The Write Quotes: Writing Techniques & Characters

Book excerpt: These inspirational and practical quotes come from 500+ podcast interviews with hard-working, award-winning, and New York Times bestselling authors in more than 33 U.S. states and five countries. In Book 5, authors share their honest reflections on Writing Techniques & Characters. These quotes reveal how writers tackle the fiction techniques of the hook, emotion, theme, conflict, humor, plot, setting, and structure, and how they approach memoir, poetry, nonfiction, and short stories. They also focus on characters, point of view, and dialogue. Authors quoted include David Baldacci, Therese Anne Fowler, Steve Berry, Lisa Jewell, John Hart, Sophie Cousens, Ron Rash, C.J. Box, Craig Johnson, Wylie Cash, Kristy Harvey, Brad Taylor, Charlie Lovett, Judy Goldman, Chris Fabry, Amber Smith, Tracy Clark, John Gilstrap, Kimmery Martin, A.J. Hartley, Clyde Edgerton, Jill McCorkle, Jason Mott, Mark de Castrique, Cathy Pickens, Gavin Edwards, and many more. Because stories have to start somewhere, and so do quote books, this book starts with the section titled, “The Hook.” As author Matthew Duffus, Writing Center Director of Earlham College in Indiana, says, “We have so many options now for entertainment that we've got to be quick. We've got to hook readers and we've got to keep things moving.” Simply put, as award-winning novelist Jon Buchan quips, “We don’t write about the planes that land safely.” But there is more to a good story than the first few lines and the first chapter. That’s why this book has more sections and content than any other book in the series and why we get emotional about it. As award-winning author Randell Jones says, “A good personal story engages with real life. It has to be addressing some universal issue of the human condition, something that most readers can connect with.” Author Kathleen Burkinshaw agrees when she says, “Time can pass, technology will change, but the need for human connection through emotions, that's timeless.” Whatever form or genre you’re writing in, these quotes have something to support your journey through the world of wordcraft.