[N]othing about a book is so unmistakable and so irreplaceable as the stamp of the cultured mind. I don't care what the story is about or what may be the momentary craze for books that appear to have been hammered out by the village blacksmith in a state of intoxication; the minute you get the easy touch of the real craftsman with centuries of civilisation behind him, you get literature.
civilization craft craftsmanship creative-process crudeness culture literature selling-out style writing
Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction.
agenda compulsive-liar controlling craftsman craftsmanship deceit deceive deception defamation destruction dishonest gossip government honest law leadership liar libel lie lies management manipulation media misleading news partial pathological-liar pieces political politics portions propaganda propagandists religion slander speak speaking speech true truth
A poet should be so crafty with words that he is envied even for his pains.
adversity artist craftiness craftsmanship crafty creativity envy hardships lyrics pain perspective poetry poets wit words
I'm against the picture of the artist as a starry-eyed visionary not really in control or knowing what he does. I'd almost prefer the word 'craftsman'. He's like one of those old-fashioned ship builders who conceived the build of the boat in their mind and after that touched every single piece that went into the boat.
craftsmanship writers writing
You write with ease, to show your breeding, But easy writing's curst hard reading.
craftsmanship effort skill writing
I ran across an excerpt today (in English translation) of some dialogue/narration from the modern popular writer, Paulo Coelho in his book: Aleph.(Note: bracketed text is mine.).. 'I spoke to three scholars,' [the character says 'at last.'].. Two of them said that, after death, the [sic (misprint, fault of the publisher)] just go to Paradise. The third one, though, told me to consult some verses from the Koran. [end quote]'..I can see that he's excited. [narrator]'.. Now I have many positive things to say about Coelho: He is respectable, inspiring as a man, a truth-seeker, and an appealing writer; but one should hesitate to call him a 'literary' writer based on this quote. A 'literary' author knows that a character's excitement should be 'shown' in his or her dialogue and not in the narrator's commentary on it. Advice for Coelho: Remove the 'I can see that he's excited' sentence and show his excitement in the phrasing of his quote.(Now, in defense of Coelho, I am firmly of the opinion, having myself written plenty of prose that is flawed, that a novelist should be forgiven for slipping here and there.)Lastly, it appears that a belief in reincarnation is of great interest to Mr. Coelho.. Just think! He is a man who has achieved, (as Leonard Cohen would call it), 'a remote human possibility.' He has won lots of fame and tons of money. And yet, how his preoccupation with reincarnation none other than an interest in being born again as somebody else suggests that he is not happy!
advice-for-writers aleph art-of-literature authorship birth born-again characterization coelho cohen craft craftsmanship critique critique-of-modernity dialogue education educational excitement fame fame-and-fortune famous-authors faults fortune grammar grammatical happiness happiness-positive-outlook happy human-potential humaneness imperfection inspiration inspirational-attitude inspirational-life inspiring inspiring-quotes islam islamic islamic-quotes koran leonard-cohen life life-and-death literary-criticism literary-theory literature-quotes narration novelist novels paradise paulo-coelho payne phrasing publishing reincarnation roman roman-payne sentence-structure truth writing writing-advice writing-and-art writing-art writing-as-a-profession writing-craft writing-from-the-heart
