Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life; every quality of his mind is written large in his works.
Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.
Every book has a soul, the soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and dream about it.
Even when the characters are supposed to be accustomed to the wonder I try to weave an air of awe and impressiveness corresponding to what the reader should feel. A casual style ruins any serious fantasy.
Don’t write too much. Concentrate your sweat on one story, rather than dissipate it over a dozen.
Despite my solitary life, I have found infinite joy in books and writing, and am by far too much interested in the affairs of the world to quit the scene before Nature shall claim me.
Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.
Cut out all these exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.
But you must describe only the significant and the eternal.[Но изображайте только важное и вечное.]
Boileau said that Kings, Gods and Heroes only were fit subjects for literature. The writer can only write about what he admires. Present-day kings aren’t very inspiring, the gods are on a vacation and about the only heroes left are the scientists and the poor… And since our race admires gallantry, the writer will deal with it where he finds it. He finds it in the struggling poor now.
Bad writing’s like bad women: there’s just not much you can do about it.
Avoid the unhappy ending, the harsh, the brutal, the tragic, the horrible – if you care to see in print things you write. (In this connection don’t do as I do, but do as I say.)
