Dark Thoughts on Writing; Advice and Commentary from Ffity Masters of Fear and Suspense by Stanley Wiater

Don't be thrown off by the title...the book has some good advice for any writer.

[Writing's] a very healthy way to get rid of people who are inconvenient. On days when people disappoint me, I do a lot of writing in order to survive that day. I get hurt as much as anyone....When people hurt us terribly, we either laugh at them--and laugh them out of existence--or we cry them out of existence.

And then learn to laugh again.

Ray Bradbury

I am firmly convinced that you can get more mileage out of directing the reader's imagination than laying everyting out for them in such detail that nothing is left to their imagination. John Saul ************************ It's not the tradition of the literature to show it all to the reader. The tales that have lasted all this time, that have become timeless in many instances, are the stories and novels that make us go to work as well. Make the reader bring his own subjective bag of fears and imagination into the mix. Thomas F. Monteleone

It just seems to me that don't ever make a conscious decision to be an artist. You either wake up one day and realize that's what you are or you don't. If that's the case, then nothing can stop you from doing it. And if you're not that kind, then no amount of external rules or enforces discipline is going to force you to it. The motivation is internal, and the rewards are personal. Dennis Etchison

I, for one, will not play "mind-games" with the people who are good enough to read my work. Why be so pretentious; why try consistently and consciously to create great, subtle "art?" Great art is accidental. Any writer is lucky when it occurs. Entertain and inform and scare them into a few moments of real, reflective thought, and you've done more than most of the writers in any field have achieved. J. N. Williamson

There's no big secret. Just keep writing. And keep writing about the things you feel strongly about. You should not write anything that doesn't absolutely turn you on; that you love. I love writing. It's a hard field. It's very often unrewarding financially--and certianly creatively--for the majority. But if you do love it, great. Stay with it! You should love any field you go into. I love it, and I will stay in it until the day I die. Richard Matheson

I so loved these quotes Dia, especially the Dennis Etchison Just the kind of epiphany I needed today. So, in keeping with the good graces of give and take, I'll add one... The fly may be a part of the whole description of a restaurant. It might be appropriate to tell the precise sandwicch it just walked over. But there is a fine line between precision and self indulgence. Stay on the side of precision. Recognize the fly, even love it if you want, but don't marry it. Natalie Goldberg--Writing Down the Bones.

Good one. I've often read that the sentence you should consider cutting is the sentence you fall in love with. I also noticed I failed to proof (again) my typing. The errors are mine and not the fault of the book.

I dunno, for me the most motivating quote is: "Editor's don't do house to house searches for manuscripts" -Patricia C. Wrede, rec.arts.sf.compostion But that's because I have more problems convincing myself to submit stuff, than I do convincing myself to write.

I don't think you're the only one with that problem.