The book that will most change your life is the book you write. - Seth Godin

Engaging in the literary world and discovering what books are out there is always beneficial. Consider the comp hunt both a rite of passage and a learning opportunity—and may the odds be ever in your favor. - Star Wuerdemann

Since childhood, I've been faithful to monsters. I have been saved and absolved by them, because monsters, I believe, are patron saints of our blissful imperfection, and they allow and embody the possibility of failing. - Guillermo del Toro

World-building can be as complicated or as simple as your story needs it to be. - Moriah Richard

With third-person limited, we want to ensure that the character’s beliefs are reflected in the narrator’s description of things. Not by necessarily telling us what the character thinks, but by coloring in their fictional world - setting, people, events - with the character’s perspective, informing the words selected. - Peter Mountford

In teaching writing, I’m learning new things about writing. - David B Coe

I don’t try and write strong female characters or strong male characters. I just try and write, hopefully, strong characters and sometimes they happen to be female. - JJ Abrams

You do an awful lot of bad writing in order to do any good writing. Incredibly bad. I think it would be very interesting to make a collection of some of the worst writing by good writers. - William S Burroughs

Making sure that the geography and timelines work is always the hardest part of writing. But you owe it to the readers to get it right. - Michael Scott

Good writing can be defined as having something to say and saying it well. - Edward Abbey

Jacques : This place... is cursed.Red : What is it with you and curses?Spivey : He ain't happy without a good curse. 'This is cursed. That is cursed. 'Red : Give it rest, will ya! - The Mummy Returns (2001)

Wonderful girl! Either I'm gonna kill her, or I'm beginning to like her! - Han Solo, Star Wars: A New Hope

My father’s voice comes back to me. “Not these, Katniss. Never these. They’re nightlock. You’ll be dead before they reach your stomach.” - The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

Don’t participate half-heartedly or use work that you have not yet edited or assume that there is a less talented writing pool participating in the contest. You should prepare for the competition assuming everyone else is taking the process just as seriously as you are. - Ran Walker

It helps to be pretty thick-skinned if you’re going to enter contests. But anyone who writes for more than pure personal satisfaction knows that rejection is part of the deal. - Amy Cook

Don’t read success stories, you will only get a message. Read failure stories, you will get some ideas to get success. - Abdul Kalam

It’s important to note that guidelines may vary a little based on who you talk to or what you read, but by following the ones stated… you will make sure your manuscript looks clean, easy to read, and won’t get rejected because of sloppy formatting. - Brian A Klems

Many writers are paralyzed by the thought that they are competing with everybody else who is trying to write and presumably doing it better…. Forget the competition and go at your own pace. Your only contest is with yourself. - William Zinsser

Write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter. - Neil Gaiman

I always try to use my medium, and if I get into a normal sitcom-writing contest with normal sitcom writers, I'm going to lose. - Dan Harmon