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

There are only two types of speakers in the world: the nervous, and liars. - Mark Twain

Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that.- Anthony Volodkin

Books choose their readers, not the other way around. I believe that booksellers are the matchmakers. - Cecelia Ahern

If your target audience isn't listening, it's not their fault, it's yours. - Seth Godin

It’s a dialogue, not a monologue, and some people don’t understand that. Social media is more like a telephone than a television. - Amy Jo Martin

Lovers of print are simply confusing the plate for the food. - Douglas Adams

In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a failure. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible. - Seth Godin

In my opinion, understanding who your target audience is, and what they want, and writing to them (and only them!) is the most important component of being successful as an author. - John Locke

Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy. - Robert Half

The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over half a library to make one book. - Samuel Johnson

I don’t plot my books rigidly, follow a preconceived structure. A novel mustn’t be a closed system - it’s a quest. - Kurt Vonnegut

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

Writing without revising is the literary equivalent of waltzing gaily out of the house in your underwear. - Patricia Fuller