[The writer’s] greatest art will often be what he does not say, what he leaves out, his ability to state simply with clear emotion, the way he wants to go. ~ Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury’s Writing Wisdom #23
Quantity gives experience. From experience alone can quality come. ~ Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury’s Writing Wisdom #22
What is the greatest reward a writer can have? Isn’t it that day when someone rushes up to you, his face bursting with honesty, his eyes afire with admiration and cries, ‘That new story of yours was fine, really wonderful.’ ~ Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury’s Writing Wisdom #21
The main thing is compression. It really isn’t putting so much is there any metaphor – and this is where my knowledge of poetry has been such a help to me. …If you can find the right metaphor, the right image, and put it in the sink, it can replace four pages of dialogue.” ~ Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury’s Writing Wisdom #20
“Instead of the six lines of dialogue, can’t you find a way of saying it with two?” ~ Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury’s Writing Wisdom #19
I had to write a 260 page screenplay. That’s six hours. Jack said, “Well now you’ve got to cut out 40 pages.” I said, “God, I can’t.” He said, “Go ahead, I know you can do it. I’ll be behind you.” So I cut 40 pages out. He said, “OK, now you’ve got to get another 40 pages out.” But I got it down to 180 pages. And then Jack said, “Thirty more.” And I said “Impossible, impossible!” OK, I got it down to 150 pages. He said, “OK now thirty more.” Well, he kept telling me I could do it. And, by God, I went through a final time and got it down to 120 pages. It was better. ~ Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury’s Writing Wisdom #18
We never sit anything out. We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out. ~ Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury’s Writing Wisdom #17
Dandelion Wine, like most of my books and stories was a surprise. I began to learn the nature of such surprises, thank God, when I was fairly young as a writer. … No one told me to surprise myself … I learned to let my senses and past, tell me all that was somehow true. ~ Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury’s Writing Wisdom #16
I write all my novels and stories, as you have seen, in a great surge of delightful passion. ~ Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury’s Writing Wisdom #15
But how did I begin? I wrote 1000 words a day. For 10 years I wrote at least one short story the week, somehow guessing that the day would finally come when I truly got out of the way and let it happen. ~ Ray Bradbury
