Sir Terry Pratchett’s Wisdom on Writing
“If you have enough book space, I don’t want to talk to you.”
“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” “First draft: let it run. Turn all the knobs up to 11. Second draft: hell. Cut it down and cut it into shape. Third draft: comb its nose and blow its hair. I usually find that most of the book will have handed itself to me on that first draft.”
“Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can. Of course, I could be wrong.”
“[Science fiction is] out in the mainstream now. You can tell by the way mainstream literary authors pillage SF while denying they’re writing it!”
“There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write.”
“Let grammar, punctuation, and spelling into your life! Even the most energetic and wonderful mess has to be turned into sentences.”
“Go anywhere you wish, talk to everyone. Ask any questions; you will be given answers. When you want to learn, you will be taught. Use the library. Open any book.”
“I read anything that’s going to be interesting. But you don’t know what it is until you’ve read it. Somewhere in a book on the history of false teeth there’ll be the making of a novel.”
“Writing is the most fun you can have by yourself.”
“I do note with interest that old women in my books become young women on the covers… this is discrimination against the chronologically gifted.”
“Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom.”
“I have no use for people who have learned the limits of the possible.”
“Books must be treated with respect, we feel that in our bones, because words have power. Bring enough words together they can bend space and time.”
“Bringing about Armageddon can be dangerous. Do not attempt it in your own home.”
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Filed under: Writing Resources Tagged: Discworld, Quotes, Sir Terry Pratchett, wisdom, Writing Advice
