Writing Flaws Quotes

It is (to describe it figuratively) as if an author were to make a slip of the pen, and as if this clerical error became conscious of being such. Perhaps this was no error but in a far higher sense was an essential part of the whole exposition. It is, then, as if this clerical error were to revolt against the author, out of hatred for him, were to forbid him to correct it, and were to say, "No, I will not be erased, I will stand as a witness against thee, that thou art a very poor writer."

Men will forgive a man anything except bad prose.

There's no such thing as perfect writing, just like there's no such thing as perfect despair.

I try to avoid purple patches, fine writing, all that kind of thing... because I think they're a mistake. And then sometimes it comes through and sometimes it doesn't, but that's not up to me. It's up to chance.

At least I hope - that the fiction I've written so far has flaws but has mostly been successful.

I very rarely read a script that I don't feel I want to change a lot.

Somehow, as a writer, you tend to use words to paper over structural cracks.

Shakespeare never had more than 6 lines together without a fault.

The only impeccable writers are those who never wrote.

Sometimes I watch a scene I've written, and occasionally I think, "Oh, for God's sake, shut up."

A lot of times you get people writing wonderful sentences and paragraphs, and they fall in love with their prose style, but the stories really aren't that terrific.

The challenge in writing a show that's about people and their flaws is that it can easily tip over - okay, I'll sometimes watch something, and there will be characters that are written in a way that I'll know that the writer just hates human beings. They're expressing this misanthropic point of view with these detestable characters.

There have been times when I reread - or at least leafed through - something because I'd sent a copy to a friend, and what usually happened was that I noticed dozens and dozens of clumsy phrases I wished I could rewrite.

I like to write with a lot of emotion and a lot of power. Sometimes I overdo it; sometimes my prose is a little bit too purple, and I know that.