Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

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On Writing

17 Comments

A good style should show no signs of effort. What is written should seem a happy accident.
— W. Somerset Maugham

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Filed Under: the writing life

Comments

  1. MaureenHume says

    January 12, 2010 at 10:35 am

    You’re right, Caroline, all writing should read effortless. Too bad some days the writing feels like walking through mud.
    Although, the end result never fails to give me a buzz!
    Maureen. www. thepizzagang.com

    Reply
  2. Sharon Mayhew says

    January 12, 2010 at 1:18 pm

    Isn’t it a wonderful feeling when the words just flow out of you! Then when someone reads them they compliment your “voice,” it makes you feel energized.

    Reply
  3. Kristen Torres-Toro says

    January 12, 2010 at 1:51 pm

    It’s like Yoga. All the pain/effort is below the surface. :0)

    Reply
  4. Amy says

    January 12, 2010 at 1:55 pm

    I love this quote. A lot of my writing seems like accidents, not necessarily of the happy variety though!

    Reply
  5. Michelle says

    January 12, 2010 at 2:57 pm

    True of all great art!

    Reply
  6. Tamika: says

    January 12, 2010 at 3:03 pm

    Great quote!

    Reply
  7. Jody Hedlund says

    January 12, 2010 at 3:53 pm

    Ah, but to us writers, the words often come with the toil and sweat of hours of labor! And little do the readers know exactly how much we bled as we wrote!

    Reply
  8. SarahAnn says

    January 12, 2010 at 4:12 pm

    I love Maugham.
    Such an inspiring quote!

    sarahnoelsmusings.blogspot.com

    Reply
  9. Shannon O'Donnell says

    January 12, 2010 at 6:36 pm

    I love it! Thanks, Caroline. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  10. Sami says

    January 12, 2010 at 7:31 pm

    Don’t you know it. And yet even the most effortless writing took an unknown amount of time to perfect!

    Reply
  11. Tiana Lei says

    January 12, 2010 at 8:20 pm

    It’s amazing to me how it can sometimes take so much work to make something sound so effortless!

    Reply
  12. Jemi Fraser says

    January 12, 2010 at 9:08 pm

    I love that quote ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  13. Tess says

    January 13, 2010 at 4:47 am

    ah, but so much easier said than done. a great aspiration, though. and true.

    Reply
  14. Tabitha Bird says

    January 13, 2010 at 4:57 am

    And ‘Easy reading is damned hard writing.”

    Good quote.

    Reply
  15. Natalie says

    January 13, 2010 at 5:07 am

    So, so true.

    Reply
  16. Margaret Ann Abrahams says

    January 13, 2010 at 9:31 pm

    Thanks for posting this quote – Maugham is one of my favorite writers. Happy to find your blog.

    Reply
  17. vanessa says

    January 14, 2010 at 4:05 am

    I always hear the words of my favorite college professor in my head when I write, “Good writing should be easy for the reader, hard for you [the writer].”

    This quote reminded me of his words. I love it.

    Reply

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