The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear
Ralph Keyes
Top 10 Best Quotes
“Fear is felt by writers at every level. Anxiety accompanies the first word they put on paper and the last.”
“...wrote Lawrence Block. "Someone once told me that fear and courage are like lightning and thunder; they both start out at the same time, but the fear travels faster and arrives sooner. If we just wait a moment, the requisite courage will be along shortly." (quoted from Write for Your Live by Lawrence Block)”
“Willa Cather said that she write best when she stopped trying to write and began simply to remember.”
“...fear and courage are like lightning and thunder; they both sart out at the same time, but the fear travels faster and arrives sooner. If we just wait a moment, the requisite courage will be along shortly.”
“One thing that separates would-be writers from working writers is that the latter know their work will never match their dreams.”
“One of the most fundamental of human fears is that our existence will go unnoticed.”
“Any writing exposes writers to judgment about the quality of their work and their thought. The closer they get to painful personal truths, the more fear mounts—not just about what they might reveal but about what they might discover should they venture too deeply inside. To write well, however, that’s exactly where we must venture.”
“When members of the London Poetry Society asked Browning to interpret a particularly difficult passage of Sordello, he read it twice, frowned, then admitted, "When I wrote that, God and I knew what I meant, but now God alone knows." Rather than risk sounding dense, readers, colleagues, and critics who can't figure out what a writer is trying to say but think it sounds intelligent will typically resort to calling such work "daring," "provocative," or "complex." An unholy alliance of writers and readers is at work here.”
“If you are in difficulties with a book,” suggested H. G. Wells, “try the element of surprise: attack it at an hour when it isn’t expecting it.” This was one way Gail Godwin learned to outfox her “watcher” (the inner critic who kept an eye on her as she worked): looking for times to write when she was off guard. Other tactics Godwin found helpful included writing too fast and in unexpected places and times; working when tired; writing in purple ink on the back of charge card statements; and jotting down whatever came to mind while a tea kettle boiled, using its whistle as a deadline. “Deadlines are a great way to outdistance the watcher,” advised Godwin.”
“I prefer a man who is unskillful, who is an awkward writer, but who has something to say, who is dealing himself one time on every page.”
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Book Keywords:
readers-and-writers, gibberish, fear, courage, london-poetry-society, risks, writing, creativity, critics, writers, anxiety, robert-frost
