Because one of our local libraries is having its annual book sale, I was rummaging about in my garage looking for some things to offer for that end. I've oft said libraries are the one thing I don't mind paying taxes for. (I will also keep snow removal on that list, I suppose.)While shuffling through rows and stacks of books I noticed several copies of a writing magazine I used to subscribe to called The Writer. On page six I found these quotes for writers, as apt as ever.
"I think the writer's obligation is just to tell the truth, and that's the one commitment he can't betray without destroying himself. For the writer, the creative person, the picture of what he or she does is the connection between the inner and out life, between political circumstances, economic and social circumstances, and his own internal being." ~ E.L. Doctorow
"When I start writing a novel, I never have a great idea or a set of blueprints. I just have a general feeling of excitement, and I start writing in its direction. It's like following a scent trail. I always do a lot of revision, and I promise myself that I will before I ever start, because that gives me freedom. The scent trail doesn't always take you to the right place, and if something doesn't work you can always throw it away." ~ Thomas McGuane
"Mark Twain once said that the man who does not read good books has no advantage over the one who cannot read them... (I)f you want to write well, then you have to read good writers. If you confine yourself to mediocre writers, then that's the style you're going to assimilate." ~William Least Heat Moon
For more quotes about writers, for writers, check out this page on my original website called Quotes for Writers. And if you're not a writer, go find a good book and curl up in your favorite easy chair. Up north, it's just that time of year.
Since we're talking books, what are you reading this month? I'm currently finishing The Accidental Billionaires, about the founding of Facebook.
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