Cliffhanger types and their impact

The mid-action scene cliffhanger
Usually includes:

• Major decision
• A clock running down
• High tension paranoia or drama as an event unfolds
• An announcement of just how near disaster the characters are at (or world)
• Questions left in the air
• Surprise events or revelations

Impact:

• High tension initially
• Quick reduction in attachment to story during a lull
• Mild curiosity as to result unless teasers are used to heighten tension once more

The near-death or death scene cliffhanger
Usually includes:

• Death or near-death (not made clear) of a favourite character
• Death or near-death (not made clear) of an important (to the plot) character
• An announcement of dire circumstances or a decline in health
• Surprise events or revelations
• Portents of death or disaster

Impact:

• High tension initially
• Slow reduction in attachment to the story during a lull
• Lasting curiosity as to the character's survival or the impact of their death

The unsolved mystery cliffhanger

Usually includes:

• Mysterious dialogue
• A look or exchange of information view another method
• Revealing the situation remains unresolved
• The reappearance of a 'dead' character
• Announcement of a surprising event or mysterious development
• Questions left in the air
• Surprise events or revelations

Impact:

• Medium tension initially
• Slow reduction in attachment to the story during a lull
• Lasting curiosity as to how the mystery is resolved

The unresolved relationship/s cliffhanger

Usually includes:

• Question left in the air
• Certain characters left mid-issues
• Mysterious or meaningful dialogue
• Announcement of an unexpected event or relationship development
• Questions left in the air
• Surprise events or revelations

Impact:

• Mild impact initially
• Quick reduction of attachment to the story during a lull
• Quickly fading curiosity as to how the relationships work out (why soap operas don't leave much time between episodes)

The unfinished roundup cliffhanger

Usually includes:

• Mysterious dialogue
• A secret left unrevealed
• Leading events
• Announcement of a mysterious event
• Questions left in the air
• Some major or minor plot lines remain unresolved
• Surprise events or revelations
• Portents

Impact:

• High-mild impact initially (depending on the issues unresolved)
• Moderate-slow reduction of attachment to the story during a lull 
• Lasting curiosity as to how the story continues (mainly due to frustration or attachment to a character)

The hint at more mysteries and/or more action cliffhanger

Usually includes:

• Portents
• Mysterious dialogue
• Possible impending disaster (often less dramatic re impact than a doomsday or major plot change cliffhanger)
• Announcement of an event
• Questions left in the air
• Surprise events or revelations

Impact:

• High impact initially
• Slow reduction of attachment to the story during a lull
• Lasting curiosity as to how the story continues

(Why the round up and cliffhanger of The River drove many people nuts.)

The doomsday cliffhanger

Usually includes:

• Surprise events or revelations
• Announcement of a disastrous event
• Portents
• Impending disaster
• Mysterious dialogue

Impact:

• High impact initially
• Slow reduction of attachment to the story during a lull
• Lasting curiosity as to how the story continues

The major change in plot cliffhanger

Usually includes:

• Major decision made
• Announcement of a surprising event
• Reversal in decision, events or plot
• Impending disaster
• Questions left in the air
• Surprise events or revelations

Impact:

• Medium-high impact initially
• Moderate reduction of attachment to the story during a lull
• Quickly fading curiosity as to how the story continues

A summary of cliffhangers aspects:

• Major decisions made
• Announcement of an event
• Mysterious, important or revealing dialogue
• Secrets revealed
• Questions left in the air
• Impending disaster
• Dangerous emotions
• Portents
• Reversal or decisions, events or plot lines
• Surprise events or revelations

Hints on choosing a type of cliffhanger:

• If writing books, choose one with lasting impact but less initial frustration. The audience tends to want a complete story, even if it is part of a series. If writing an incomplete story, make sure to provide enough reader satisfaction so that any frustration felt doesn't work against the audience's attachment to story.
• If writing TV scripts, choose a high impact and lasting cliffhanger for the final episode of the season but milder ones throughout the season. If writing a suspenseful script rather than an action on then create a final cliffhanger that is high on intrigue.
• If writing movie or play scripts, round up completely unless there's another movie to come in the series. Even so, leave only minor issues or developing relationships unresolved. Any intriguing cliffhanger should have an answer or two hinted at within the story to create arguments within the audience. If there's to be no roundup then no initial explanations are required either.

