Category Archives: Quotations

The greatest possible merit of style is, of course, to make the words absolutely disappear into the thought. —Nathaniel Hawthorne

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

A good writer is one you can read without breaking a sweat. If you want a workout, you don’t lift a book—you lift weights. Yet we’re brainwashed to believe that the more brilliant the writer, the tougher the going. The … Continue reading →

Here’s a quiz for you. Who said this? So if you speak in a way no one can understand, what’s the point of opening your mouth? Sounds like someone asking people to use plain language, doesn’t it? Hint: This quotation … Continue reading →

If you forget everything else you ever knew about writing, remember this: By taking up the study of writing now, you are assuming consciously, probably for the first time in your lives, a responsibility for our language. What is that … Continue reading →

“A good idea presented badly can look like no idea, or a bad idea. So you owe it to your ideas to present them well.” —Patrick Winston

“When I am working on a book or story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and … Continue reading →

“Care should be taken, not that the reader may understand, but that he must understand.” —Quintillian 

“Spelling mistakes, typos, mistakes in idiom, unfashionable usages, all these characterize you as a writer controlled by language rather than controlling it. You present yourself as still in rompers. It is not a question of being clear. These revelations of … Continue reading →