The only sin writers can commit is not to write
— Eleanor Hyde
Eleanor Hyde, originally in the August 1976 issue of the Writer Magazine, reprinted in the August 2014 issue.
Note from Marlene: So, you are itching to write and need a jumpstart? Go to the prompts page of this blog for ideas.
Click here for more prompts and read what others have written. Scroll down and click on a plaque.
It doesn’t matter whether the story is set in the present day, 100 years ago hence, or in a place that has never and could never exist outside the pages of a book: The writer’s job is to present an utterly convincing and wholly seamless world
— Simon Morden
Simon Morden, author of fantasy novel Arcanum. — The Writer Magazine, July 2014
Photo by Jim C. March
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
— Steve Jobs
Click here for more Steve Jobs quotes.
Map of “Steve’s Places” by Romain Moisescot, Webmaster, all about Steve Jobs.com
I love what Romain has done with his blog, especially the January 26, 2013 post, since I love catching movie gaffes.
And being a writer, of course I love stories. Here’s the story behind all about Steve Jobs.com:
“My name is Romain Moisescot and I am the webmaster of all about Steve Jobs.com. By webmaster I mean the owner, designer, developer and editor of the website, which is a one-man operation. I started it on February 24, 2006, Steve Jobs’s 51st birthday… and my 19th.
The website was named all about Steve back then, but its objective was the same as today’s: to bring you (and me) the most complete online resource about Steve Jobs. Although I had been an avid Mac user since my early teens, I had become a huge fan of the man after reading his biography by Alan Deutschman, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs, in 2004. After trying to gather more information about him, I was desperate to see that no good website was dedicated to him: so I decided to build one.”
Note from Marlene: I love this. . . love Romain’s Can-do attitude. Create and build what your heart desires.
I wrote another personal essay, in part with the column in mind but mostly with the intention of simply telling my story. There was a message I wanted to convey in the piece: one of loss and sadness, but also of triumph and survival. Because I had taken my focus off publication while writing, I went deep into storytelling mode. Much of the writing for the piece was done in subconscious writing fashion. When I finished a decent draft, I went outside to water my flower garden. I felt a certainty that hadn’t been there before. the essay was so good, so moving. I knew it would be published — if not in the target column, then certainly elsewhere.
— Rebecca Lawton
Note from Marlene: What strikes me as being important in this passage is when Becca let go of the thought of publishing, she was able to go “deep into storytelling mode.” That’s my wish for you.
Write whatever you want to write. Don’t worry about a thing. . . don’t think about publishing, don’t think about anyone looking over your shoulder. No judging. No criticizing. Just write.
Your gut may lead you astray, but it’s never wrong. If you don’t have the guts to act on something and the moment passes, you will always remember that you were a gutless wonder. In gut we trust
— Herb Caen
Herb Caen (1916–1997) was a journalist whose daily column of local goings-on and insider gossip, social and political happenings, painful puns and offbeat anecdotes appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle for nearly sixty years.
“The secret of Caen’s success [was] his outstanding ability to take a wisp of fog, a chance phrase overheard in an elevator, a happy child on a cable car, a deb in a tizzy over a social reversal, a family in distress and give each circumstance the magic touch that makes a reader an understanding eyewitness of the day’s happenings.” Wikipedia
All writing is communications; creative writing communication through revelation — it the Self escaping into the open
— E. B. White
E.B. White was a contributor to The New Yorker, co-author of The Elements of Style and author of Charlotte’s Web.
When one is freshly informed, has a serendipitous experience, one’s mood is changed, one’s heart is changed. That is why taking the time to see, hear, be present to images and language that arise from new experiences have the power to change one from one way to another.
— Joan Anderson.
Being optimistic is like a muscle that gets stronger with use. Makes it easier when the tough times arrive. You have to change the way you think in order to change the way you feel.
— Robin Roberts
Robin Roberts, Everybody’s Got Something, her memoir.
Note from Marlene: Sometimes the sweetness of serendipity brings tears to my eyes. I have a list of quotes to post on Thursday Quote Day on The Write Spot Blog. This one, by Robin Roberts, was next in line when I looked in my quotes file. I booted up to post the quote and surprise! There was a post waiting for approval by marcyt, writing about cancer and doctors and well, you should read this one.
Marcyt’s post is in sync with Robin’s quote. Thank you, marcyt, for your lovely, poignant, gorgeous writing.