On judging good books and terrible books and the writing of either

There are good books, great books, entertaining books, life changing books, enlightening books, exciting books, world exploring books, whispering books, shocking books, horrifying books, repellent books and much more. All of them a good books. They're books to be read and to learn from. And then there are terrible books in which there is nothing but emptiness behind the words.

The question is: How can you tell them apart? Followed, of course, by these questions: What is worth printing or reading? How do we choose what to print and read? Are there many left unprinted that are worth reading? Are we able to find all the books worth our time or are there some rotting away in attics or lost to mass publication, distribution and mulching?

There is much to be said on the questions that follow and usually along the lines of: we aren't printing everything that's worthwhile, we're printing and reading a lot of trash, there are there so few people calling the shots on what becomes available to read, there are tonnes of books left unprinted that are interesting to read... so on and so forth. Essays could and have been written on many of these topics, addressing the pros and cons of publishing, of writing and or reading.

But the question for today is: How can you tell a terrible book full of emptiness from a good book, whatever its particular genre or style or 'flavour', as it were? It is a good question to answer given that I'm currently in the book recommendation business, if not reviewing. It is also one to ponder while reading manuscripts and assessing them for an agent. And even when writing a book of my own. Certainly, just because I put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard it doesn't mean that my work isn't full of emptiness. And how do I explain that a light-hearted piece isn't light for emptiness? The question does echo through so much. It is there when I buy books, when I choose what to read next. It is there when I scan mangas, when I look at movie covers on a lonely evening. It is there when faced with a library's worth of books and I stand about wondering where to start or if I shouldn't at all because there's something better elsewhere. It is there when faced with the choices educators hand my way and I wonder why I'm reading this old thing over again and not something else. It is even there when I grasp onto a book so I can walk down the street without thinking I've forgotten my mind or when I put the current selection close on the bedside table so I can sleep well at night. The question bears thought, I believe, as I have often been called upon to justify my thoughts, actions, choices, habits, attachments, writing style, imaginary worlds, genre choices, intellectual pursuits and judgments.

To me the answer is both fairly simple and deeply complicated, as all good things tend to be. The short and sweet answer reads like a greeting card: A good book makes you think and dwell within the covers as long as possible. Something of this sort. Or maybe an answer along the lines of ripples in the mind, echoes of thought and feeling, lingering attachments to what was found within the covers or even a life-changing work.

But the vague greeting card answers don't help much if you want to actually create a work that could be said to be a darn good book. Just how do you make people dwell on what's within the covers or feel any sort of mind-altering impact? Just how literary and serious must a writer be to create such pieces of great worth? Or better yet, is there a formula you can show me on how to do all of the above? What the above leaves the creative is a mass of confusion, nail-biting paranoia and uncertainty. It leaves the creative wondering if their work is justifiable or even worthy enough to be read at all? Maybe if all the spelling and grammar is correct then it could be read by at least someone, right?

Greeting card evaluations are useless. You can't provide a manuscript assessment with any of them. You can't answer why you chose one book over another with them. You can't justify your attachments either. No, you must produce more in-depth analysis and justify yourself clearly. Otherwise, one book is as good as another because every book reflects at least a little of the light that is life and if we're reading for those reflections then they are everywhere and in every book written by a human. And even by those written by non-humans, if ever we come across such a thing (I'd love to see such a day but that's just my mind off wandering again).

The longer and more complicated answer to the question of what is the difference between a terrible book and a good one is something you'll trip over nearly every time you ask the question "Why?" just after asking the question "What's your favourite book?". To each his or her own, really, as it depends on what is reflected, whether the reader sees it or not, whether it is a perfect or distorted reflection of their life experiences and whether the reflection is at all recognisable or understandable. This means that there's no perfect or best book ever written, just ones the majority find intriguing, comforting, illuminating, disturbing and life-altering and ones the majority just don't get.

"William Shakespeare!", you're thinking, because he addressed so much of what it is to be human. But then, so do many others in their dramas. "Chaucer!" for his ability to address our baser natures and reveal us for what we are. But then, there are thousands of lesser know writers about who constantly point out just how gritty, polluted and base humanity is - take Chuck Palahniuk for an example of a better known one. Chuck or Chaucer? Which works are better? Don't think on mass popularity or intellectual pursuits. Don't consider how many sold or lasting through centuries. Just the works. Side by side. Which are the best sets of work? There are likely many of you saying "Well Chaucer, obviously" while the others are muttering "But I've only read Chuck's and his works are more relevant to today". Between these two major players you are stuck in a deadlock. But if I tried to pitch my own work or a fellow unpublished writer's work into the mix against either or both (mine isn't a gritty-mode book but this is just for argument's sake so whatever) and asked the same question I believe the answer would be flat our Chaucer or Chuck, depending on which I or we are being judged against. Yet this answer could well be wrong.

