{"id":1892,"date":"2015-07-11T00:38:16","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T19:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/desiwriterslounge.net\/blog\/?p=1892"},"modified":"2015-07-11T16:51:30","modified_gmt":"2015-07-11T11:51:30","slug":"the-greatest-writing-advice-from-the-greatest-writers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/desiwriterslounge.net\/blog\/2015\/07\/the-greatest-writing-advice-from-the-greatest-writers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Greatest Writing Advice from the Greatest Writers"},"content":{"rendered":"

In November, we published the top 1o writing tips crowdsourced from DWL fans and members<\/a>. We thought it would be a good idea to share some writing wisdom from the best writers, too. So here’s a list of top 10 rules we’ve compiled from the writing advice some of the greatest writers and critics have shared over the years.<\/p>\n

10<\/strong><\/h1>\n

“Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand \u2014 but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.” \u2014\u00a0Zadie Smith<\/p>\n

English novelist Zadie Smith’s advice was part of a series by British newspaper The Guardian to conduct a survey of established writers and find out their 10 rules of writing. Read more of Smith’s rules here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

9<\/strong><\/h1>\n

“Fiction that isn’t an author’s personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn’t worth writing for anything but money.”\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Jonathan Franzen<\/p>\n

Jonathan Franzen (The Corrections<\/em>, Freedom<\/em>) also participated in the same The Guardian survey and offered his own writing advice<\/a> including the above statement about self-discovery for writers.<\/p>\n

8<\/strong><\/h1>\n

“Never use a verb other than ‘said’ to carry dialogue.”\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Elmore Leonard<\/p>\n

No writing course or workshop would be complete without this particular tip from writer Elmore Leonard. In July 2001, Leonard wrote an article for the New York Times titled “Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle<\/a>” in which he detailed 10 rules he had picked up for writing including the brilliant suggestion for the dialogue verb. As you can imagine by now, his\u00a0rules have gained legendary status.<\/p>\n

7<\/strong><\/h1>\n

“The adverb is not your friend.”\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Stephen King<\/p>\n

King’s advice is from his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Read more<\/a> about why the great American horror writer does not like adverbs.<\/p>\n

6<\/strong><\/h1>\n

“Read, observe, listen intensely!\u00a0\u2014 as if your life depended upon it.”\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Joyce Carol Oates<\/p>\n

In July 2013, award-winning American author Joyce Carol Oates tweeted her writing tips including this one<\/a> about the importance of observation and reading.<\/p>\n

5<\/strong><\/h1>\n

“Never use a long word where a short one\u00a0will do.”\u00a0\u2014\u00a0George Orwell<\/p>\n

This amazing piece of advice is from Orwell’s 1946 essay “Politics and The English Language<\/a>” in which he talks about his plan to fight bad English and the importance of such a fight.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong><\/h1>\n

“A writer, like an athlete, must ‘train’ everyday. What did I do today to keep in ‘form’?”\u00a0\u2014 Susan Sontag<\/p>\n

From Susan Sontag’s journal, this practical suggestion is among several profound and reflective statements<\/a> from the author.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong><\/h1>\n

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.”\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Ernest Hemingway<\/p>\n

In his memoirs<\/a>, Hemingway describes writing the truest sentence you know\u00a0as a way of dealing with his own writing troubles.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong><\/h1>\n

“Every sentence must do one of two things\u00a0\u2014 reveal character or advance the action.”\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Kurt Vonnegut<\/p>\n

This rule is from Vonnegut’s eight rules for writing<\/a> short stories, which include some\u00a0gems on characterization.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong><\/h1>\n

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on broken glass.”\u00a0\u2014 attributed\u00a0to Anton Chekhov<\/p>\n

The quintessence of “Show, don’t tell” seems to have originated<\/a> in the writings of the great Russian playwright and short story writer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For one of the most complete web archives of writing advice and tips by great writers, please visit\u00a0the running list at BrainPickings.org [link]<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In November, we published the top 1o writing tips crowdsourced from DWL fans and members. We thought it would be a good idea to share some writing wisdom from the best writers, too. So here’s a list of top 10 rules we’ve compiled from the writing advice some of the greatest writers and critics have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[419],"tags":[439,55,441,272,440,424,442,6,14],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/desiwriterslounge.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/desiwriterslounge.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/desiwriterslounge.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desiwriterslounge.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desiwriterslounge.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1892"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/desiwriterslounge.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2470,"href":"https:\/\/desiwriterslounge.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions\/2470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desiwriterslounge.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/desiwriterslounge.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desiwriterslounge.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desiwriterslounge.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}