“ I’d rather be caught holding up a bank than stealing so much as a two-word phrase from another writer.
Jack Smith (one of my all time favorites - but not so well known unless you grew up with his column in the L.A. Times. I highly recommend that you check out his book, God and Mr. Gomez, which can be purchased used, and i think there are some reprints out there.)
TRIX
“ Everywhere I go I’m asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don’t stifle enough of them. There’s many a bestseller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.
Flannery O’Connor
“ I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top.
English Professor (Name Unknown), Ohio University
“ 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
“ I try to leave out the parts that people skip.
Elmore Leonard
“ No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else’s draft.
H.G. Wells
“ 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
“ Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
Mark Twain
“ It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.
William Faulkner
“ Writing gives you the illusion of control, and then you realize it’s just an illusion, that people are going to bring their own stuff into it.
David Sedaris