All this is on how we value a book, how we perceive it due to culture and fashion. But perceived value and fashion doesn't actually make a book good. If it did we'd be lauding Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey rather than trashing them so thoroughly (after reading them or sometimes only after hearing of the content). Which means that such perception and fashionability, based on individual and mass opinion, do not a good book make and so all of those books that are printed and read on mass could well be trash. When working with equations you have to mind the faults. Or at least that's what I learnt while steadily failing math exams during year 9 for not paying attention to such a boring subject (my own perception but certainly not that of Hawking who I happen to admire, like so many others). Making up answers and saying they're definitely true for everyone just doesn't cut it.

And on that note, to add further complications to this mess of an explanation, there are many out there who love Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey and will hate you for trashing it in front of them, also finding themselves almost forced to justify themselves at which point they become indignant, angry, rebellious, argumentative and possibly violent. The need to justify stems from the feeling that the masses, or at least the person in front of them, has trashed everything about themselves that they saw reflected back at them in those books. Along with trashing their right to an opinion, their right to be heard and their hope to be understood.

Is publication an indication that the book is good and a lack of publication that the book is terrible? The answer to that is a resounding no. You may be thinking, "but I can't remember reading such a terrible book" but I will assume that is because most of the time you've chosen books to read as you've seen that there could be something in there for you. The experience is quite different when you're reading without that choice, just reading what's been plunked in front of you. At least you might remember experiencing something like this at school. Even then though, the books given to you were likely ones capable of reflecting a lot of life to a lot of people and so they were likely good ones, whether you paid them any attention or not.

What a mess...

So. I'd have to say that in short you're likely to write a good book as long as you put some of yourself in it. And you're likely to find a book good as long as you put in the effort to see something in it.

If you blinker yourself too much you won't see anything and all books will be terribly empty. Why? Because you are. If you remove the blinkers, or never set them in place (unlikely), then you are free to experience anything and see the reflections everywhere. And you become full  enough to possibly, one day, be called wise.

If you fail to writing your thoughts, experiences, emotions, actions and sensations down then no-one can see any of it within your book. Being literary isn't required. Being serious isn't required. Slugging people over the head with a long fictional argument on a particular subject and ending it with a moral or definitive answer isn't required. Being human and conveying your humanity is. Fill the pages with it however you like, in whatever style you like and using characters born of yourself. Readers will see you and see themselves and your work will be good.

The equation here isn't so faulty. A terrible book is one written by a blinkered and empty person. There's no substance, no life, within or behind the words. No meaning behind the actions of characters. No resounding cause and effect within the world written. This lack is easily felt, whether a book has been published and approved of or not, and it is because of this that the book quickly fades away.

On what building tension in fiction really means

Shower scene from Hitchcock's Psycho where a murderer's advances are expected to be seen in time but aren't and the heroine you expect to be there the entire movie is killed early.

When you start out in writing you frequently hear people say that there needs to be tension in the story every step of the way. And sometimes you're left wondering just what they mean by tension. Other times you're led to believe that tension equals drama which means highlighting all the things that go wrong for the characters, big or small, and potentially writing almost solely on such things as murders, battles, betrayals, illness, heart-break, kidnappings and so on and so forth. In fact, on hearing about tension many of us assume it comes from the dark side of life only and tension denotes tense muscles, tense thoughts, anxiety and an expectation of bad things to come.

The only word in that last sentence you should pay attention to though, if you're a writer, is expectation. In creating fiction tension is more often than not produced by building up audience expectations over either the long or short term before revealing the answers, answers that hopefully lead to more expectations. There is as much tension in the building up of a slapstick joke as there is in the slow creeping of a serial killer towards a victim. The audience either understands what's coming or believes it does, only to be shocked or amused by what actually happens. What happens can be unexpected or according to their expectations and it almost doesn't matter which, as long as the tension through expectations has been adequately built. Without such expectation in the audience nearly all will just read or watch on through with little reaction other than "I knew that was coming". If you're lucky. If not, then the book, comic, TV show or movie etc. will be dropped as it is too boring.

