Advice on Writing From Modernity's Greatest Writers

What sleep and plagiarism have to do with the poetry of experience and the experience of poetry

I recently stumbled upon a delightful little book called Advice to Writers, "a compendium of quotes, anecdotes, and writerly wisdom from a dazzling array of literary lights," originally published in 1999. From how to find a good agent to what makes characters compelling, it spans the entire spectrum of the aspirational and the utilitarian, covering grammar, genres, material, money, plot, plagiarism, and, of course, encouragement. Here are some words of wisdom from some of my favorite writers featured:

"Finish each day before you begin the next, and interpose a solid wall of sleep between the two. This you cannot do without temperance." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Begin with an individual and you find that you have created a type; begin with a type and you find that you have created—nothing." ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Don't ever write a novel unless it hurts like a hot turd coming out." ~ Charles Bukowski

"Breathe in experience, breathe out poetry." ~ Muriel Rukeyser

"A short story must have single mood and every sentence must build towards it." ~ Edgar Allan Poe

"You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write." ~ Saul Bellow

"Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal." ~ T. S. Eliot

"Fiction is a lie, and good fiction is the truth inside the lie." ~ Stephen King

"Good fiction is made of what is real, and reality is difficult to come by." ~ Ralph Ellison

"The problem with fiction, it has to be plausible. That's not true with non-fiction." ~ Tom Wolfe

"You cannot write well without data." ~ George Higgins

"Listen, then make up your own mind." ~ Gay Talese

"Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style." ~ Kurt Vonnegut

"Write without pay until somebody offers pay; if nobody offers within three years, sawing wood is what you were intended for." ~ Mark Twain

This post appears courtesy of Brain Pickings, an Atlantic partner site.

Image credit: Knopf