Wisdom From A Master

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master, quotes, Ray Bradbury, science fiction, wisdom, writing inspiration, Zen in the Art of Writing

I have read several excellent books that share advice on writing. There are a number of them on the shelves in bookstores, imploring young writers to purchase them and leaf through their pages.

The one I enjoyed the most was Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. Because my schedule tonight won’t allow for a new piece of fiction, I thought I would take a moment and share some nuggets of wisdom from that book and hope it inspires the writer in all of us to continue writing every day we can:

“Write. Don’t think. Relax.”

“And what, you ask, does writing teach us? First and foremost, it reminds us that we are alive and that it is a gift and a privilege, not a right.”

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”

“It is a lie to write in such way as to be rewarded by fame offered you by some snobbish quasi-literary groups in the intellectual gazettes.”

“I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.”

“You grow ravenous. You run fevers. You know exhilaration. You can’t sleep at night, because your beast-creature ideas want out and turn you in your bed. It is a grand way to live.”

“Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.”

“We must take arms each and every day, perhaps knowing that the battle cannot be entirely won, but fight we must, if only a gentle bout. The smallest effort to win means, at the end of each day, a sort of victory. Remember that pianist who said that if he did not practice every day he would know, if he did not practice for two days, the critics would know, after three days, his audiences would know.

A variation of this is true for writers. Not that your style, whatever that is, would melt out of shape in those few days.

But what would happen is that the world would catch up with and try to sicken you. If you did not write every day, the poisons would accumulate and you would begin to die, or act crazy, or both.”

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Team Nine: Whispatory and Scholarly Scribe – Part 2

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apprentice, magic, master, partner, short story, Trifecta, Whispatory, writing prompt

Tonight I’ll begin with an announcement: I have entered Ogre Hunt into the America’s Next Author contest. So go there and grab a copy, read it, review it, and vote for it!

This week Trifecta is having their anniversary challenge, randomly pairing us with a partner for the prompt. My partner is Jennifer from Whispatory, who completed the first portion of the challenge earlier this week. Today I will pick up where she left off and finish the story in my allotted 33-100 words.

The bold paragraph was the initial start to the story given to her. The italics are what Jennifer added to it, and then we’ll transition into the conclusion that I’m adding.

Charts and optimal dates and preferential temperatures. One line or two. As if she could summon whatever it is that makes up the human soul as easily as she could a cab on a busy New York avenue.

She can’t but her mentor can. Her lips press into a grim line, sweat pops on her forehead as she pumps harder straining her quads and calves, weaving in and out of traffic. It’s dangerous she knows, a door could open any second and send her slamming down on asphalt only to be crushed under relentless rubber wheels. But she is far less afraid of that fate than not retrieving the package her mentor sent her to collect in time.

She skids to a halt, teetering on her toes, just in time to avoid being cut off by a red convertible. She sprints down the street, worried that she might be late. She hurdles a door that opens in front of her, thinking that this would be easier if he taught her to fly.

Twelve years as his apprentice and she was still learning basics.

She rounds a corner and cuts into an alley, taking the fire escape into an abandoned apartment. She enters into the room through a broken window.

“Congratulations,” her master says, “today you become a master.”