Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Mark Twain: Writing Tips

All Things Literary
(sorry NPR--If the paraphrase works--use it)

Want to be a great writer? Follow these tips. Mark Twain is back by popular demand.

  • Don't say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.
  • Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  • Ideally a book would have no order to it, and the reader would have to discover his own.
  • It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.
  • Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very"; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.
    Signatures of Mark TwainImage via Wikipedia
  • The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.
  • What a good thing Adam had. When he said a good thing he knew nobody had said it before.

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2 comments:

  1. i could be a writer if i follow Mark Twain?

    ReplyDelete
  2. you sure could, and I have some of your writing to prove it!

    ReplyDelete