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Meg Waite Clayton

Author of the international bestsellers The Postmistress of Paris, The Last Train to London, and 6 other novels

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May 21, 2015 By Meg Waite Clayton

10 Writing Tips from the Masters

coffeeandjournal10 Writing Tips from the Writing Masters:

“Above all, a well-imagined story is organized around extraordinary human behaviors and unexpected and startling events, which help illuminate the commonplace and the ordinary.” – TIM O’BRIEN
“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” – ERNEST HEMINGWAY
“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” – KURT VONNEGUT
“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” – ROBERT FROST
“Make up a story… For our sake and yours forget your name in the street; tell us what the world has been to you in the dark places and in the light. Don’t tell us what to believe, what to fear. Show us belief’s wide skirt and the stitch that unravels fear’s caul.” – TONI MORRISON
“[L]urk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads… may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.” – RAY BRADBURY
“Let me live, love and say it well in good sentences.” – SYLVIA PLATH
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” – MARK TWAIN
“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” – ANAÏS NIN
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
Good luck with your writing! – Meg

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Meg Waite Clayton


Meg Waite Clayton is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of eight novels, including the Good Morning America Buzz pick and New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice THE POSTMISTRESS OF PARIS, the National Jewish Book Award finalist THE LAST TRAIN TO LONDON, the Langum-Prize honored THE RACE FOR PARIS, and THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS, one of Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Essential Best Friend Novels of all time. Her novels have been published in 23 languages. She has also written more than 100 pieces for major newspapers, magazines, and public radio, mentors in the OpEd Project, and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the California bar. megwaiteclayton.com

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