Today's post is in conjunction with the Blog-A-Licious Blog Tour, a fantastic blog hop that brings together bloggers of all genres, backgrounds and locations. In today's hop, the blog featured before #3 "Karen V. Wasylowski...but I Digress" is #2 the fascinating "Born Storyteller". The blog featured after "Karen V Waslowski...but I Digress"" is #4 the wonderful "D. K. Levick's Writing in the Woods". Do stop by and say hello plus some of us are having giveaways and contests. Enjoy! Websites listed below.
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Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel
Write only if you cannot live without writing. Write only what you alone can write.
Imagine a world without the written word. I can't even think of a life without the freedom of expression in all art forms, including writing. It would be a life without the human link. That is what writing is to me - a tangible connection between all human beings, between all generations and between all cultures. Writing is recorded history, it is comedy and drama, the ideas of Stephen Hocking and the recipes of Rachel Ray. Plato, Kurt Vonnegut and Erica Jong, Freud, Nora Roberts and Proust. Hemingway. Carl Sagan may have physically left our world but he lives on in our wonder at the heavens. Writing connects the impossible and provides the priceless.
Henry David Thoreau
Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.
Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.
When I was writing Darcy and Fitzwilliam there were nights that I had to run to the computer and write, when I could not sleep for the ideas that were bouncing about that cavernous expanse between my ears. The odd thing was that when I was editting myself later, reading and rereading and re-rereading the manuscript, I wouldn't remember how and when some things had gotten on the page. I swore aliens wrote some of the book because my mind had forgotten so much. The great thing about writing is that it purges your brain and cleans out a great deal of junk. At least it does in a mind over fifty.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you've got something to say.
You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you've got something to say.
I also found that there were times I could not write - lots of times; and, if I tried to force myself, discipline myself to write even when the feeling wasn't upon me, I would fail miserably. Little was salvagable. I found I had to see the words in my head before I could write them. Writing seems to be most successful and less stressful when it has something to say.
In the end I have to quote the words of my favorite writer, Mark Twain, and his advice to authors.
Say what you are proposing to say, not merely come near it.
Use the right word, not its second cousin.
Eschew surplusage.
Do not omit necessary details.
Avoid slovenliness of form.
Use good grammar.
Employ a simple, straightforward style.
It's good advice for life too.
Next stop: http://dklevick.wordpress.com/
1. Paula - http://hardlineselfhelp.com/
2. Stuart - http://bornstoryteller.wordpress.com/
3. Karen - http://karenvwasylowski.blogspot.com/
4. DK Levick - http://dklevick.wordpress.com/
5. Shannon - http://reflectionandreview.com/
6. Corinne - http://www.everydaygyaan.com/
7. Sonia - http://soniarumzi.com/
8. Sulekha - http://sulekkha.blogspot.com/
9. Dora - http://peacefrompieces.blogspot.com/
10. Sarah - http://sarahbutland.com/blog/
11. Marcia - http://insidejourneys.com/
12. Roy - http://royd-spiltmilk.blogspot.com/
13. Janki - http://janukulkarni.blogspot.com/
14. Tina - http://tinahoggatt.wordpress.com/
15. Thelma - http://widowsphere.blogspot.com/
16. Muriel - http://mumugb.blogspot.com/
17. Nolan - http://nolanwilsonfreelance.com/blog
18. Deborah - http://www.deborahswift.blogspot.com/
19. Jennifer - http://remembernewvember.blogspot.com/
20. Grace - http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.com/
21. Dora - http://blogaliciousblogs.blogspot.com/
22 comments:
can really connect to what you have said..
So many quotes that are enlightening, by yourself as well as writers who have passed in the physical being sense.
I, too, have written entire pieces - typically poems - without realizing it. I knew I was in the process of writing but didn't think, just escaped myself and let my fingers work. Those are the pieces I love.
And I've also been at points where I couldn't write but more so because of lack of time or when I do have time lack of focus. I always have too much to say, I think is my problem, so to choose what to say first takes more time than I have.
Karen,
I can really relate to not knowing how the words wound up on the page. Truly "zone" moments and those are so wonderful! And, yes, you are probably right in that you had a bit of help. I always love THAT kind of help!
Enjoyed your post!
Paula
It is a wonderful feeling when the words flow freely without effort, BUT...when you are stumped --AARRRGGGHHH!!! It is horrible.
Hi from Blog-A-Licious Karen! I like your post and your quotes. Am your latest follower.
I understand. When I start, it flows. All I need to do is sit and do it. :)
Great quotes! I can relate to that being kept up at night and awakened early in the morning to get the words out. You've got a new follower via Blog-a-licious :)
"The great thing about writing is that it purges your brain and cleans out a great deal of junk."
Love these lines, I too have this urge to jot down the ideas when they come up in my head.When I can't feel the words, I can't write them..Lovely post
Writers understand writers don't they, if they are "professional" or not doesn't matter. It's the urgency to get it down on paper. Wonderful to meet you all
Great post Karen
Enjoyed it a lot
Good insight and a great mix of writing quotes from the best ever.
thanks
Karen,
What a great post. Love the quotes. As I work on my first book I can relate to those days when the urge to write is not there. It is frusterating, but I am learning that a good story cannot be forced. It must flow naturally.
I wonder when I hear people say they sit for hours and write every day and are so disciplined. That 's why I know I'm not a true writer. It's just a hobby
Inspiring post. From a fellow Blog-a-licious blog hopper. I've signed up as a follower.
Interesting how when you're editing, you see things and wonder how they got there. You were in the zone. A nice feeling, a literary high.
Sweet!
Nice to be on the tour with you,
Marcia
With regards to writing when the muse is with you - my husband is convinced I can see in the dark! This is because my best ideas pop into my head as I'm drifting off to sleep. I keep a notebook and pen by my pillow and I've become very adept at scribbling in the dark. The key to legibility in the morning is to keep the pen moving left to right, and to leave bigger-than-you-think-you-need gaps between lines! Voila!
PS It's also a good excuse for the odd unscheduled nap - "Just going to do some thinking, dear."
My husband had a funny story about that. He was traveling for work and would keep a pad and pen next to the bed. He kept waking up and making notes for the convention he was working at. In the morning he looked at the pad and he had written the same thing down five times. He's a better accountant than writer.
Absolutely, Mark Twain's advice is a great reminder to keep us away from our excesses. And a great post, Karen, I really enjoyed this.
i see only one problem with your post. you left out a very great writer Karen V Wasylowski. great post thank you for being on the tour god bless
"you write because you have got something to say", so very true. Thank you Karen for this dose of inspiration and for joining the blog tour.
Best wishes - Dora
pandorapoikilos.com
Hi, I'm following along the blog tour from Born Storyteller. Excellent post. I also find that the best writing comes from having a message and purpose!
Karen - I'm delighted that I could be with you on this tour. I do so love Jane Austen and to think you wrote a book with those characters. I am certainly going to get my hands on a copy of your book.
I love what you said about getting the words in your mind - I do that too...Your post is an inspiration to me - thank you!
"you write because you have something to say" - great line! I wish more writers followed that reasoning. Loved the post and your words.
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