Tom Clancy's Writing Wisdom

As you've probably heard, Tom Clancy passed away yesterday. Although I don't generally read books about soldiers or war, I read a few of his and liked them a lot.

I've been reading quotations, things Tom Clancy said about writing, and found them curiously moving. The things he said were perceptive. Humane.

Tom Clancy thought of himself more as a storyteller than a writer. Though I haven't had anything remotely close to Mr. Clancy's success, that's how I think of myself as well.

When I sit down to write I imagine sitting by a campfire telling a story to people who want something interesting to listen to, to think about, before they go to sleep. If my story does that I consider it a success.

What follows are a few quotations that I found especially apt, especially moving. I think I'm going to read, or re-read, one of Tom Clancy's books. If anyone has a suggestion, please leave it in the comments.

Tom Clancy: Quotations

"You learn to write the same way you learn to play golf. You do it, and keep doing it until you get it right. Writing isn’t divinely inspired – it’s hard work."

"What happened to me was pure dumb luck – I’m not the new Hemingway. Of course, fortune does favor the brave. In battle, you forgive a man anything except an unwillingness to take risks. Sometimes you have to put it on the line. What I did was take time away from how I earned my living. My wife gave me hell – ‘Why are you doing this?’ – but she doesn’t complain anymore. I wanted to see my name on the cover of a book. If your name is in the Library of Congress, you’re immortal."

And of course:

"The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense."

Here are more Tom Clancy quotes:
Goodreads
Buzzfead: Tom Clancy On Writing
WikiQuote

My next post is going to be either on Lester Dent's Master Fiction Plot or Georges Polti's 36 dramatic situations. I'm not going to do all 36, but I will unpack one of them.

Photo credit: The photograph is from Alan Duke's article (Author Tom Clancy, master of the modern-day thriller, dead at 66) over at cnn.com.

You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance

"The way you define yourself as a writer is that you write every time you have a free minute. If you didn't behave that way you would never do anything." 
John Irving (1942 - )

"You can't think yourself out of a writing block, you have to write yourself out of a thinking block." 
John Rogers, Kung Fu Monkey, 06-25-11

You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.
Ray Bradbury (1920 - 2012), advice to writers

If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write.
Stephen King (1947 - ), On Writing, p. 147

These quotations are from The Quotations Page.

Other articles you might like:
- Pixar: 22 Ways To Tell A Great Story
- Kristen Lamb: Don't Let Trolls Make You Crazy
- 4 iPad Apps For Writers

Photo credit: Unknown

Quotes From The Master of Horror, Stephen King

Here's my favorite:

People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy... and I keep it in a jar on my desk.

 Some more quotes from the King of horror:

Fiction is the truth inside the lie.

Talent in cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.

Get busy living, or get busy dying.

Read more quotations here: Stephen King Quotes

Another great source for King Quotes is his book On Writing.

Related reading:
- Neil Gaiman Interviews Stephen King, King talks about Dr. Sleep
- No Ebook Version For Stephen King's Next Book
- Stephen King: 15 tips on how to become a better writer

The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt, Sylvia Plath

Having one of those days where the words won't come? Here are a few inspirational quotations for the writer in us all.

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.  ~Sylvia Plath

A word is not the same with one writer as with another.  One tears it from his guts.  The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket.  ~Charles Peguy

I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter.  ~James Michener

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.  ~Anton Chekhov

Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space.  ~Orson Scott Card

If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood.  I'd type a little faster.  ~Isaac Asimov

These quotations were taken from Quote Garden.