Snippets of Writerly Wisdom (part 1) Snippets of Writerly Wisdom (part 1) Snippets of Writerly Wisdom, Part 1

I’ve decided that writers and artists are possibly the smartest people on the planet. We may not actually be building rockets and flying through space, or curing cancer, or even the flu, but we are open to any and all possibilities—even when the odds are stacked against us. (And dudes, we totally WRITE about all those things.)

I have heard some of life’s best wisdom from the mouths of authors/artists who are talking off the cuff. Panels, as you will often find at symposiums and conferences where writerly-types gather, are a great place to find valuable little snippets that make you think.

This week, I thought I’d share some of the snippets I picked up at my most recent symposium foray. Today is writing Wednesday, therefore, the following quotes will pertain mostly to writing. (And on Friday, I’ll share some that apply to life for everyone, not just artists, yeah? Okay.)

“You can’t create a villain just to fight the hero. The villain should never be evil just because your hero is good.” ~ (Sorry, I don’t know the name of the person who said this, but I thought it was good.)

“A good place to start is to decide to finish. “ ~Jess Smart Smiley, author of Upside Down, a Vampire Tale

“Art is making lines on paper and choosing where they go.” ~James A. Owen.

“Suspense and tension are not the same thing. Every book doesn’t need suspense, but they all need tension.” ~James Dashner, author of The Mazerunner series.

“Any time your character faces a choice between two goods or two bads, they are choosing who they’re going to be.” ~Clint Johnson

“Your goal is not to create reality, but the illusion of reality.” ~J. Scott Savage author of Farworld

“Creativity is about what is calling to you, what you think about a lot, what you want to talk about a lot.” ~Sandra Tayler

“Get into a rhythm where you finish one book, then set it aside for a bit and work on something else. It’s how you grow. “ ~Brodi Ashton author of Everneath

Lots of good stuff, right? I’m sure I’ll be blogging more about some of it in weeks to come. But for now, I hope you saw one thing that reached out and grabbed you.