George Saunders Quotes

Method is not less requisite in ordinary conversation than in writing, provided a man would talk to make himself understood.

All the elements of good writing depend on the writer's skill in choosing one word instead of another.

A poor idea well written is more likely to be accepted than a good idea poorly written.

Why use a modifier to set straight a not-quite-right noun when the right noun is available?

It may be observed, that very polished languages, and such as are praised for their superior clearness and perspicuity, are generally deficient in strength.

People who think well, write well

He that uses his words loosely and unsteadily will either not be minded or not understood.

I love revising things, because you see how you can get the language to get closer to intention. You know there are three ways to say X thing, but one will say it better than the other two. And in saying it better, it gets you closer to something.

Clarity in language depends on clarity in thought.

The use of the right word, the exact word, is the difference between a pencil with a sharp point and a thick crayon.

There are people who have tremendously important things to say, but they say it so poorly that nobody would ever want to read it.

Actually, my correspondent's language is better than mine. He can put his sentiment into words.

I love the right words. I think economy and precision of language are important.

The habit of writing clearly soon comes to the writer who is a severe critic to himself.

We are all writers and readers as well as communicators with the need at times to please and satisfy ourselves with the clear and almost perfect thought.

Whate'er is well conceived is clearly said, And the words to say it flow with ease.

Let grammar, punctuation, and spelling into your life! Even the most energetic and wonderful mess has to be turned into sentences.

The difficulty is not to write, but to write what you mean.

The more words you have at your disposal, the more precisely you can express yourself.

If you want to "get in touch with your feelings," fine, talk to yourself. We all do. But if you want to communicate with another thinking human being, get in touch with your thoughts. Put them in order, give them a purpose, use them to persuade, to instruct, to discover, to seduce. The secret way to do this is to write it down, and then cut out the confusing parts.

So in writing, there is always a right word, and every other than that is wrong. There is no beauty in words except in their collocation. The effect of a fanciful word misplaced, is like that of a horn of exquisite polish growing on a human head.

One should aim not at being possible to understand, but at being impossible to misunderstand.

The real problem in speech is not precise language. The problem is clear language.

If you can't write clearly, you probably don't think nearly as well as you think you do.

A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer? 4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?