Quote

Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in logical sentences.

Anne McCaffrey

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Anne McCaffrey
Age: 85 †
Born: 1926
Born: April 1
Died: 2011
Died: November 21
Novelist
Science Fiction Writer
Writer
Cambridge
Massachusetts
Anne Inez McCaffrey
Writing
Prove
Reader
String
Story
Strings
Words
Readers
Tell
Logical
Stories
Sentences
Together
Using
Without
Merely

More quotes by Anne McCaffrey

Image
People have freaked out when I tell them that my dragons are scientifically based... what else can you call a genetically engineered life form?
Anne McCaffrey
Image
The blackest night must end in dawn, the light dispel the dreamer's fear.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
I don't often reread my own books, unless I am going into another in the series and need to refresh my mood when originating the concept
Anne McCaffrey
Image
Each email contains an unsubscribe link. We will NEVER sell, rent, loan, or abuse your email address in ANY way. Writing has been so much a part of my life that I'm really quite annoyed that I can't do as much as I used to.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
I have my good days and my bad days, but I don't have as much energy as I used to back when I was young and foolish and didn't count the cost - and it takes a lot - to write
Anne McCaffrey
Image
I also don't have organized religion on Pern. I figured - since there were four holy wars going on at the time of writing - that religion was one problem Pern didn't need.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
I have a shelf of comfort books, which I read when the world closes in on me or something untoward happens
Anne McCaffrey
Image
I'm very fond of the Talent series, and also the Crystal Singer trio.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
I think writers need windows on a view to remind them that a whole world is out there, not the minutiae with which they might be dealing on a close scale
Anne McCaffrey
Image
Above us, outlined against the brilliant sky, dragons crowded every available perching space on the Rim. And the sun made a gold of every one of them.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
That's what writing is all about, after all, making others see what you have put down on the page and believing that it does, or could, exist and you want to go there.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
To cry was to release all sorts of ugly little pressures and tensions. Like waking out of a long, dark dream to a sun-filled day.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
Drummer, beat, and piper, blowHarper, strike, and soldier, goFree the flame and sear the grassesTil the dawning Red Star passes
Anne McCaffrey
Image
A real scientist solves problems, not wails that they are unsolvable.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
Fear has its uses but cowardice has none.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
Mostly I'm telling people that they don't have to be victims
Anne McCaffrey
Image
What I used to do between writing fits was feed my kids, ride my horse and go shopping for cat and dog food.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
But Ship Who Sang remains my favorite story. I really rocked folks with that and still cannot read it aloud myself without weeping at the end
Anne McCaffrey
Image
I would recommend the short story form, which is a lot harder to write since you have to be so careful with words, until there is plenty of time to doodle through a novel
Anne McCaffrey
Image
Tell a story! Don't try to impress your reader with style or vocabulary or neatly turned phrases. Tell the story first!
Anne McCaffrey