Quotes
#FebruaryForce Quote 8
What was iconic adventure story author Eva Ibbotson’s approach to writing?
#FebruaryForce Quote 7
Where do you get your ideas from?
Children’s writer Philip Ardagh was asked this very question.
His answer?
‘I wish I had a simple answer, such as ‘www.fresh-ideas-for-books.com’ or ’23 Ainsley Avenue’ or ‘from an old box I found in the attic,’ but it is much more complicated than that. Ideas are often thoughts put down on paper, developed and refined . . . in other words: I don’t really know, they just happen and I nurture them along and turn them into something.’
(https://www.bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm/author_number/903/philip-ardagh)
#FebruaryForce Quote 6
#FebruaryForce Quote 5
#FebruaryForce Quote 4
‘How should the novelist approach the novel? With ingenuity. With humility. With a hammer. With energy. With erudition. With naivety. Traditionally, anarchically, adventurously, brokenly, wholly, any adverb you want, but always only with an eye to what the story asks, because that’s more than enough. The story will dictate its style. (And you won’t need adverbs anyway. Lose them in the edit.)’
Ali Smith
#FebruaryForce Quote 3
Let’s ditch the vanity, shall we, writers?
Even the world’s biggest literary names, by and large, didn’t really expect success.
Today’s quote is from a certain J.R.R. Tolkien, a quote from his letter to Sir Stanley Unwin on 31 July 1947:
“…I certainly hope to leave behind me the whole thing [referencing The Lord of the Rings] revised and in final form, for the world to throw into the waste-paper basket. All books come there in the end, in this world, anyway.”
I’m so glad he was wrong, but I feel reassured that he wanted to write it anyway, whether it succeeded or not!
#FebruaryForce Quote 2
#FebruaryForce Quote 1
And here is the first of my #FebruaryForce writing quotes. Let’s keep our writing in gear when we’re flagging, understandably, at this dreich time of year!
‘I am so ill-rounded that the ten things I love to do are: write, write, write, write, write, write, write, write, write, and write. Oh, I do other things. I even like to do other things. But when asked for the ten things I love, that’s it.’
Isaac Asimov, author of almost 500 books in his lifetime
#WritingQuoteFebruary #28
Lastly, in my series of February quotes, let’s remind ourselves of one of the key reasons we do write:
Like any form of creativity, writing is a slap in the face to our drab realities, to our limitations and our narrow horizons. It can take us anywhere, anywhen, anyhow. Which is I love it.
write4bairns 