If you could write something to change the world, what would it be?
“The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it.” -Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
“Writing is like walking in a deserted street. Out of the dust in the street you make a mud pie.” -John LeCarre
Not like Homer would I write,
Not like Dante if I might,
Not like Shakespeare at his best,
Not like Goethe or the rest,
Like myself, however small,
Like myself, or not at all.
-William Allingham (1824 - 1889)
“Words are an inexpensive, and an extremely fun, plaything.” -Author Unknown
A four-year-old girl was diligently pounding away on her daddy’s old computer. She informed him that she was writing a story. “What is your story about?” he asked. “I don’t know,” she answered. “I can’t read.”
“If there’s a book you want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” -Toni Morrison (born 1931)
“When I left home, my mum said, ‘Don’t forget to write.’ I thought, ‘That’s unlikely . . . It’s a basic skill, isn’t it . . .’” -Timothy Mark ‘Tim’ Vine (born 1967)
“I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” -Anne Frank (Annelies Marie ‘Anne’ Frank (1929 - 1945)): “Diary of a Young Girl” (1952), entry for 4 April 1944
Hugh: Hey, did you hear Stu’s writing a book?
Lou: Why doesn’t he just buy one? It’s faster.
“The only thing I was fit for was to be a writer, and this notion rested solely on my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that writing didn’t require any.” -Russell Baker (Russell Wayne Baker (1925 - 2019))
“When audiences come to see us authors lecture, it is largely in the hope that we’ll be funnier to look at than to read.” -Sinclair Lewis (1885 - 1951)
“Writing is the hardest way of earning a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators.” -Olin Miller (1918 - 2002)
“Writers are a little below the clowns and a little above the trained seals.” -John Steinbeck (John Ernst Steinbeck, Junior (1902 - 1968))
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” -Benjamin Franklin (Benjamin ‘Ben’ Franklin (1706 - 1790))
“Oliver Herford once dropped a remark in a little group of writers who were telling how much trouble they took with their work. One said he sometimes took weeks working over a single chapter. Another said, ‘That’s nothing, I sometimes spend days struggling with a single paragraph.’ ‘And I,’ said Oliver in his faraway voice, ‘frequently spend months polishing a single word.’” -Curtis Brown
“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.” -Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
Helga: What are you doing?
Glenn: I’m writing a book.
Helga: What’s it about?
Glenn: Everything!
“Why had I become a writer in the first place? Because I wasn’t fit for society; I didn’t fit into the system.” -Brian Wilson Aldiss (1925 - 2017)
“Editing is a rewording activity.” -Author Unknown
The first novel written on a typewriter was “Tom Sawyer” (1876) by Mark Twain (pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 - 1910)).
Of all those arts in which the wise excel
Nature’s chief masterpiece is writing well.
-John Sheffield
“It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.” -Robert Benchley (Robert Charles Benchley (1889 - 1945))
“For several days after my first book was published, I carried it about in my pocket, and took surreptitious peeps at it to make sure that the ink had not faded.” -James Matthew Barrie (1860 - 1937): speech (26 May 1922) at the Critics’ Circle in London, England
“Anyone who can think clearly can write clearly. But neither is easy.” -William Feather (1889 - 1981): “The Business of Life” (1949)
But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
-George Gordon Noel Byron (1788 - 1824): “Don Juan” (1818 - 1824), stanza 88
Often paraphrased as, “A drop of ink may make a million think.” -George Gordon Noel Byron (1788 - 1824)
“The only end of writing is to enable the readers better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.” -Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
“The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it.” -Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
“Writing is like walking in a deserted street. Out of the dust in the street you make a mud pie.” -John LeCarre
Not like Homer would I write,
Not like Dante if I might,
Not like Shakespeare at his best,
Not like Goethe or the rest,
Like myself, however small,
Like myself, or not at all.
-William Allingham (1824 - 1889)
“Words are an inexpensive, and an extremely fun, plaything.” -Author Unknown
A four-year-old girl was diligently pounding away on her daddy’s old computer. She informed him that she was writing a story. “What is your story about?” he asked. “I don’t know,” she answered. “I can’t read.”
“If there’s a book you want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” -Toni Morrison (born 1931)
“When I left home, my mum said, ‘Don’t forget to write.’ I thought, ‘That’s unlikely . . . It’s a basic skill, isn’t it . . .’” -Timothy Mark ‘Tim’ Vine (born 1967)
“I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” -Anne Frank (Annelies Marie ‘Anne’ Frank (1929 - 1945)): “Diary of a Young Girl” (1952), entry for 4 April 1944
Hugh: Hey, did you hear Stu’s writing a book?
Lou: Why doesn’t he just buy one? It’s faster.
