Words of wisdom on words gathered by a friend to light our way today:

“Nothing is more satisfying than to write a good sentence. It is no fun to write lumpishly, dully, in prose the reader must plod through like wet sand. But it is a pleasure to achieve, if one can, a clear running prose that is simple yet full of surprises. This does not just happen. It requires skill, hard work, a good ear, and continued practice.” Barbara Tuchman

“In private correspondence, the great mystery writer Raymond Chandler once confessed that even if he didn’t write anything, he made sure he sat down at his desk every single day and concentrated. I understand the purpose behind his doing this. This is the way Chandler gave himself the physical stamina a professional writer needs, quietly strengthening his willpower. This sort of daily training was indispensable to him.” Haruki Murakami

“A writer is a person who cared what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom,and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well, they strengthen their souls. Story-tellers and poets spend their lives learning that skill and art of using words well. And their words make the souls of their readers stronger, brighter, deeper.” Ursula Le Guin

“When you catch an adjective,kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them — then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened on a person, is as hard to get ride of as any other vice.” Mark Twain

“The best rule for writing — as well as for speaking — is to always use the simplest words that will accurately convey your thought.” David Lambeth.”

A writer who has never explored words, who has never searched, seeded, sieved through his knowledge and memory … dictionaries, thesaurus’s, poems, favorite paragraphs, to find the right word, is like someone owning a gold mine who has never mined it.” Ruler Godden

“One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in the, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment.” Hart Crane

And now, inspired and emboldened, let’s all write on!

“Words set things in motion. I’ve seen them doing it. Words set up atmospheres, electrical fields, charges. I’ve felt them doing it. Words conjure. I try not to be careless about what I utter, write, sing. I’m careful about what I give voice to.”