Writing Quote – Neil Gaiman
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Writing Quotes
POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE
Quotes
By Nandy Ekle
- “From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.” —Winston Churchill
- “I get a lot of letters from people. They say: ‘I want to be a writer. What should I do?’ I tell them to stop writing to me and get on with it.” —Ruth Rendell
- “The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.” —Mary Heaton Vorse
- “Revising a story down to the bear essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.” —Stephen King
- “If writers were good businessmen, they’d have too much sense to be writers” —Irvin S. Cobb
- “If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers.” —Doug Larson
- “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” —Douglas Adams
- “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” —Ernest Hemingway
- “Amateurs sit and wait or inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” —Stephen King
- “A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity.” —Franz Kafka
- “When writing a novel, that’s pretty much entirely what life turns into: ‘House burned down. Car stolen. Cat exploded. Did 1500 words, so all in all it was a pretty good day.” —Neil Gaiman
- “Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke. —Joss Whedon
- “The hard part about writing a novel is finishing it.” —Ernst Hemingway
- “Nothing’s a better cure for writer’s block than to eat ice cream right out of the carton.” —Don Roff
- “Good fiction create its own reality” —Nora Roberts
Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.
The New Comer
POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE
The New Comer
By Nandy Ekle
I’m not sure how long Neil Gaiman has been on the writing scene, but he’s fairly new to my list of faves. I had seen his name around the forums. I’d heard he was unique and his stories were excellent. Then, the movie Stardust hit the theaters and I was immediately in love.
Now I know better than to ever judge a story by its movie, at least if there’s a book that gave birth to a movie as a some version of the story. But I think that’s a testament to my interest in the book. The fact that the movie thrilled me enough to want to read the book should say volumes to the idea I had of the story.
And I have to say this was one time my instincts were spot on. The book, as much as I enjoyed the movie, was even better. Cute, fun, clever, layered, completely brilliant. The book has elements that the movie didn’t come close to touching on. And I was completely enthralled.
Then, Mr. Gaiman sealed verified my new found love for him again when I heard him read Stardust. I am a huge fan of audiobooks, and even though I’d read the paperback version, I used my chance to purchase the audio to listen to as I drove. And the fact that Mr. Gaiman was the reader gave me a feeling that I had found something special. I was wrong. It was not just something special. It was my find of the century.
As a British man with a deep smooth voice, listening to him read his own work had me so hypnotized there was no way I could shut the book down at the end of my allotted reading/listening time. As I mentioned his voice is deep, smooth, and very British. But also, as the writer, he knew the story and he knew how to use that incredible voice to make the story come alive in a way Hollywood could not.
So I obtained more of his books. Neverwhere had my attention almost as tightly as Stardust. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, another story read by himself, amazing.
So, whenever it was that his first book was released, I wish I had met his writing much sooner.
Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.
The New Comer
POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE
The New Comer
By Nandy Ekle
I’m not sure how long Neil Gaiman has been on the writing scene, but he’s fairly new to my list of faves. I had seen his name around the forums. I’d heard he was unique and his stories were excellent. Then, the movie Stardust hit the theaters and I was immediately in love.
Now I know better than to ever judge a story by its movie, at least if there’s a book that gave birth to a movie as a some version of the story. But I think that’s a testament to my interest in the book. The fact that the movie thrilled me enough to want to read the book should say volumes to the idea I had of the story.
And I have to say this was one time my instincts were spot on. The book, as much as I enjoyed the movie, was even better. Cute, fun, clever, layered, completely brilliant. The book has elements that the movie didn’t come close to touching on. And I was completely enthralled.
Then, Mr. Gaiman sealed verified my new found love for him again when I heard him read Stardust. I am a huge fan of audiobooks, and even though I’d read the paperback version, I used my chance to purchase the audio to listen to as I drove. And the fact that Mr. Gaiman was the reader gave me a feeling that I had found something special. I was wrong. It was not just something special. It was my find of the century.
As a British man with a deep smooth voice, listening to him read his own work had me so hypnotized there was no way I could shut the book down at the end of my allotted reading/listening time. As I mentioned his voice is deep, smooth, and very British. But also, as the writer, he knew the story and he knew how to use that incredible voice to make the story come alive in a way Hollywood could not.
So I obtained more of his books. Neverwhere had my attention almost as tightly as Stardust. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, another story read by himself, amazing.
So, whenever it was that his first book was released, I wish I had met his writing much sooner.
Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.
The List
POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE
The List
By Nandy Ekle
The best place in the world to find inspiration to write is from those who have proven themselves to be brilliant geniuses, masters in the field. Here is a list of those authors who, when I read their work, I forget to breathe.
Stephen King
JK Rowling
Neil Gaiman
Nora Roberts
James Patterson
Diane Setterfield
Terry Brooks
Piers Anthony
Anne Rule
Janet Evanovich
Mary Stewart
Dr Seuss
Moe Willems
JA Applegate
RL Stein
Ray Bradbury
Gillian Flynn
This is by no means exhaustive as I’ve had 50 years experience as a reader. And I’m always looking for new masters and stories to get lost in.
Tell me whose work gives you goosebumps, thrills, and makes you swoon with joy?
Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.
The List
POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE
The List
By Nandy Ekle
The best place in the world to find inspiration to write is from those who have proven themselves to be brilliant geniuses, masters in the field. Here is a list of those authors who, when I read their work, I forget to breathe.
Stephen King
JK Rowling
Neil Gaiman
Nora Roberts
James Patterson
Diane Setterfield
Terry Brooks
Piers Anthony
Anne Rule
Janet Evanovich
Mary Stewart
Dr Seuss
Moe Willems
JA Applegate
RL Stein
Ray Bradbury
Gillian Flynn
This is by no means exhaustive as I’ve had 50 years experience as a reader. And I’m always looking for new masters and stories to get lost in.
Tell me whose work gives you goosebumps, thrills, and makes you swoon with joy?
Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.
8 Good Writing Practices of Neil Gaiman
8 Good Writing Practices of Neil Gaiman
By Natalie Bright
Neil Gaiman pens science fiction and fantasy in a variety of forms—novels, children’s books, graphic novels, comic books, and film. From an article in The Guardian, I’m sharing his tips on writing:
8 Good Writing Practices
- Write.
- Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.
- Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.
- Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.
- Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
- Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
- Laugh at your own jokes.
- The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.
Wordsmith Six 