Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“News Flash: Readers can read and chew gum at the same time. Whether you show me or tell me – I’m still going to know I'm reading fiction.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Telling is to gossip what showing is to someone else’s vacation pictures.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Learn to write. Write to learn. Write like a reader. Read like a writer."

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Writing rules only apply when they make the story better.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“‘Show, don’t tell’ is a self-violating statement.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Showing has become an article of faith. Many authors would still show even if it were proven to them that readers more often preferred telling.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Ninety-five percent of the value of a book signing comes from the publicity that the event generates.” 

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

 

“You can advise writers that setting sells books. That if they would use locations that millions of people have visited and millions more hope to visit that this in itself will greatly increase the number of prospects for their books – especially if the location is featured on the cover art. Writers will almost always answer: ‘But that’s not the story I want to write.’” 

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Writing a novel is like building an ocean liner out of Popsicle sticks: immensely complicated and incredibly tedious.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“The greatest waste of a writer’s time and money is pantser marketing.” 
Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Writing is not about fear. It’s about overcoming the dread of drudgery.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Learn as much as you can, as fast as you can, as soon as you can. You’ll save years instead of hours.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“The greatest writing time-saver is knowing what you are doing.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“A fatal flaw never killed a hero.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Showing without telling is like religion without God.”

Vince Mooney

From the Showstrates Dialogues

Showstrates: “If you write, ‘Pausanias left the room in anger’, readers won’t believe he was really angry. You have to show him leaving the room with fists clenched and have him slam the door on the way out.”

Aristotle: “If readers won’t believe that Pausanias was angry, why should they believe that he left the room in the first place?”

Darmaticon 41c

Famous Writing Quote of the Day



"Tell me what the spot
 means doc."

“You can only show what’s happening on the inside by telling what is happening on the outside.” Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“You can tell without showing but you can’t show without telling. You can show me Jones is angry but to do so you had to tell me that when he left the room he slammed the door. Telling writers not to tell is like telling runners not to use their feet.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Good writers show, don’t tell. Better writers both show and tell. The best writers know when to show and when to tell and when not to show and when not to tell.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Unless you are using an illustration, what you call ‘showing’ is actually oblique telling.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Pantser Quote

“Pantsers are like husbands who won’t ask for directions. ‘If someone tells you how to get there it takes all the fun out of the journey.’”

 Vince Mooney

Famous Pantser Quote

“Pantsers love process. Plotters love product.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Pantser Quote

All show. No tell.

“Pantsers are like high maintenance dancers while plotters are Plain Jane worker bees.” Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“I find that writing is often more entertaining than reading.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

Jones stormed out of his boss’s office slamming the door so violently that it shook the windows all the way up to the third floor.  

(Do you see the anger?) 

He had never been so happy. Winning the lottery had set him free.

“Showing is slowing and can lead to rough going if the reader doesn’t see what the author intended there to be.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Show, don’t tell  is a false dichotomy that overemphasizes vision and can confuse the reader. Better:  5-Sense what you’re telling.” Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Subtext is showing without the glare.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Showing is far more likely to make other writers happy than the intended readers happy.  It’s the power of the story and not the orthodoxy of the execution that delights readers.”

Vince Mooney

Famous Pantser Quote

“A pantser is just a plotter who hasn’t been deadline mugged yet.” Vince Mooney

Have you read "Why the Devil Wants you to be a Pantser."  yet?

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

Don't tell anyone I told you this but telling is not interesting.

“There is a time to tell and a time to show and good writers can tell the difference when they see it.” Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

"Here's another picture of me taking a picture in Rome."

“Showing makes the boring unbearable.” Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

Shown, not told.

“If there were any natural superiority of showing over telling, then we’d all still be using pictographs instead of phonetic alphabets.” Vince Mooney