Kootenai River in NW Montana, near Canadian Border

Kootenai River in NW Montana, near Canadian Border
photo by Gene Tunick of Eureka, Montana

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Saying for Writers #123 - Lawrence Block

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself that I’m going to do my five or ten pages no matter what, and that I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I’ll have lost nothing. Writing and tearing up five pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off.” — Lawrence Block

Dixon says: This sounds much more sophisticated than the advice I received years ago from novelist and screenwriter Dennis Foley: "Allow yourself to write crap."

Lawrence Block has experienced two towering achievements in his life so far: he was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, and he and I became friends on Facebook. I imagine he's most proud of the Grand Master designation but maybe not...

This is a photo of Indian Paintbrush taken by a friend somewhere in northwest Montana, and has nothing to do with today's literary quotation.

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