Good writers are good readers.
At least ten writing sessions.
Grief was not a stream. It was an ocean.
In fact, one could argue that the skill of the fiction writer boils down to the ability to exploit intensity.
If you up your skill and take more chances, your odds of success increase.
Ernest Hemingway had a rather personal way to describe first drafts. To paraphrase, he said all of them are like, ahem, biological waste.
Start by asking if this is writer’s laziness as opposed to writer’s block.
Give yourself permission to be bad. Write first, polish later.
God created the world in six days. On the seventh day, he rested. On the eighth day, he started getting complaints. And it hasn't stopped since.
Get a PHD No, not a doctoral degree. I mean a PHD attitude: Poor, Hungry and Driven.
A great novel is the record of how a character fights with death.
A quirky, colorful character overstays her welcome after a few chapters, unless trouble comes calling.
Sometimes writing a novel feels about as rewarding as turning a spit in the fires of hell.
Someone with less talent who works hard often outperforms the gifted.
Other men’s sins are before our eyes; our own are behind our back.
Dwight Swain, the great writing teacher, once said that the secret of excitement is to go deeper into your characters. Create more backstory, more secrets, more complexity, and you'll get excited agai...
You keep writing because it's the only way to finish the book.
Drive thy business or it will drive thee. – Benjamin Franklin
Having a Care Package relationship keeps a character from being completely selfish.
Don't give up. I don't think any other advice works. Writing is one of those things where you just have to do it. There will be far more people to discourage you than to encourage you. The time never...