Words of Wisdom

    Over the years, many great writers have risen to fame for their beloved works. J. R. R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, C. S. Lewis, and all those other masterful wielders of the pen. We all have heard those names, and many of us may have curled up with one of their books affixed our hand. Their knowledge of the art of writing is admirable, even to those who haven't attempted it themselves. Let us take some time now to look at words of wisdom that flowed from their heart to their pen. 

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug." 

-Mark Twain

“Don’t waste time waiting for inspiration. Begin, and inspiration will find you.” 

-H. Jackson Brown Jr.

"The more work you put in on your outline and getting the skeleton of your story right, the easier the process is later." 

-Drew Goddard

"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." 

-Neil Gaiman 

“It is easy for the student [of writing stories] to feel that with all his labour he is collecting only a few leaves, many of them now torn or decaying, from the countless foliage of the Tree of Tales, with which the Forest of Days is carpeted. It seems vain to add to the litter. Who can design a new leaf? The patterns from bud to unfolding, and the colours from spring to autumn were all discovered by men long ago. We should look at green again, and be startled anew (but not blinded) by blue and yellow and red… Recovery … is a regaining—regaining of a clear view. I do not say ‘seeing things as they are’ and involve myself with the philosophers, though I might venture to say ‘seeing things as we are (or were) meant to see them’—as things apart from ourselves.”

– J. R. R. Tolkien 

"Let’s face it, characters are the bedrock of your fiction. Plot is just a series of actions that happen in a sequence, and without someone to either perpetrate or suffer the consequences of those actions, you have no one for your reader to root for, or wish bad things on."

-Icy Sedgwick

"To write is human, to edit is divine." 

-Stephen King

  

Quotes by C. S. Lewis:

“A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.” 

“You can make anything by writing.” 

“I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once.” 

“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” 

“Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.” 

“It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.” 

“Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say infinitely when you mean very; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.”

“Write about what really interests you, whether it is real things or imaginary things, and nothing else.”

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” 

    

     I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into the minds of these famed authors. To finish this off, let me share with you my own quote.

"Being a writer is like wanting to share the light of stars, yet you are only able to capture fireflies in a jar."

     ~Madelyn