(Untitled)

[frantic_writer]

"Tiger got to hunt,
Bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder, "Why, why, why?"
Tiger got to sleep,
Bird got to land;
Man got to tell himself he understand."
-Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle

Comments

[wyrmwwd]

I love Kurt Vonnegut! I heard him speak once, and he changed my writing forever.

[frantic_writer]

what was the speech?

[wyrmwwd]

It was a long, long time ago. He was speaking at a writer's conference in Pasadena, CA. It was about writing process. He said 3 things that have stayed with me since. He said, write about what you know... don't try to write cop stories if you have never had any involvement with law enforcement, write like you talk, just tell the story in your own words, you can always go back and edit it later, but our own words have the greatest impact, and milk picks up the flavor of whatever it sits next to, in other words, read the writers that you like, and you will start to sound a little like them.

These seem like simple things that every writer should know, but I heard them first from Kurt Vonnegut.

[frantic_writer]

i've heard write what you know a lot. i like the idea of writing like i talk, except i have a lot of annoying verbal ticks "like", "but anyway" etc. hehe that would really help fill wordcount if that was what i cared about.
anyways, it's pretty awesome that you got to see him.