Getting Published for Fiction Writers

Has doubt crept under your skin? Have you lost your inspiration? 

Lately, I've found myself reading articles from successful authors trying to absorb advice on becoming a great writer. Through their words, I've found freedom in their profound truths, and the much needed inspiration to believe that I too, can become a writer. Greatness is yet to be determined. :) But, a writer... yes, that I will become.

Below are a few quotes from famous authors that I've found useful. I hope you will be as inspired as I have.

Writing Tips From the Masters:

** 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. ~Mark Twain

Mark Twain, one of my very favorite authors, was a wise man. What he is saying is, eliminate the unnecessary.

** I try to leave out the parts that people skip. ~Elmore Leonard

What Elmore Leonard is saying here is, cut out anything that's boring.

** If any man wish to write in 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

I love this. It's always frightened me when people say, 'Write what you know'. I've felt somehow limited by this. But once I read these words from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, I realized his meaning to be: write what you know... or what you want to know. Talk about encouraging. So many more doors have opened up for me, for there is so very much I want to know.

** Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov

Quite simple, don't you think? Show, don't tell. A beautiful example by Anton Chekhov.

** I don't know much about creative writing programs. But they're not telling the truth if they don't teach, one, that writing is hard work, and, two, that you have to give up a great deal of life, your personal life, to be a writer. ~ Doris Lessing

This is so true. I'm sure all of us can relate to this at even the smallest level. I had no idea how much writing would consume of my time. Not that I regret it. I only wish I'd been better able to warn people.

** Just Write. ~ EB White

I find this to be the most useful of all. :)

** A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song. ~ Maya Angelou

Beautifully said. Follow your instincts, and do what you feel you must.

Again, I hope you've taken some inspiration from these quotes. Why not leave a comment and share your favorites. It might be just what a reader needs to hear. :)

Until next time, stay safe, be well, and be happy.

Dee Ann