"Your job is to make sure the muse knows where you're going to be every day from nine 'til noon or seven 'til three. If he does know, I assure you that sooner or later he'll start showing up, chomping his cigar and making his magic."
"Use the first word that comes to mind, if it is appropriate and colorful. . . If you hesitate and cogitate, you will come up with another word--of course you will, there's always another word--but it probably won't be as good as your first one, or as close to what you really mean."
"I'm convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing."
4 comments:
My muse knows I'll be: feeding children, changing diapers, taking myself or children to doctor or dentist appointments, going to church functions, doing laundry or other chores, putting kids to bed, or reading blogs. (But that's not what he meant, is it?)
That's a great quote. Also, congrats on your 40-minute jog. Psyche-scarring gym teachers are SO reprehensible. I'm glad you're overcoming those false beliefs. (I got some similar false beliefs (from other sources, and more subtly, but just as effectively,) and I still wrestle with them.)
I just realized that when I said "that's not what he meant" it could sound like I'm talking about my neglected muse, (but I meant Stephen King.)
The fear quote is powerful-- I know I am often afraid-- here's to courageous writing!
I often find that often there isn't a word at all and so I'll put in something that says "[insert adjective]" or whatever or conversely three words come to mind in rapid succession so I toss all of them in brackets and then go back and pick one in revision.
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