Character is acting as shy and engaged as expected and then slapstick ensues.

Take a note from slasher films. You honestly know exactly what's going to happen. Teens are going to bite it, especially if they've had sex. The blond will scream and scream as she's knifed to death in bloody Hitchcock style (now in full colour). The victims will be predominantly female and the males running about trying to save the day will be shown up for the fools they are. And at the end there's a high probability that the killer will either get away with it or do a last minute pop up to be killed all over again. So. You know the story. Slashers be slashers. Yet there are good ones and bad ones, ones that make you laugh hysterically the whole way through and others that make you jump in your seat over and over again. All with relatively the same plot. What makes the good ones stand out? The amount of time and effort that goes into building audience expectations, whether the resulting tension focuses on the slapstick aspect or the horror.


You might read this and say, "Well, that's nice but how do I translate that into writing light-hearted comedy or literature or chic-lit?". The same principle applies really, it is just that the material you're working with differs. Now, instead of focusing on the knife and the killer's slow advance towards the shower curtain you focus on the bubble of conversation/argument as it pulls towards a punchline, the creation of behaviour patterns along with hints that things are all about to be destroyed, the growing discord between two or more groups as they attempt to solve a mystery or thwart those solving it, and so on.

There doesn't have to be a death, a breakup or the destruction of a family in the creation of tension. And you really don't need a serial killer, which has now become the easiest way anyone can write a story with tension. If you think I'm lying then pay attention to just how many serial killers are popping up in fiction nowadays compared to 10 years ago. There's been a serial killer revolution all based on the fact that serial killers provide drama which is tension producing and fits the bill of that demand all producers and editors have of "we need some tension here!". It is easy to go for the dark side of things when building tension but do keep in mind that a light-hearted story has tension in it and it takes skill to create such tension. All because without tension through building expectations there's no laughter, there's no freedom in discovering something unexpected, there's no thunderclap of realisation in putting together the puzzle pieces in an instant.

The best works, whether light or dark in nature, set you up, make you believe you know what's coming and then sneak in something completely unexpected. They don't revel in the darkness only and feed you just what you expect. Such stories wear after a while as the audience never gets either a glimpse that everything will end happily or a spoonful of something different. Same goes for overly gushy romances actually. The audience never gets a hint of what would happen in real life if such things occurred and gets annoyed with the cute, cuddly, flowered, glitzy and perfectly made up everything in the stories - be it the people or the world or the relationships. The best horrors break expectations and the best romances too. And that's after they set you up to expect certain things either through ads, through character stereotypes or through plot line development. Alternatively, you can go the extra mile of creating something no-one's ever come across before, which is quite hard to do so maybe settle for something that's by and large never been seen before (see note).

And just for fun: The characters are dressed and presented as expected and then you're hit with the language.

Note

When you remove the character descriptions so only the motivations remain, sift away all the landscape extras and just write the general plot line a lot of stories read the same or similar to each other. That nothing is truly original and everything is built upon something is just the nature of how human's build and develop ideas. To write a good story is to make large developments upon the old, to write an average story is to make few developments and to write a bad one is to make no developments or actually actively destroy the foundations already there. 

Writing angry: a crash course in dos and don'ts

I write this from experience so please take a note or two. I could pass a degree on this subject if there was one to pass and so can quite easily be your guide through this quagmire.

People say don't drive angry because when you do you're reaction times are altered, your judgment is impaired and your risk taking skyrockets. 

• Reaction times are altered but generally so they are faster. This may seem a good thing but only if you're avoiding a crash. If you're winding through traffic though, that zip from one lane to another might be done a little too fast. You might clip the person behind you or you might make the change so suddenly they never saw it coming so never slammed on the breaks. Bam!
• You judgment skews as your first impulse is usually taken without further thought being applied and as we've all learnt at some time or another your first impulse is not always the best one. Sometimes you need to reconsider or risk crashing for lack of seeing an obvious issue.
• Your risk taking skyrockets because you just plain don't care so much about anything when you're right royal mad, except about what made you mad in the first place of course. You just want to assert your own way. Unfortunately the universe doesn't go along with your whims. Ever. It just does what it wants and has to and if it goes your way this holds no more meaning than your calling the right answer in  game of heads or tails. Some effort can be applied to get what you want but that is simply manipulating the causes and hoping the effects will be as desired. Driving angry is like driving with the intention of rewriting the laws of physics for your benefit. Your rewrites are never going to be accepted. Bam smash crash!

