"As writers, we learn most of what we know just by watching the pros, don't we?" ~John R. Trimble
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Semicolon(s)
28 comments:
Anonymous
said...
"There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister." J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, p.5.
"My source told me that there are plans to lay a false trail; this must be it. No doubt a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish. It would not be the first time; he is known to be susceptible." J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, p.4.
"The Order is eschewing any form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry; they mistrust everything to do with the place." J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, p.6.
"The faces around him displayed nothing but shock; he might have announced that he wanted to borrow one of their arms." J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, p. 7.
"Below you is the valley of the Umzimkulu, on its journey from the Drakensberg to the sea; and beyond and behind the river, great hill after great hill; and beyond and behind them, the mountains of Ingeli and East Griqualand."
Alan Paton, Cry, the Beloved Country, chapter 1, page 1.
"I did not know everything there was to know about myself, and knew that i did not know it; i wondered in the silences between jokes about Leper whether the still hidden parts of myself might contain the Sad Sack, the outcast, or coward"John Knowles,A Separate Peace,p.127.
“I would contest that most Americans have never tasted chocolate, because they eat Hershey’s; that’s not chocolate, that’s a chocolate-like substance.” –Michael Mascha, GOOD Magazine, Summer 2009
"Something from deep inside the world had crept up from the well; a monster set loose in our midst. The fire was his breath; the jeers all around were his snarls. I felt something burn inside of me." ~Alice Hoffman, Incantation, page 11
"The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green."
“I thought long and hard about whether or not to include a detailed section on grammar in this little book . Part of me would actually like to; I taught it successfully at high school (where it hid under the name Business English), and I enjoyed it as a student.”
“Writing is refined thinking… The more fiction you read and write, the more you’ll find your paragraphs forming on their own. And that’s what you want. When composing it’s best not to think too much about where paragraphs begin and end; the trick is to let nature take its course.” (125-6, S. King, On Writing)
“The real importance of reading is that it creates an ease and intimacy with the process of writing; one comes to the country of the writer with one’s papers and identification in order. ..The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or word processor.” (145, S. King, On Writing.)
“What am I going to say, ‘on the table is a cage three feet, six inches in length, two feet in width, and fourteen inches high’? That’s not prose, that’s an instruction manual. The paragraph also doesn’t tell us what sort of material the case is made of – wire mesh? Steel rods? Glass? – but does it really matter? We all understand the cage is a see-through medium; beyond that, we don’t care. ..” (S.King, On Writing)
“You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair – the sense that you can never completely put on the page what’s in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names…Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page. I’m not asking you to come reverently or unquestioningly; I’m not asking you to be politically correct or cast aside your sense of humor …” (99, S. King, On Writing)
28 comments:
"There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister." J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, p.5.
"My source told me that there are plans to lay a false trail; this must be it. No doubt a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish. It would not be the first time; he is known to be susceptible." J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, p.4.
"The Order is eschewing any form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry; they mistrust everything to do with the place." J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, p.6.
"The faces around him displayed nothing but shock; he might have announced that he wanted to borrow one of their arms." J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, p. 7.
"Below you is the valley of the Umzimkulu, on its journey from the Drakensberg to the sea; and beyond and behind the river, great hill after great hill; and beyond and behind them, the mountains of Ingeli and East Griqualand."
Alan Paton, Cry, the Beloved Country, chapter 1, page 1.
"I did not know everything there was to know about myself, and knew that i did not know it; i wondered in the silences between jokes about Leper whether the still hidden parts of myself might contain the Sad Sack, the outcast, or coward"John Knowles,A Separate Peace,p.127.
“I would contest that most Americans have never tasted chocolate, because they eat Hershey’s; that’s not chocolate, that’s a chocolate-like substance.” –Michael Mascha, GOOD Magazine, Summer 2009
I hadn't slept well; my arm burned and my head ached.
-New Moon
Looking into her eyes was like looking out of a grame from the inside; I was buried in the terror and despair and agony of her gaze.
- Breaking Dawn
(Thanks, Lavoane!)
He didn't glance my way again; you'd have thought I was sitting in a different room instead of across the table from him.
- The Breakup Bible
(Thanks, Arielle!)
We have learned so much; we have so far to go.
- A Child Called It
(Thanks, Karen!)
There had been nothing special about it; it was an activity that he had performed countless times: throw, catch, throw, catch.
He waved at one of the comfortable chairs before his desk; his two cats sat in the other one.
-The Magic Thief
(Thanks, Quintalon!)
Like the creature in the cradle, I had become an object of horrified discussion; I was no longer a person.
-Phantom
(Thanks, Jose!)
Despair momentarily vanished; wonder took its place.
- New Moon
Hunter was who he was; Raina was who she was.
-Angels in Pink
(Thanks, Jaquelin!)
"Something from deep inside the world had crept up from the well; a monster set loose in our midst. The fire was his breath; the jeers all around were his snarls. I felt something burn inside of me."
~Alice Hoffman, Incantation, page 11
"The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green."
- Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery"
“I thought long and hard about whether or not to include a detailed section on grammar in this little book . Part of me would actually like to; I taught it successfully at high school (where it hid under the name Business English), and I enjoyed it as a student.”
(112, S. King, On Writing)
“Grammar is not just a pain in the ass; it’s the pole you grab to get your thoughts up on their feet and walking.”
(114, S. King, On Writing)
“Paragraphs are almost as important for how they look as for what they say; they are maps of intent.” (123, S. King, On Writing)
“Writing is refined thinking… The more fiction you read and write, the more you’ll find your paragraphs forming on their own. And that’s what you want. When composing it’s best not to think too much about where paragraphs begin and end; the trick is to let nature take its course.” (125-6, S. King, On Writing)
“Words create sentences; sentences create paragraphs; sometimes paragraphs quicken and begin to breathe.” (130, S. King, On Writing)
“The real importance of reading is that it creates an ease and intimacy with the process of writing; one comes to the country of the writer with one’s papers and identification in order. ..The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or word processor.”
(145, S. King, On Writing.)
“What am I going to say, ‘on the table is a cage three feet, six inches in length, two feet in width, and fourteen inches high’? That’s not prose, that’s an instruction manual. The paragraph also doesn’t tell us what sort of material the case is made of – wire mesh? Steel rods? Glass? – but does it really matter? We all understand the cage is a see-through medium; beyond that, we don’t care. ..”
(S.King, On Writing)
“You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair – the sense that you can never completely put on the page what’s in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names…Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page.
I’m not asking you to come reverently or unquestioningly; I’m not asking you to be politically correct or cast aside your sense of humor …”
(99, S. King, On Writing)
“I knew I was falling asleep, so I shook myself awake; I couldn’t remember whether I’d answered Sam.” (77, M. Stiefvater, Shiver)
“ I needed to be warmer: I retreated inside to find a coat. Damn this weather.”
(79, M. Stiefvater Shiver)
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