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Friday, April 8, 2011

Writing in a Polite Society

Here's a quote from Stephen King on being truthful in your writing:

Reading at meals is considered rude in polite society, but if you expect to succeed as a writer, rudeness should be the second-to-least of your concerns. The least of all should be polite society and what it expects.  If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered, anyway.


This sounds harsh, but the more I read and the more I write (not blog writing), the more I realize how important this key is. Its the touchy "hot" topics that draw readers in and allow them to connect with the characters. Characters have to be multi-dimensional and they have to be real. But being real sometimes means being more honest than most people are comfortable with. 




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