“The only thing I was fit for was to be a writer, and this notion rested solely on my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that writing didn’t require any.” -Russell Baker (Russell Wayne Baker (1925 - 2019))
“When audiences come to see us authors lecture, it is largely in the hope that we’ll be funnier to look at than to read.” -Sinclair Lewis (1885 - 1951)
“Writing is the hardest way of earning a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators.” -Olin Miller (1918 - 2002)
“Writers are a little below the clowns and a little above the trained seals.” -John Steinbeck (John Ernst Steinbeck, Junior (1902 - 1968))
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” -Benjamin Franklin (Benjamin ‘Ben’ Franklin (1706 - 1790))
“Oliver Herford once dropped a remark in a little group of writers who were telling how much trouble they took with their work. One said he sometimes took weeks working over a single chapter. Another said, ‘That’s nothing, I sometimes spend days struggling with a single paragraph.’ ‘And I,’ said Oliver in his faraway voice, ‘frequently spend months polishing a single word.’” -Curtis Brown
“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.” -Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
Helga: What are you doing?
Glenn: I’m writing a book.
Helga: What’s it about?
Glenn: Everything!
“Why had I become a writer in the first place? Because I wasn’t fit for society; I didn’t fit into the system.” -Brian Wilson Aldiss (1925 - 2017)
“Editing is a rewording activity.” -Author Unknown
The first novel written on a typewriter was “Tom Sawyer” (1876) by Mark Twain (pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 - 1910)).
Of all those arts in which the wise excel
Nature’s chief masterpiece is writing well.
-John Sheffield
“It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.” -Robert Benchley (Robert Charles Benchley (1889 - 1945))
“For several days after my first book was published, I carried it about in my pocket, and took surreptitious peeps at it to make sure that the ink had not faded.” -James Matthew Barrie (1860 - 1937): speech (26 May 1922) at the Critics’ Circle in London, England
“Anyone who can think clearly can write clearly. But neither is easy.” -William Feather (1889 - 1981): “The Business of Life” (1949)
But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
-George Gordon Noel Byron (1788 - 1824): “Don Juan” (1818 - 1824), stanza 88
Often paraphrased as, “A drop of ink may make a million think.” -George Gordon Noel Byron (1788 - 1824)
“The only end of writing is to enable the readers better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.” -Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
“A writer is someone for whom writing is much harder than it is for the others.” -Ken Laws
“Every writer I know has trouble writing.” -Joseph Heller (1923 - 1999)
“I have tried simply to write the best I can; sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.” -Ernest Hemingway (Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899 - 1961))
“The Pythagorean Theorem employed 24 words, the Lord’s Prayer has 66 words, Archimedes Principle has 67 words, the 10 Commandments have 179 words, the Gettysburg Address has 286 words, the Declaration of Independence has 1,300 words, and finally the European Commission’s regulation on the sale of cabbage: 26,911 words.” -Author Unknown
“A great many people now reading and writing would be better employed keeping rabbits.” -Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964)
“I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” -Flannery O’Connor (Mary ‘Flannery’ O’Connor (1925 - 1964))
“I have very little of Mr. Blake’s company; he is always in “Paradise.”“ -Mrs. William Blake
“Writing isn’t hard, no harder than ditchdigging.” -Patrick Dennis
“I am, really, a great writer; my only difficulty is in finding great readers.” -Frank Harris (born James Thomas Harris (1855 - 1931)): as quoted in George Jean Nathan: “The World of George Jean Nathan” (1952), page 252
“I can write better than anybody who can write faster, and I can write faster than anybody who can write better.” -A. J. Liebling (Abbott Joseph ‘A. J.’ Liebling (1904 - 1963))
“The circumstance which gives authors an advantage above all these great masters, is this, that they can multiply their originals; or rather, can make copies of their works, to what number they please, which shall be as valuable as the originals themselves.” -Joseph Addison (1672 - 1719)
Writer: A wordsmith.
“To write well is to think well, feel well, and to render well; it is to possess at once intellect, soul, and taste.” -George Louis Buffon
“Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money.” -Jules Renard (1864 - 1910)
“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” -Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton (Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (1803 - 1873)): “Paul Clifford” (1830)
Writer: A word-dispensing machine.
“Altogether, the style of a writer is a faithful representative of his mind; therefore, if any man wish to write a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) (14 April 1824): as quoted in “Conversations of Goethe with Eckermann and Soret” (1850)
“He has left off reading altogether, to the great improvement of his originality.” -Charles Lamb (1775 - 1834)
“Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what it is one is saying.” -John Updike (John Hoyer Updike (1932 - 2009))
“A man would do well to carry a pencil in his pocket and write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable, and should be secured, because they seldom return.” -Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626): as attributed in E. Bridgewater: “Extracts from Ancient and Modern Authors” (1828)
Ernest Vincent Wright was born in 1872. He was an American writer. He is known as the author of the 50,000-word book, “Gadsby” (1939), which does not contain the letter ‘e,’ except in the introduction and in a note at the end of the book. Ernest Vincent Wright passed on at about 67 years of age on 7 October 1939.
