thoughts on writing

People naturally remember musical language, and I would encourage writers to inject their prose with a bit of music. When you’re writing, think about repetition and variety. Crescendos and rests. Pace and punctuation. Read your work out loud, and feel the rhythm of the words in your voice.

I have learned so many things from music about writing. I think there are three important elements: rhythm, harmony, and free improvisation. I learned these things from music, not from literature. And when I started to write, I tried to write as though I were playing music.

So many writers write small, shallow things in a complicated, difficult style. I think what I want to do is write serious, complicated, difficult things in a very easy style that is fluid and comfortable to read.

If you have a plan—if you know the end when you start—it’s no fun to write that novel.

“Writing is often the process by which you realize you do not understand what you are talking about.”

Neil Gaiman has two rules when he sits down to write:1. He doesn't have to write anything if he doesn't feel like it.2. He can't leave or do anything else until the writing time he set aside is over.(This comes from his appearance on the Tim Ferriss podcast - it's worth a listen.)

Good input=good output: to be a great writer, we must be great readers. I’ve found that the quality of the texts I read influences the quality of the writing I produce.

Prioritize the whole rather than the parts : when it comes to writing, often we want to share more than would benefit the piece. In my final edits, I often delete factoids and quotations that interest me but detract from my overall message. As I tell my students, good writing is good editing. Take out all the bits that don’t benefit the whole.