Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.
Stephen KingRead
We like to think about how smart we are. But I think talent as a writer is hard-wired in, it's all there, at least the basic elements of it. You can't change it any more than you can choose whether to be right handed or left handed.
Interpretation
Talent is an inherent trait that cannot be fundamentally altered.
In this quote, Stephen King reflects on the nature of writing talent, suggesting that it is an innate quality that individuals possess from birth, much like handedness. He implies that while we may pride ourselves on our intelligence, the core abilities that make one a great writer are hard-wired and cannot be significantly changed or chosen, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and embracing one's natural gifts.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a creative writing workshop to inspire budding writers.
Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.
Eddie discovered one of his childhood's great truths. Grownups are the real monsters, he thought.
Hairstyles change, and skirt lengths, and slang, but high school administrations? Never.
Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.
That's the day's business. Thinking. Thinking and isolation, because it doesn't matter if you pass the time of day with someone or not; in the end, you're alone. He seemed to have put in as many miles in his brain as he had with his feet. The thoughts kept coming and there was no way to deny them.
Late last night and the night before, tommyknockers, tommyknockers knocking on my door. I wanna go out, don't know if I can 'cuz I'm so afraid of the tommyknocker man.
Solutions nearly always come from the direction you least expect, which means there's no point trying to look in that direction because it won't be coming from there.
When God's hand is on thy back, let thy hand be on thy mouth, for though the affliction be sharp it shall be but short.
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
As one grows older, one becomes wiser and more foolish.
Never let yourself think that because God has given you many things to do for Himpressing routine jobs, a life full up with duties and demands of a very practical sort---that all these need separate you from communion with Him. God is always coming to you in the Sacrament of the Present Moment. Meet and receive Him there with gratitude in that sacrament; however unexpected its outward form may be receive Him in every sight and sound, joy, pain, opportunity and sacrifice.
The problem lies with us: we've become addicted to experts. We've become addicted to their certainty, their assuredness, their definitiveness, and in the process, we have ceded our responsibility, substituting our intellect and our intelligence for their supposed words of wisdom.
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