"Writing is a job, a talent, but it's also the place to go in your head. It is the imaginary friend you drink your tea with in the afternoon." ~ Ann Patchett

How much explanation does your reader need? @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social r on paring back @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2026/05/15/s... #writingcommunity #writingtips #creativelife #creativewriting

“Lean into the sharp points.” ~ Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

"Our telling shapes what the past becomes." ~Jen Gippel

"The author’s job is to plunge into that wide, deep river and bring to the surface what’s most relevant and revealing from the flotsam—and then take the reader by the hand and lead them in for a swim." ~ Tiffany Yates Martin @tiffanyyatesmartin.bsky.social

What we make when we write about the past - @JenGippel at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2026/05/08/e... #writingcommunity #memoir #CreativeLife

"I think that writing is a way of continuing to hope." ~ Lucille Clifton

What makes your travel narrative worthwhile for the reader? @MicaelaEdelson at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2026/05/11/t... #writinglife #travelwriting #writingtip #memoir

“My experience is, if you wait for inspiration, the moments of it are fewer and farther between. The main thing for writers is to show up—to say, ‘Muse, I’m here.’ ” ~ Robert Hass

“The unique thing about writers is that they write.” ~ Margaret Atwood

“I write to find my life. I write to save my life. I write to keep myself alive.” ~ Sue William Silverman

When removing an essay or a story thread is the right action... and it's only afterwards that you know. V familiar situation for me. @tamarajong at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2026/05/05/a... #writinglife #writingcommunity #creativewriting

"When we think we have something to say we are usually wrong. We are fooling ourselves. Trip into discovery. Don't write what you know, discover something new." ~ Marie Howe

"The writer’s gaze should be direct and should not aim to slavishly record reality but to x-ray it, to see its inner workings." ~ Robin Hemley / @rhemley.bsky.social

I love Harriet the Spy - and these are great tips from her book to keep you writing. brevity.wordpress.com/2026/05/04/h... in @dintywmoore.bsky.social

Brevity magazine has launched its 82nd issue of innovative flash nonfiction, featuring essays from Brenda Miller, Angela Edward, Hea-Ream Lee, Karissa Nevada, L.F. Khouri, Ann MacDonald, Emily W. Blacker, Erin Wood, Michael Singleton, Noel Thistle Tague, Sara Daniels, & T.C. Martin. brevitymag.com

"See with one eye, feel with the other." ~ Paul Klee

"Nonfiction writing is like digging but I don’t know what I’m digging for and I don’t know what I’ll find." ~ Sophfronia Scott

#lifegoal getting something published by @dintywmoore.bsky.social. This, in Brevity Blog follows a story I thought no one would be interested in...

On discovering the deep currents that make your memoir special - @DeborahBayer @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2026/04/29/a... #writingcommunity #authorlife #writinglife #memoir

"To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it." ~ Kurt Vonnegut

"It is a puzzling thing. The truth knocks on the door and you say, 'Go away, I'm looking for the truth,' and so it goes away." ~ Robert M. Pirsig

"Nothing is more dangerous for a writer than to be dismissive. To dismiss means to judge, and nothing kills a piece of writing faster than that. Make room, make room! Let the world in all its shades and tones and terrains take you more fully into the human heart. " ~ Lee Martin

"Don't be afraid to take risks, or to put yourself on the page. Who you are is what will make your writing special." ~ Lauren Spieller

"Every minute of every hour of every day you are making the world, just as you are making yourself, and you might as well do it with generosity and kindness and style." ~ Rebecca Solnit

"To be an artist means never to avert your eyes." ~ Akira Kurosawa

"You will feel insecure and jealous. How much power you give those feelings is entirely up to you." ~ Cheryl Strayed

"It’s crucial to remember that your attention is one of the most precious capacities you possess.”" ~ Michael Taft

"One of the most life-changing realizations you can have is 'I don’t have to believe my thoughts . . . they are just thoughts!'" ~ Tara Brach

Childhood is a very, very tricky business of surviving it. Because if one thing goes wrong or anything goes wrong, then you are compromised as a human being. You are going to trip over that for a good part of your life. ~ Maurice Sendak

“Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but, most of all, endurance.” ~ James Baldwin

"Frankly, I thought I knew how to write, but it turned out I didn’t, and I don’t. I don’t. I get to learn it over and over and over." ~ Jo Ann Beard

Finally it's time to write your book. On putting away the 'buts' by @AnnKlotz at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2026/04/10/p... #writingcommunity #authorlife #writinglife

“Nothing is ever so good that it can’t stand a little revision, and nothing is ever so impossible and broken down that a try at fixing it is out of the question.” ~ Rebecca Solnit

An interesting article about specificity by @taralabovich.bsky.social on Brevity Blog ( @dintywmoore.bsky.social ): brevity.wordpress.com/2026/04/08/i... #WritingCommunity

This post is good for both memoir and fiction: how to understand your main character. @JessicaHandler at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2026/04/09/m... #writingcommunity #writingtips #authorlife #memoir

“If you're really listening, if you're awake to the poignant beauty of the world, your heart breaks regularly.” ~ Andrew Harvey

"An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way." —Charles Bukowski

“What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers.” ~ Logan Pearsall Smith

What's a hook? It's how you show your book is powerful and relevant. @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2026/04/07/y... #writingcommunity #writingtips #writinglife #publishing

"Imagination is the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow." ~ William Blake

"Remember the old adage about how an infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of typewriters will eventually type something beautiful? Well, the Internet disproves that." ~ Kurt Vonnegut

"A true friend is someone who thinks you're a good egg, even if you're cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

“I could claim any number of high-flown reasons for writing, just as you can explain certain dogs behavior... But maybe, it’s that they’re dog, and that’s what dogs do.” ~ Amy Hempel

"The muscles of writing are...powerful: determination, attention, curiosity, a passionate heart." ~ Natalie Goldberg

The world of the ghostwriter is often vastly different from the world they are writing about. And sometimes, it is exactly what they need. Love this by @HilarySmith @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2026/04/01/g... #publishing #writinglife #authorlife

"Success as a writer is easy. Be born brilliant, with flawless work habits, little need for sleep, and wealthy grandparents who just happen to own prestigious magazines and publishing houses." - Dinty W. Moore

Just signed up to attend this tomorrow! Who else is in?

Issue One is live and full of nerve! Featuring work by @emmabolden.bsky.social, @jacqdoyle.bsky.social, @williamfargason.bsky.social, @sonyahuber.bsky.social @mattkendrick.bsky.social, @gabemontesanti.bsky.social, @zachpowers.bsky.social and more! www.nervetowrite.com/issue-1

"Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons." — Robertson Davies