The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “writing”

C.S. Lewis on the Three Ways of Writing for Children and the Key to Authenticity in All Writing
C.S. Lewis on the Three Ways of Writing for Children and the Key to Authenticity in All Writing

“The only moral that is of any value is that which arises inevitably from the whole cast of the author’s mind.”

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William Styron on Why Formal Education Is a Waste of Time for Writers
William Styron on Why Formal Education Is a Waste of Time for Writers

“For a person whose sole burning ambition is to write — like myself — college is useless beyond the Sophomore year.”

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How to Pitch Yourself: Young Eudora Welty’s Impossibly Charming Job Application to <em>The New Yorker</em>
How to Pitch Yourself: Young Eudora Welty’s Impossibly Charming Job Application to The New Yorker

An exquisite yin-yang balance of erudition and irreverence, dignity and self-deprecation.

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Anthony Trollope’s Witty and Wise Advice on How to Be a Successful Writer
Anthony Trollope’s Witty and Wise Advice on How to Be a Successful Writer

“My belief of book writing is much the same as my belief as to shoemaking. The man who… will work with the most honest purpose, will work the best.”

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Mary Oliver on the Mystery of the Human Psyche, the Secret of Great Poetry, and How Rhythm Makes Us Come Alive
Mary Oliver on the Mystery of the Human Psyche, the Secret of Great Poetry, and How Rhythm Makes Us Come Alive

“Rhythm is one of the most powerful of pleasures, and when we feel a pleasurable rhythm we hope it will continue. When it does, it grows sweeter.”

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Willa Cather on Making Art Through Troubled Times: A Moving Letter to Her Younger Brother
Willa Cather on Making Art Through Troubled Times: A Moving Letter to Her Younger Brother

“The test of one’s decency is how much of a fight one can put up after one has stopped caring, and after one has found out that one can never please the people they wanted to please.”

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Dani Shapiro on Vulnerability, the Creative Impulse, the Writing Life, and How to Live with Presence
Dani Shapiro on Vulnerability, the Creative Impulse, the Writing Life, and How to Live with Presence

“The job — as well as the plight, and the unexpected joy — of the artist is to embrace uncertainty, to be sharpened and honed by it. To be birthed by it.”

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Lynne Tillman on What to Say When People Ask You Why You’re an Artist or Writer
Lynne Tillman on What to Say When People Ask You Why You’re an Artist or Writer

“Writers and artists may ask themselves why they make art or write… but all rebuttals and answers to their existential questions rest on faith in Art or Literature.”

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Dare to Disturb the Universe: Madeleine L’Engle on Creativity, Censorship, Writing, and the Duty of Children’s Books
Dare to Disturb the Universe: Madeleine L’Engle on Creativity, Censorship, Writing, and the Duty of Children’s Books

“We find what we are looking for. If we are looking for life and love and openness and growth, we are likely to find them. If we are looking for witchcraft and evil, we’ll likely find them, and we may get taken over by them.”

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Isaac Asimov on the Thrill of Lifelong Learning, Science vs. Religion, and the Role of Science Fiction in Advancing Society
Isaac Asimov on the Thrill of Lifelong Learning, Science vs. Religion, and the Role of Science Fiction in Advancing Society

“It’s insulting to imply that only a system of rewards and punishments can keep you a decent human being.”

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