I say don't write angry or hit send without some consideration as to the consequences. Your consideration may not be enough but at least you've taken two seconds to rethink what you've written and its appropriateness. I equate writing angry like driving angry for these reasons:

• Your reaction times are altered but generally so they are faster. You'll tap or scrawl that message out so fast your fingers will blur, your mind will race but only focus on the task of screaming into the machine and you'll slam that send button down with the full force of your rage. Crunch! There goes your job, your relationship or whatever it is that connects you to the person you're raging at.
• Your judgment skews as your first impulse is usually taken without further thought. You write what's immediately on your mind with no thought whatsoever on how it could be read. You don't revise your words in consideration of the other person/s. You rant and rage and when you hit send you will later find out that you said some terrible things, things you shouldn't have. Fwomp! The sound of your confidence imploding as nervous uncertainty rushes in to fill its place.
• Your risk taking skyrockets because you just plain don't care so much about the consequences when you're right royal mad. In fact you're usually thinking "Bring It On!" or "I Don't F*cking Care!". You really do care and you don't really want an endless fight or to be fired. What you want is a quick, neat solution (hopefully to your benefit because most of us are self-serving to one degree or another) and one involving as little pain and effort as possible. Instead, what you've done by effectively screaming  "Bring It On!" or "I Don't F*cking Care!" is alienate the person receiving your message and maybe even make them bring it on as requested. Life is about to get hard.

So a tip or two from experience and from watching others. Don't write angry when:

• You're writing to an employer. Death Knell!
• You're writing to a client. Not even when you're about to get rid of them. Reputations are destroyed by an angry dismissal or rejection letter.
• When you've been rejected over anything. Breathe. Think. Try to reason. Leave it a day or two. Then respond with a clearer head.
• When writing to friends who aren't as close as brothers or sisters willing to stick around (not all do) so won't put up with any more than they have to. You will lose your friend and likely gain an enemy.
• Your neighbour. Ever. Wars are fought for less.
• Any form of bureaucrat who has control of your money, house or life, especially one you'll have to answer to again some day. They will make your life hell on a whim because you pissed them off and they have power over just how comfortable your life is. Making your life uncomfortable is revenge from a distance to them.
• Distanced family. It will end badly if they can't read what you're saying without taking into account and forgiving you that you're mad. If you've never been mad at them before and had them forgive you for it don't expect whoever you're writing to to absorb your rage without retribution. Expect a fight or even a family feud.

Cases when writing angry is perfectly fine:

• If you know that the recipient will come back to talk to you again another day. There are fewer people in the world who will do this for you than you think. It usually involves close family, very close friends and your spouse. Maybe.
• You are writing for yourself and your words will never be read by another person. Even diaries aren't completely safe so try not to keep records and records of angry spiteful b*tching in your diaries. Burn after writing is a better idea than burn after reading.
• Your rage is vented through fictional characters who aren't enacting anything close to what you're angry about.
• You are fully prepared before and after for the consequences. Mostly you won't be but on the odd occasion that "Bring It On!" is warranted and should be carried through. No one is saying you have to suffer everything hurled at you. Just pick and choose your battles with care and consideration.
• When your anger is backed by statements, studies and logical conclusions as in writing for a political or social cause etc. Anger is an element of change as much as it is of destruction. Use it wisely but don't let it be you.

When writing angry and you just can't stop or you really must express your rage:

• Somewhere in the back of your rage-filled mind, remember to curb the angriest of your statements.
• Reread what you've scrawled up and edit out the most hurtful sections without removing the point of your argument.
• Try to remember that logic is still required. Being enraged doesn't mean you can say or do anything and excuse yourself. Anger does not equal righteousness. Logic should keep you on track and your answers appropriate so send only after you've had a chance to calm down and think logically about what you've written.
• Try to see through the flush of adrenaline and/or the tears to how the other person might feel and if you think they might feel bombarded or hurt or insulted try to express that you understand but...... (insert your point of view).
• Don't hit send until you're sure you aren't in the wrong.