“Le Train de Nulle Part” (English: “The Train from Nowhere”) (2004) is a 233-page novel by a Frenchman named Michel Dansel, published under the pseudonym Michel Thaler. Set on a train, it features a series of caustic cameos of fellow passengers who, while not doing much, somehow bring out the vitriol in Thaler’s pen. It contains lengthy passages of flowery prose, but not a lot of action. A notable example of constrained writing, the novel does not contain a single verb. Thaler says he loves words, but not verbs. “The verb is like a weed in a field of flowers. You have to get rid of it to allow the flowers to grow and flourish. Take away the verbs and the language speaks for itself.”
“There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up the pen to write.” -William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 - 1863)
“I am always at a loss to know how much to believe of my own stories.” -Washington Irving (1783 - 1859)
What is a ‘nom de plume’? A nom de plume (pronounced as näm də ˈplo͞om/) is a type of pseudonym. Pseudonyms are names people use for their professional work, typically that of a creative or entertainment nature. For example, actors use stage names, and writers use pen names.
“A man named Samuel Langhorne Clemens named his pen ‘Mark Twain,’ and then claimed credit for all of the things his pen wrote, using his hand.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
“The pen is mightier than the sword.” -Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton (Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (1803 - 1873)): “Richelieu,” II, ii (1839)
“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” -W. Somerset Maugham (William Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965))
“‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling says she might not stop at 7 books and might make an 8th book about Harry as an adult. When asked why, she said, ‘There’s still money in the world that I don’t have yet’.” -Conan O’Brien
“I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning.” -Peter DeVries
“A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it.” -Samuel Johnson: as quoted in Boswell: “The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D.” (1775)
“If you can’t annoy somebody, there’s little point in writing.” -Kingsley William Amis
“Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good.” -Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
“To write a book is a task needing only pen ink and paper; to print a book is rather more difficult because genius often expresses itself illegibly; to read a book is more difficult still for one has to struggle with sleep; but to sell a book is the most difficult task of all.” -Frank Mumny
“Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book.” -Edward Gibbon
“I take the view and always have that if you cannot say what you are going to say in twenty minutes, you ought to go away and write a book about it.” -Reginald Lord Brabazon
“Writing is manual labor of the mind: a job like laying pipe.” -John Gregory Dunne
“The secret of successful writing lies in striking the right keys on the typewriter.” -Evan Esar
“I never understand anything until I have written about it.” -Horace Walpole
“Novelists do not write as birds sing, by the push of nature. It is part of the job that there should be much routine and some daily stuff on the level of carpentry.” - William Golding (1911 - 1993): “Rough Magic” (16 February 1977) lecture
“Write without pay until somebody offers pay. If nobody offers within three years the candidate may look upon this circumstance with the most implicit confidence as the sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for.” -Mark Twain (pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 - 1910))
“That writer does the most who gives his reader the most knowledge and takes from him the least time.” -Charles Caleb Colton
“The fact that writers will go through so much to remain writers says something perhaps everything. It would be far easier (and nearly always more profitable) to become a real estate agent.” -Maria Lenhart
“I always tell people that I became a writer not because I went to school but because my mother took me to the library. I wanted to become a writer so I could see my name in the card catalog.” -Sandra Cisneros
This is MFOL! . . . brought to you by the magic of words . . . each one a tiny magician with hidden superpowers . . .
“Every writer I know has trouble writing.” -Joseph Heller (1923 - 1999)
“I have tried simply to write the best I can; sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.” -Ernest Hemingway (Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899 - 1961))
“The Pythagorean Theorem employed 24 words, the Lord’s Prayer has 66 words, Archimedes Principle has 67 words, the 10 Commandments have 179 words, the Gettysburg Address has 286 words, the Declaration of Independence has 1,300 words, and finally the European Commission’s regulation on the sale of cabbage: 26,911 words.” -Author Unknown
“A great many people now reading and writing would be better employed keeping rabbits.” -Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964)
“I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” -Flannery O’Connor (Mary ‘Flannery’ O’Connor (1925 - 1964))
“I have very little of Mr. Blake’s company; he is always in “Paradise.”“ -Mrs. William Blake
“Writing isn’t hard, no harder than ditchdigging.” -Patrick Dennis
“I am, really, a great writer; my only difficulty is in finding great readers.” -Frank Harris (born James Thomas Harris (1855 - 1931)): as quoted in George Jean Nathan: “The World of George Jean Nathan” (1952), page 252
“I can write better than anybody who can write faster, and I can write faster than anybody who can write better.” -A. J. Liebling (Abbott Joseph ‘A. J.’ Liebling (1904 - 1963))
“The circumstance which gives authors an advantage above all these great masters, is this, that they can multiply their originals; or rather, can make copies of their works, to what number they please, which shall be as valuable as the originals themselves.” -Joseph Addison (1672 - 1719)
Writer: A wordsmith.
