Randy Newman Quotes

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

Good writing does not come from verbiage but from words.

Less really is more. It's a tendency of beginning writers to want to prove what they're talking about by going too far with description. I think you've got to keep it short, crisp and clean.

The best advice on writing I've ever received was from William Zinsser: 'Be grateful for every word you can cut.'

Omit needless words.

One mistake with beginners in writing is, that they think it important to spin out something long. It is a great deal better not to write more than a page or two, unless you have something to say, and can write it correctly.

Through an arbitrary problem, I had arrived at a tenet of good writing: brevity wins.

I've really tried to strip my writing of as many adjectives and adverbs as I possibly can.

Adverbs lead to overwriting. Try taking them out and reading your prose again to see how it sounds. Simple and less words are more powerful.

It behooves us to avoid archaisms. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

I usually write very few stage directions. I think a lot of that is a waste of time. The art of screenwriting is in its terseness, saying a lot with a little. I have no patience when I read a script where the writer describes this guy and what he's wearing and his glasses and his hair.

It has often been said there’s so much to be read, you never can cram all those words in your head. So the writer who breeds more words than he needs is making a chore for the reader who reads. That's why my belief is the briefer the brief is, the greater the sigh of the reader's relief is. And that's why your books have such power and strength. You publish with shorth! (Shorth is better than length.)

Be prepared to fall out of love with your words. I'm still too verbose at times.

I'm tired of wasting letters when punctuation will do, period.

Anyone can make an article longer; the skill is keeping it tight and lean.

I say what I need to, not a whole lot more.

In a newspaper, you only have so much room. It teaches you the value of getting to the point, of not pampering yourself with your glorious writing. I've always been much more interested in one powerful sentence that stays with you. That's my style.

One false word, one extra word, and somebody's thinking about how they have to buy paper towels at the store. Brevity is very important. If you're going to be longwinded, it should be for a purpose. Not just because you like your words.

In composing, as a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigor it will give your style.

Directing my own writing, I see that I talk way too much, and everything can happen much sooner, with much less said about it.

If you have to go back and spell-check the text you're about to send, you're saying too much.

Tweeting has taught me the discipline to say more with fewer words.

Most writers write too much. I have the exact opposite problem. I feel I could write almost anything in a paragraph. I have a natural ability to condense, and so I often think, "Are you kidding me? Five thousand words? How am I gonna make 5,000 words out of that?"

Sometimes a flat-footed sentence is what serves, so you don't get all writerly: 'He opened the door.' There, it's open.

I think precision in writing goes hand in hand with not trying to say everything. You try and say two-thirds, so the reader will involve himself or herself.