We wait till now? Now, when we're old men, we get to be brave?
Ernest GainesRead
I try to write something that would interest anybody and keep them turning the page. You must have a plot and good storyline.
Interpretation
Writing should engage readers and have a strong plot.
This quote emphasizes the importance of captivating storytelling in writing. Ernest Gaines suggests that a good narrative must not only draw in a diverse audience but also feature a compelling plot to maintain their interest and keep them engaged throughout the reading experience.
In practice
During a writing workshop, you could use this quote to emphasize the importance of a strong storyline.
We wait till now? Now, when we're old men, we get to be brave?
I was raised by a lady that was crippled all her life but she did everything for me and she raised me. She washed our clothes, cooked our food, she did everything for us. I don't think I ever heard her complain a day in her life. She taught me responsibility towards my brother and sisters and the community.
...my heart may have been in it but my soul was not.
Everything's been said, but it needs saying again.
Question everything. Every stripe, every star, every word spoken. Everything.
The Six Golden Rules of Writing: Read, read, read, and write, write, write.
As far as I am concerned the paint is the person. I want it to work for me just as flesh does
In fiction you're not often writing about the typical; you are interested in outliers, the points of interest. Part of it comes from feeling I was the only Asian or person of colour... another part comes from my personality: I'm an introvert, and my usual survival mode in a large group is to stand by a wall and watch everybody.
Almost every magazine piece I've ever written, I felt like I haven't done it justice, like it was just a gloss.
I don't take notes. I don't have any notebooks. I keep on trying to do that because it seems like a very writerly thing to do, but my mind doesn't work that way. I tend to get the idea for a novel in a big splash.
I get little kids who recognize me from 'Mary Poppins,' and it just delights me because it's our third generation.
Photography is an investigation of both the outer and the inner worlds. The first experiences with the camera involve looking at the world beyond the lens, trusting the instrument will 'capture' something 'seen.' The terms shoot and take are not accidental; they represent an attitude of conquest and appropriation. Only when the photographer grows into perception and creative impulse does the term make define a condition of empathy between the external and the internal events.
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