Quote

James Blish told me I had the worst case of said bookism (that is, using every word except said to indicate dialogue). He told me to limit the verbs to said, replied, asked, and answered and only when absolutely necessary.

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
Necessary
James
Asked
Limit
Cases
Dialogue
Told
Using
Worst
Absolutely
Indicate
Word
Case
Verbs
Writing
Limits
Replied
Every
Except
Answered

More quotes by Anne McCaffrey

Image
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
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 do outlines when I'm writing with someone, but they also need to have a certain amount of freedom
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
How much can a dragon carry? As much as it thinks it can
Anne McCaffrey
Image
A real scientist solves problems, not wails that they are unsolvable.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
Because we build the worlds we wouldn't mind living in. They contain scary things, problems, but also a sense of rightness that makes them alive and makes us want to live there.
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
Mostly I'm telling people that they don't have to be victims
Anne McCaffrey
Image
I did not have a chance to write novels until my youngest child started school fulltime
Anne McCaffrey
Image
The blackest night must end in dawn, the light dispel the dreamer's fear.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
I'm very fond of the Talent series, and also the Crystal Singer trio.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
That's such a thrill - a story I wrote at the beginning of my career, and it's still packin' the house.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
The horse, the noblest, bravest, proudest, most courageous and certainly the most perverse and infuriating animal that humans ever domesticated
Anne McCaffrey
Image
The thing is, emotion - if it's visibly felt by the writer - will go through all the processes it takes to publish a story and still hit the reader right in the gut. But you have to really mean it.
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
Fear has its uses but cowardice has none.
Anne McCaffrey
Image
I wouldn't encourage new writers to start off publishing through electronic media... it still isn't wide enough for the readership they would need to get a good start
Anne McCaffrey
Image
I think the Internet, particularly the availability of information, is great. I do a lot of correspondence on-line and have a chat line to talk to my fans as well
Anne McCaffrey
Image
Step by step Moment by moment We live through Another day
Anne McCaffrey