S13E8 – All Sentences Start the Same Way
Sentences must stir in a book like leaves in a forest, each distinct from each despite their resemblance. – Gustave Flaubert
Sentences must stir in a book like leaves in a forest, each distinct from each despite their resemblance. – Gustave Flaubert
A novel must show how the world truly is, how characters genuinely think, how events actually occur. A novel should somehow reveal the true source of our actions. – Kevin Hood
Continuity isn’t actually something that I ever worry about. You use it where you need to, and you don’t use it where you don’t need to. – Neil Gaiman
The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. – Mark Twain
Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something – Plato
I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread. – JRR Tolkein
This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety.
Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important. – Gary Provost
Dialogue is not just quotation. It is grimaces, pauses, adjustments of blouse buttons, doodles on a napkin, and crossings of legs. – Jerome Stern
Start with short stories. After all, if you were to take up rock climbing, you wouldn’t start with Mount Everest. So if you’re starting fantasy, don’t start with a nine-book series. – George RR Martin
A book series is never truly over. The story lives on, even when the final page has been turned. – Richard Denney