Quotes on Short Writing

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.

My task, which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel--it is, before all, to make you see.

Find the key emotion; this may be all you need know to find your short story.

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.

No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.

Easy reading is damn hard writing.

Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.

Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very"; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.