Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
A successful book is not made of what is in it, but what is left out of it.
Interpretation
A successful book focuses on what to exclude rather than just the content it includes.
Mark Twain's quote suggests that the art of writing a successful book lies not only in the words and ideas that are included but significantly in the careful selection of what is omitted. This underscores the importance of editing and the writer's ability to know what resonates with readers, allowing for a more impactful and engaging narrative.
In practice
This quote could be shared at a writing workshop to emphasize the importance of editing.
Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
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You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.
To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.
Emily Dickinson never developed. She remained loyal to her persona and to that same little metrical song that stood her in such good stead. She is a striking example of complexity within a simple package. Her rhymes are like bows on the package.
I think what people are attracted to about me, if anything, is my passion. People got exposed to my passion through music and song first.
We read critics for the perceptions, for what they tell us that we didn't fully grasp when we saw the work. The judgments we can usually make for ourselves.
Guilt is cancer. Guilt will confine you, torture you, destroy you as an artist. It's a black wall. It's a thief.
The worst tragedy for a poet is to be admired through being misunderstood.
Maybe stories are just data with a soul.
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