#advice

Q: Do you have any advice for upcoming writers who want to pen weird stories? A: READ, damn it. Fill your brain to the bursting point with the good stuff, starting with writers that you truly enjoy, and then work your way backward and outward, reading those writers who inspired the writers you love best. That was my path as far as Weird/Horror Fiction, starting with Lovecraft, and then working my way backward/outward on the Weird Fiction spiderweb. And don’t limit your reading. Read it all, especially non-fiction and various news outlets. You’d be surprised by how many of my story ideas were born while listening to NPR, perusing a blog, or paging through Vanity Fair. Once you have your fuel squared away, just write what you love, in whatever style and genre. You’ll never have fun being someone you’re not, so be yourself. When a singer opens their mouth, what comes out is what comes out. Also, don’t be afraid to fail, and don’t be afraid to walk away. Writing isn’t for everyone, and that’s totally fine. One doesn’t need to be a writer to enjoy being a reader and overall fan of genre or wider fiction. ↗

— T.E. Grau

#writing-process #inspirational

Read. Read all the time. Read as a matter of principle, as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life.” (Wellesly High School commencement speech, “You Are Not Special”, 6-12) ↗

— Teacher David McCullough

#commencement #graduation #read #reading #you-are-not-special

Life is always going to be a series of ouch-making moments, and the question was, was I going to go all fetal position, or was I going to woman up? I went into fetal position on the bed to think about this. Fetal position turned out to be very comfortable. ↗

— Maureen Johnson

#life-advice #rory-deveaux #life

Adventure, my dear, is as much a state of mind as anything else. One can travel the world and never find the excitement to be found within arm's reach. Remain true to yourself, but understand happiness may not always be found in the plans we have laid out for ourselves, but rather in the unforeseen turns life takes us. Do not close your mind, or your heart, to the unexpected twists of life. It is those unexpected paths that could well lead to the greatest adventures of all. - The Dowager Duchess to Marianne in The Marriage Lesson ↗

— Victoria Alexander

#the-marriage-lesson #life

Love is a vessel that contains both security and adventure, and commitment offers one of the great luxuries of life: time. Marriage is not the end of romance, it is the beginning. ↗

— Esther Perel

#love #marriage #marriage-advice #romance #time

If a writer starts worring about what he or she has left out or forgotten, they might not be able to write even a single line. ↗

— Baby Halder

#bengali #india #memoir #women #women-writers

In those days he was wiser than he is now - he used frequently to take my advice. ↗

— Lord Chesterfield

#days #frequently #now #take #than

An expert is somebody who is more than 50 miles from home, has no responsibility for implementing the advice he gives, and shows slides. ↗

— Edwin Meese

#expert #gives #home #implementing #miles

Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself. ↗

— Marcus Tullius Cicero

#advice #give #nobody #than #wiser

Unfortunately, I was not wise enough to listen to her advice, and hastily married. In a few weeks, I had occasion to repent of the step I had taken, as the report proved true - a report which I thought justified, and indeed required, our separation. ↗

— Maria Monk

#enough #few #had #hastily #her