“The good stories, of course, write themselves. And somebody wants to know who are the really good writers, and how many of them there are. There aren't any. Most of the writers are likeable frauds. Some are unlikable frauds.”

— R. A. Lafferty

It's Down the Slippery Cellar Stairs (1995)

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R. A. Lafferty 109

American writer 1914–2002

Jim Bishop (1907–1987) American journalist and author

As quoted by Lewis Nichols http://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/30/obituaries/lewis-nichols-times-drama-critic-during-world-war-ii-dead-at-78.html in "Talk With Jim Bishop" http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F03EEDE133AE53BBC4E53DFB466838E649EDE, The New York Times (6 February 1955).

“Good writers indulge their audience; great writers know better.”

Tom Heehler American author

The Well-Spoken Thesaurus (2011)

“A young writer is easily tempted by the allusive and ethereal and ironic and reflective, but the declarative is at the bottom of most good writing.”

Garrison Keillor (1942) American radio host and writer

"Post to the Host" (July 2005) http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/posthost/2005/07/
Context: Journalism is a good place for any writer to start — the retailing of fact is always a useful trade and can it help you learn to appreciate the declarative sentence. A young writer is easily tempted by the allusive and ethereal and ironic and reflective, but the declarative is at the bottom of most good writing.

“Of course, the vision of many works, such as the sense of picture and imagery, is actually unconscious by the writer. If the writer is conscious, he will write very artificial things.”

Geling Yan (1958) Chinese writer and screenwriter

Source: "Yan Geling: I Am Also A Person In The Cave" https://www.bannedbook.org/en/bnews/lifebaike/20211010/1635954.html (10 October 2021)

“If you would be a good reader, read; if a writer, write.”

Epictetus (50–138) philosopher from Ancient Greece

Book II, ch. 18.
Discourses

“A good writer is basically a story teller, not a scholar or a redeemer of mankind.”

Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902–1991) Polish-born Jewish-American author

“I really think that reading is just as important as writing when you're trying to be a writer. Because it's the only apprenticeship we have. It's the only way of learning how to write a story.”

John Green (1977) American author and vlogger

Nov. 26th: Writing Advice (And Notes on Surnameless Tiffany) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gf69J1Go98&feature=channel
YouTube

“You learn to write by writing, and by reading and thinking about how writers have created their characters and invented their stories. If you are not a reader, don't even think about being a writer.”

Jean M. Auel (1936) Novelist

“Most of the writers I know come from a variety of backgrounds: history, journalism, engineering, physics. The common element here is not what you study, but the fact that you learn how to study, to do research, and to synthesize new ideas out of old. The soul of science fiction, and perhaps even all fiction, is to look at a situation and ask, “what would happen if….” Change some variables and see how that makes people react to the situation. So, getting yourself a good grounding in any field of study will supply you with a great background wealth of material to use to build your stories. Then you really just need to start writing and keep writing. Writing is a skills-based endeavor and there is no easy way to become successful at it. Writers write.”

Michael A. Stackpole (1957) science fiction author

"Interview" at his official website http://www.michaelastackpole.com/?page_id=8

“I love writers who limit themselves, who write beneath their intelligence.”

Elias Canetti (1905–1994) Bulgarian-born Swiss and British jewish modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and non-fiction writer

J. Agee, trans. (1989), p. 27
Das Geheimherz der Uhr [The Secret Heart of the Clock] (1987)

“The good stories, of course, write themselves. And somebody wants to know who are the really good writers, and how many of them there are. There aren't any. Most of the writers are likeable frauds. Some are unlikable frauds.”

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