“To write well is to think well, feel well, and to render well; it is to possess at once intellect, soul, and taste.” -George Louis Buffon
“Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money.” -Jules Renard (1864 - 1910)
“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” -Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton (Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (1803 - 1873)): “Paul Clifford” (1830)
Writer: A word-dispensing machine.
“Altogether, the style of a writer is a faithful representative of his mind; therefore, if any man wish to write a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) (14 April 1824): as quoted in “Conversations of Goethe with Eckermann and Soret” (1850)
“He has left off reading altogether, to the great improvement of his originality.” -Charles Lamb (1775 - 1834)
“Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what it is one is saying.” -John Updike (John Hoyer Updike (1932 - 2009))
“A man would do well to carry a pencil in his pocket and write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable, and should be secured, because they seldom return.” -Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626): as attributed in E. Bridgewater: “Extracts from Ancient and Modern Authors” (1828)
Ernest Vincent Wright was born in 1872. He was an American writer. He is known as the author of the 50,000-word book, “Gadsby” (1939), which does not contain the letter ‘e,’ except in the introduction and in a note at the end of the book. Ernest Vincent Wright passed on at about 67 years of age on 7 October 1939.
“Le Train de Nulle Part” (English: “The Train from Nowhere”) (2004) is a 233-page novel by a Frenchman named Michel Dansel, published under the pseudonym Michel Thaler. Set on a train, it features a series of caustic cameos of fellow passengers who, while not doing much, somehow bring out the vitriol in Thaler’s pen. It contains lengthy passages of flowery prose, but not a lot of action. A notable example of constrained writing, the novel does not contain a single verb. Thaler says he loves words, but not verbs. “The verb is like a weed in a field of flowers. You have to get rid of it to allow the flowers to grow and flourish. Take away the verbs and the language speaks for itself.”
“There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up the pen to write.” -William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 - 1863)
“I am always at a loss to know how much to believe of my own stories.” -Washington Irving (1783 - 1859)
What is a ‘nom de plume’? A nom de plume (pronounced as näm də ˈplo͞om/) is a type of pseudonym. Pseudonyms are names people use for their professional work, typically that of a creative or entertainment nature. For example, actors use stage names, and writers use pen names.
“A man named Samuel Langhorne Clemens named his pen ‘Mark Twain,’ and then claimed credit for all of the things his pen wrote, using his hand.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
“The pen is mightier than the sword.” -Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton (Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (1803 - 1873)): “Richelieu,” II, ii (1839)
“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” -W. Somerset Maugham (William Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965))
“‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling says she might not stop at 7 books and might make an 8th book about Harry as an adult. When asked why, she said, ‘There’s still money in the world that I don’t have yet’.” -Conan O’Brien
“I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning.” -Peter DeVries
“A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it.” -Samuel Johnson: as quoted in Boswell: “The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D.” (1775)
“If you can’t annoy somebody, there’s little point in writing.” -Kingsley William Amis
“Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good.” -Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
“To write a book is a task needing only pen ink and paper; to print a book is rather more difficult because genius often expresses itself illegibly; to read a book is more difficult still for one has to struggle with sleep; but to sell a book is the most difficult task of all.” -Frank Mumny
“Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book.” -Edward Gibbon
“I take the view and always have that if you cannot say what you are going to say in twenty minutes, you ought to go away and write a book about it.” -Reginald Lord Brabazon
“Writing is manual labor of the mind: a job like laying pipe.” -John Gregory Dunne
“The secret of successful writing lies in striking the right keys on the typewriter.” -Evan Esar
“I never understand anything until I have written about it.” -Horace Walpole
“Novelists do not write as birds sing, by the push of nature. It is part of the job that there should be much routine and some daily stuff on the level of carpentry.” - William Golding (1911 - 1993): “Rough Magic” (16 February 1977) lecture
“Write without pay until somebody offers pay. If nobody offers within three years the candidate may look upon this circumstance with the most implicit confidence as the sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for.” -Mark Twain (pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 - 1910))
“That writer does the most who gives his reader the most knowledge and takes from him the least time.” -Charles Caleb Colton
“The fact that writers will go through so much to remain writers says something perhaps everything. It would be far easier (and nearly always more profitable) to become a real estate agent.” -Maria Lenhart
“I always tell people that I became a writer not because I went to school but because my mother took me to the library. I wanted to become a writer so I could see my name in the card catalog.” -Sandra Cisneros
This is MFOL! . . . brought to you by the magic of words . . . each one a tiny magician with hidden superpowers . . .
