Quotes from James Scott Bell

God created the world in six days. On the seventh day, he rested. On the eighth day, he started getting complaints. And it hasn't stopped since.

If you can write each day, do it, and meet a quota. Minimum 350 words a day. A baboon can do 350 words a day. Don't be shown up by a baboon

In fact, one could argue that the skill of the fiction writer boils down to the ability to exploit intensity.

Write like you're in love. Edit like you're in charge.

A great novel is the record of how a character fights with death.

You keep writing because it's the only way to finish the book.

The semi-colon is a burp, a hiccup. It's a drunk staggering out of the saloon at 2 a.m., grabbing your lapels on the way and asking you to listen to one more story.

Theme. It's something a lot of writers don't like to think about. It brings up painful memories of high school English class ("Write a 1,000 word essay on the theme of The Great Gatsby, and be sure to relate the green light on Daisy's dock with the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. Due tomorrow.")

The great spy novelist John Le Carré suggested this axiom: The cat sat on the mat is not the beginning of a story. The cat sat on the dog's mat, is.

Grief was not a stream. It was an ocean.

Don't give up. I don't think any other advice works. Writing is one of those things where you just have to do it. There will be far more people to discourage you than to encourage you. The time never comes to you, the inspiration doesn't come to you. You just sit down and do it." – James Lee Burke

Sometimes writing a novel feels about as rewarding as turning a spit in the fires of hell.

If you're still stuck, re-watch Misery and imagine that your number one fan insists that you finish by the end of the month.

Give yourself permission to be bad. Write first, polish later.

When the last dime is gone, I'll sit on the curb with a pencil and a ten-cent notebook, and start the whole thing all over again." – Preston Sturges

Have you given us a character worth following?  - Have you created a disturbance in the opening pages? - Do you know the death stakes of the story? - Have you created a scene that will force the character into the confrontation of Act II? - Is it strong enough? Can the Lead character resist going into the battle?  - Does it occur before the 1/5 mark of your total page count?

Dwight Swain, the great writing teacher, once said that the secret of excitement is to go deeper into your characters. Create more backstory, more secrets, more complexity, and you'll get excited again.

Transformation is about change, and change needs to be proven. People can talk a good game. Someone can say he's sorry for stealing and wants to go straight. But until the thief returns the goods, we don't believe he's a changed person.  Change does involve an inner realization. But then, to prove itself, it must work outward in a visual form.

Structure is translation software for your imagination.

While there is some disagreement over the official length of a short story, a good rule of thumb is that it is between 1k and 7k words. Less than that and you get into the area of flash fiction. More than that and you move into the territory of the novelette (7k -20k) or the novella (20k-50k).

Other men's sins are before our eyes; our own are behind our back.

at least ten writing sessions.

Drive thy business or it will drive thee." – Benjamin Franklin

Don't you love that? One of the greatest scientific innovations of all time just came to Townes as he was sitting on a bench in a park. And then he starts "scratching" it out on paper.