Search results for “zadie smith”

Nobel Laureate Alice Munro on the Secret of a Great Story

“A story … has a sturdy sense of itself of being built out of its own necessity, not just to shelter or beguile you.”

read article

Anaïs Nin on Writing, the Future of the Novel, and How Keeping a Diary Enhances Creativity: Wisdom from a Rare 1947 Chapbook

“It is in the moments of emotional crisis that human beings reveal themselves most accurately.”

read article

Neil Gaiman’s Advice to Aspiring Writers

“You have to finish things — that’s what you learn from, you learn by finishing things.”

read article

Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing

“If it sounds like writing … rewrite it.”

read article

Raymond Chandler on Writing: A Lifetime of Wisdom on the Craft from His Private Letters

“Writers … have to fight the impulse to live up to someone else’s idea of what they are.”

read article

William Faulkner on Writing, the Purpose of Art, Working in a Brothel, and the Meaning of Life

“The only environment the artist needs is whatever peace, whatever solitude, and whatever pleasure he can get at not too high a cost.”

read article

Samuel Johnson on Writing and Creative Doggedness

“Composition is for the most part an effort of slow diligence and steady perseverance, to which the mind is dragged by necessity or resolution, and from which the attention is every moment starting to more delightful amusements.”

read article

Charles Bukowski on Writing and His Crazy Daily Routine

“Writing is like going to bed with a beautiful woman and afterwards she gets up, goes to her purse and gives me a handful of money.”

read article

10 Tips on Writing from Joyce Carol Oates

“Don’t try to anticipate an ideal reader — or any reader. He/she might exist — but is reading someone else.”

read article

Timeless Advice on Writing: The Collected Wisdom of Great Writers

Hemingway, Didion, Baldwin, Fitzgerald, Sontag, Vonnegut, Bradbury, Morrison, Orwell, Le Guin, Woolf, and other titans of literature.

read article

donating = loving

Every month, I spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars keeping The Marginalian going. For seventeen years, it has remained free and ad-free and alive thanks to patronage from readers. I have no staff, no interns, not even an assistant — a thoroughly one-woman labor of love that is also my life and my livelihood. If this labor makes your own life more livable in any way, please consider aiding its sustenance with a one-time or loyal donation. Your support makes all the difference.

Monthly donation

♥ $3 / month

♥ $5 / month

♥ $7 / month

♥ $10 / month

♥ $25 / month

START NOW

One-time donation

You can also become a spontaneous supporter with a one-time donation in any amount:

GIVE NOW

BITCOIN DONATION

Partial to Bitcoin? You can beam some bit-love my way: 197usDS6AsL9wDKxtGM6xaWjmR5ejgqem7

CANCEL MONTHLY SUPPORT

Need to cancel an existing donation? (It's okay — life changes course. I treasure your kindness and appreciate your support for as long as it lasted.) You can do so on this page.

SUBSCRIBE

CONNECT

Search results for “zadie smith”

“A story … has a sturdy sense of itself of being built out of its own necessity, not just to shelter or beguile you.”

“It is in the moments of emotional crisis that human beings reveal themselves most accurately.”

“You have to finish things — that’s what you learn from, you learn by finishing things.”

“If it sounds like writing … rewrite it.”

“Writers … have to fight the impulse to live up to someone else’s idea of what they are.”

“The only environment the artist needs is whatever peace, whatever solitude, and whatever pleasure he can get at not too high a cost.”

“Composition is for the most part an effort of slow diligence and steady perseverance, to which the mind is dragged by necessity or resolution, and from which the attention is every moment starting to more delightful amusements.”

“Writing is like going to bed with a beautiful woman and afterwards she gets up, goes to her purse and gives me a handful of money.”

“Don’t try to anticipate an ideal reader — or any reader. He/she might exist — but is reading someone else.”

Hemingway, Didion, Baldwin, Fitzgerald, Sontag, Vonnegut, Bradbury, Morrison, Orwell, Le Guin, Woolf, and other titans of literature.

View Full Site