Right now there is one person out there probably feeling a bit raked up after I suffered an unexpected and complete meltdown, tears and raging included, so I'm not without fault. This is my advice from practice and there's no preaching involved. Do as you must and suffer the consequences you bring about upon yourself. I'm already feeling the weight of logic pressing back down on my brain, seeing through literally clearer eyes (though they sting quite a bit and it is hard to focus to editing) and feeling that numb sense of "Holy cow what just happened?" as I try to figure out which bus just ran me over.

Here's another useful take on writing angry if you're prone to it:

Quotes from writers about writing

Here are some of my favourite quotes about writing from writers. Personally, I struggle to even out my thoughts without a good, energy consuming project and what better long-term project is there than writing for someone addicted to stories and escapism. It only remains to be seen whether this leads me anywhere other than fantasyland.

For me, writing is cathartic.

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.
 - Cyril Connolly

Writing is a cop-out. An excuse to live perpetually in fantasy land, where you can create, direct and watch the products of your own head. Very selfish.
 - Monica Dickens

There are many reasons why novelists write – but they all have one thing in common: a need to create an alternative world.
 - John Fowles

Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing.
 - Melinda Haynes

Writing wasn’t easy to start. After I finally did it, I realized it was the most direct contact possible with the part of myself I thought I had lost, and which I constantly find new things from. Writing also includes the possibility of living many lives as well as living in any time or world possible. I can satisfy my enthusiasm for research, but jump like a calf outside the strict boundaries of science. I can speak about things that are important to me and somebody listens. It’s wonderful!
 - Virpi Hämeen-Anttila

Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer.
 - Barbara Kingsolver

Writing is the best way to talk without being interrupted.
 - Jules Renard

Reading usually precedes writing and the impulse to write is almost always fired by reading. Reading, the love of reading, is what makes you dream of becoming a writer.
 - Susan Sontag

Write something to suit yourself and many people will like it; write something to suit everybody and scarcely anyone will care for it.
 - Jesse Stuart

I learned that you should feel when writing, not like Lord Byron on a mountain top, but like a child stringing beads in kindergarten - happy, absorbed and quietly putting one bead on after another.
 - Brenda Ueland

I can’t help but to write, I have a inner need for it. If I’m not in the middle of some literary project, I’m utterly lost, unhappy and distressed. As soon as I get started, I calm down.
 - Kaari Utrio

If you're a freelance writer and aren't used to being ignored, neglected, and generally given short shrift, you must not have been in the business very long.
 - Poppy Z. Brite

Writing is the hardest work in the world. I have been a bricklayer and a truck driver, and I tell you – as if you haven't been told a million times already – that writing is harder.  Lonelier. And nobler and more enriching.
 - Harlan Ellison

Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.
 - Robert A. Heinlein

It's tougher than Himalayan yak jerky on January. But, as any creative person will tell you, there are days when there's absolutely nothing sweeter than creating something from nothing.
 - Richard Krzemien

Writing is not a genteel profession. It's quite nasty and tough and kind of dirty.
 - Rosemary Mahoney

People are certainly impressed by the aura of creative power, which a writer may wear, but can easily demolish it with a few well-chosen questions. Bob Shaw has observed that the deadliest questions usually come as a pair: "Have you published anything?" – loosely translated as: I've never heard of you – and "What name do you write under?" – loosely translatable as: I've definitely never heard of you.
 - Brian Stableford

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.
 - Red Smith

Writing is so difficult that I feel that writers, having had their hell on earth, will escape all punishment hereafter.
 - Jessamyn West

I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.
 - Oscar Wilde

If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I'd type a little faster.
 - Isaac Asimov

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you're doomed.
 - Ray Bradbury

Life is what happens to a writer between drafts.
 - Damon (aka Dennis R. Miller)

Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
 - E. L. Doctorow

You can't say, I won't write today because that excuse will extend into several days, then several months, then… you are not a writer anymore, just someone who dreams about being a writer.
 - Dorothy C. Fontana

The way you define yourself as a writer is that you write every time you have a free minute. If you didn't behave that way you would never do anything.
 - John Irving

Writing is a fairly lonely business unless you invite people in to watch you do it, which is often distracting and then have to ask them to leave.
 - Marc Lawrence

You may be able to take a break from writing, but you won't be able to take a break from being a writer.
 - Stephen Leigh

One hasn't become a writer until one has distilled writing into a habit, and that habit has been forced into an obsession. Writing has to be an obsession. It has to be something as organic, physiological and psychological as speaking or sleeping or eating.
 - Niyi Osundare

God sells us all things at the price of the labor.
 - Leonardo da Vinci