CataUniversity | inspiration

Planning to Write

By Alice ⋅ February 22, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

“Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you’re doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.”
E.L. Doctorow
This post was submitted by Alice.

Plot VS Characters

By Alice ⋅ February 15, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

“I always start with characters rather than with a plot, which many critics would say is very obvious from the lack of plot in my films although I think they do have plots – but the plot is not of primary importance to me, the characters are.”
Film Director Jim Jarmusch
This post was submitted by Alice.

More on Plot

By Alice ⋅ February 8, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

“It\’s like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”
This post was submitted by Alice.

Conflict and Plot

By Alice ⋅ February 1, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

“In order to have a plot, you have to have a conflict, something bad has to happen.”
Mike Judge
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Plotting in Advance

By Alice ⋅ February 1, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

“If I had a plot that was all set in advance, why would I want go through the agony of writing the novel? A novel is a kind of exploration and discovery, for me at any rate.”
Chaim Potok
This post was submitted by Alice.

Good Advice

By Alice ⋅ January 25, 2010 ⋅ One comment

“Plotting isn’t like sex, because you can go back and adjust it afterwards. Whether you plan your story beforehand or not, if the climax turns out to be the revelation that the mad professor’s anti-gravity device actually works, you must go back and silently delete all those flying cars buzzing around the city on page [...]

Inspiration

By Alice ⋅ January 25, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

An absolutely necessary part of a writer’s equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment the world hands out and the punishment he inflicts on himself.
Irwin Shaw
This post was submitted by Alice.

War

By Alice ⋅ January 18, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

To hold a pen is to be at war.
Voltaire
This post was submitted by Alice.

Just Write

By Alice ⋅ January 5, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

I was talking with a friend today and she was lamenting the fact that her story wasn’t progressing as quickly as she’d hoped.
My suggestion: just sit down and write.
I know what you’re thinking. Easier said than done.
But that’s not exactly true. You can’t wait for inspiration to strike. You must go out and grab [...]