richard Bach
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Like people from Missouri, all readers live in “the show-me state.” “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” ~Anton Chekhov
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Put them out of their misery. “If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now while they’re happy.” ~Dorothy Parker
Excellent writing tips, especially Bach (no 5). Thank you 👏
Welcome, my friend.
This put a smile on my face but is too true.
Thank you for these amazing tips.
My pleasure, Smitha.
Practical and humorous, Mitch!
Love these. Hope you don’t mind if I print them out and post them near my laptop. 😉
Well, OK, but I want a royalty payment for every time you look at them, Annie.
Every now and then that show me reminder helps.
These are great, but my favorite is Mr. Hemingway – “Write drunk. Edit sober.”
Valuable tips, which are practical and fun
Thanks for the tips. I feel like my writing has become lazy and started re-reading Elements of Style recently, but gave it up. Now I’m encouraged to finish it.
Your writing lazy? I think not!
Thank you – part of what I meant is that I’ve been reposting old stuff a lot. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but new stuff has been harder to write.
This was funny, true and so redyelloworangegreen!
These are Great! 😂
Seven was my favorite. Nice list!
Thanks, Anonymous.
All sound advice!
Great quotes❤️
A writer can never be reminded of these tips too many times. 🙂
I suppose having to get drunk leaves me out of the first half of Hemingway’s equation, but editing sober (And wide awake) is something I can definitely agree on!
So write drunk in the Spirit, Pete (“Be not drunk with wine…but instead be filled with the Spirit”). ;>)
Hey that’s the best wine of all and no hangover!
I don’t know what I love more…the Dorothy Parker quip or the wisdom from Doctorow. Truth! Thanks, Mitch! 🥰
My pleasure, Vicki.
I cherished my copy of “Elements of Style” from my brief college days sixty years ago. My granddaughter who earned a Master’s degree had the same book as part of her curriculum. When she graduated, I gave her my copy.
Aw, I love it, Robert.
Oh goodness, did Dorothy Parker really say that?!
No doubt, Vera. That’s pretty classic Dorothy.
Revision is the eight letter equivalent of edit. C Muse
Ha! This made me laugh. Great short tips and quotes to go with them!
Nicely done Mitch 🙂
Thank you, June.
I love these tips, coming just at the right time. Thx
Great quotes! Quite similar with painting 🙂
“Fake it till thou makest it.”
My business motto 😉
(so far so good!)
Three and six quotes do it for me. I am from the “show-me” state and understand this totally. Can’t steer a parked car. Love these. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure, San.
All good, but the last one was my favorite!
Thank you for the tips, Mitch. I also prefer Nr. 5, but 6 from Chekhov is also very good.
I like number 6 the best. Don’t tell me how to feel, share a story that makes me feel that same way.
Exactly, David.
Wow – these are all so very good!
No. 4 resonated with me, haha😅 what a great list of advice!
Great!
Love it!!!
Thank you!
Loved this! Editing is easy, but you cannot edit a blank page. I need to write more!
This is the best way to give writing advice. Ha ha! 💙💙💙💙
Nice post, thanks for sharing
How many time have ai not been able to sleep and in my head rewrote an article that I was presently working on reworte at least a dozen times and finally in the wee hours though Oh, just put me out of my misery but then I get up in the morning and finish that article,
Serious (i.e. obsessed) writers are always writing, or editing.