Writing Quotes

[pameladlloyd]

I've discovered that iGoogle offers a bunch of daily quote gadgets, so now I have an entire tab devoted to quotes.

A sampling of today's quotes includes:

"A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer? 4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?" George Orwell (which reminds me of marycatelli's recent post about making each scene pull its own weight)

"Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as you mind lets you. What you believe, you can achieve." Mary Kay Ash

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." Sir Richard Steele

"In reading, a lonely quiet concert is given to our minds; all our mental faculties will be present in this symphonic exaltation." Stéphane Mallarmé (French Poet)

"The effort to understand the universe is one of the very few things that lifts human life a little above the level of farce, and gives it some of the grace of tragedy." Steven Weinberg

"This paperback is very interesting, but I find it will never replace a hardcover book - it makes a very poor doorstop." Alfred Hitchcock (which makes me think about our current push-me-pull-me relationship with electronic books, which can't be used as doorstops, at all)

"Rough work, iconoclasm, but the only way to get at truth." Oliver Wendall Holmes

"Being elected to Congress is regarded as being sent on a looting raid for one's friends." George Will

"We live in the midst of alarms; anxiety beclouds the future; we expect some new disaster with each newspaper we read." Abraham Lincoln

"At this very moment you and I are either committing [selfishness], or about to commit it, or repenting it." C. S. Lewis

"I'm delighted to see each of you here tonight in spite of a storm warning. You reveal that you are determined to go on anyhow. Something is happening in Memphis, something is happening in our world." Martin Luther King

"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts, therefore guard accordingly; and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue, and reasonable nature." Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

"I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake." Ernest Hemingway (Also, seen as: "I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know?")

"I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone." Dwight D. Eisenhower

"The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid and stable business." John Steinbeck

Comments

Orwell and me

[marycatelli]

:D

But I would say that Orwell and I focused on different levels of where the advice is useful. A sentence that expresses something very clearly and effectively may nevertheless not be part of a scene that's useful for the story; a scene that does a great deal for the story may still be written in poorly expressed sentences, or contain clutter.

Re: Orwell and me

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

I agree. A focus on both is necessary. Or, at least, an understanding. I think that if I tried to write from the perspective Orwell mentions, I'd be so completely locked up I'd be lucky to get more than the occasional paragraph written. Your suggestion, that it is in the process of rewriting we should focus on making our scenes do double duty, I find much more useful.

[jo1967.livejournal.com]

"We live in the midst of alarms; anxiety beclouds the future; we expect some new disaster with each newspaper we read." Abraham Lincoln

**********************

Spooky. Could be any modern commentator.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

Yes. I found that particular quote reassuring, because we are not facing the kind of rift that we did then, but have a very real hope for unity that we've never experienced before.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Just the quote that I was going to comment on, and I was going to say the same thing. Had to stop listening to the financial news... what's the point? Must just live as best we can... remember to be friendly and let what will come, come.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I heard some (no doubt wacko) commentator talking about the break-up of the United States, and I found myself unreasonably upset. Then I got a sense of perspective again, and realized the guy was kind of nuts...

Re: Orwell and me

[marycatelli]

Or triple, or quadruple. . . .

0:)

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

Yes, there are some statements that just ring true, right now. It's hard to tell, with these quote of the day gadgets or sites, how many of the quotes offered are just luck of the draw, and how much they are selected on the basis of their applicability to some current news.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

The break up the the US?!! Wow. I think that's taking things pretty far. Our country has been through far worse times than this. Even if the financial crisis gets worse, and we don't know that it will any more than we know that it won't, I think we'll make it through this one.

Re: Orwell and me

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

lol...Yes, that was your point.

I've read Shakespeare that does that and I simply stand in awe of anyone who can. I figure that at this point, I'm lucky if what I write has one meaning that makes sense. :)

Re: Orwell and me

[marycatelli]

Well, the only advice I can give there -- put in only one at a time. 'cause it's not wise to do two things at once when you haven't absolutely master them.