25 Quotes, Tips, and Advice from Famous Authors
Are you an aspiring writer who could use some guidance from others while writing your next manuscript or attempting to finish your next big literary project? Let some of these famous authors become your mentors as they deliver their tips and advice below.
1. “If you don’t see the book you want on the shelf, write it.” – Beverly Cleary
2. “A good writer is always a people watcher.” – Judy Blume
3. “Write hard and clear about what hurts.” – Ernest Hemingway
4. “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” – Robert Frost
5. “The first page sells this book; the last page sells your next book.” – Mickey Spillane
6. “The ending must be both inevitable and unexpected.” – Aristotle
7. “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” – Anton Chekhov
8. “Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and above all, accurately so they will be guided by it’s light.” – Joseph Pulitzer
9. “The difference between real life and fiction is that fiction has to be believable.” – Tom Clancy
10. “Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.” – David Thoreau
11. “The author, in his work, must be like God in the Universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere.” – Gustave Flaubert
12. “Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.” – Ray Bradbury
13. “Good writing is remembering detail. Most people want to forget. Don’t forget things that were painful or embarrassing or silly. Turn them into a story that tells the truth.” – Paula Danziger
14. “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is…the difference between lightning bug and the lightning.” – Mark Twain
15. “Writing a book and not promoting it is like having a baby and leaving it on a doorstep.” – Jack Canfield
16. “I would advise any beginning writer to write the first draft as if no one else will ever read them – without a thought about publication – and only in the last draft to consider how the work will look from the outside.” – Anne Tyler
17. “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” – Jodi Picoult
18. “So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” – Dr. Seuss
19. “To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.” – Herman Melville
20. “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.” – Elmore Leonard
21. “When your story is ready for a rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.” – Stephen King
22. “All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” – Ernest Hemingway
23. “Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.” – John Jakes
24. “The mystery story is really two stories in one: the story of what happened, and the story of what appeared to happen.” – Mary Roberts Rinehart
25. “Good fiction’s job is to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” – David Foster Wallace
We hope you have enjoyed these 25 Quotes, Tips, and Advice from Famous Authors.
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is a multi-published author, speaker, and writing coach. She writes sweet contemporary, inspirational, and historical romance and loves teaching aspiring writers how to write quality fiction. Read her inspiring story of how she published her first book and launched a successful writing career.