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It's my belief that you should never show your work to anyone in the publishing world until it shines like a diamond. Rough drafts don't shine, as a rule. Mine certainly didn't. That's why I was rejected for years and years.

Patrick Rothfuss

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Patrick Rothfuss
Age: 51
Born: 1973
Born: June 6
Novelist
Teacher
Writer
Madison
Wisconsin
Patrick James Rothfuss
Didn
Rule
Drafts
Writing
Mines
Shines
Work
Mine
Shine
Years
Certainly
Diamond
Never
Belief
Publishing
Like
Anyone
Rejected
World
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Rough
Shows
Shining

More quotes by Patrick Rothfuss

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She was a wicked thing sometimes. All full of want. As if the shape of the world depended on her mood. As if she were important.
Patrick Rothfuss
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...hear rumors and go digging for the painful truth beneath the lovely lies. You believe you have a right to these things, but you don't. When someone tells you a piece of their life, they're giving you a gift, not granting you your due.
Patrick Rothfuss
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When someone writes something dazzlingly brilliant, people want to imitate it. The result is a lot of less-than-brilliant knock-offs. Elves, Dwarves, Goblin army, cursed ring, evil sorcerer. Tolkien did it. It rocked. Let's move on. Let's do something new.
Patrick Rothfuss
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Ambrose, your presence is the horseshit frosting on the horseshit cake that is the admissions interview process.
Patrick Rothfuss
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What are the three most important rules of the chemist? This I knew from Ben. Label clearly. Measure twice. Eat elsewhere.
Patrick Rothfuss
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The truth is I've worked a lot of things people would consider shitty jobs but I've never really hated any of them.
Patrick Rothfuss
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With slow care rather than stealth we must approach the subject of a certain woman. Her wildness is of such degree, I fear approaching her too quickly even in a story. Should I move recklessly, I might startle even the idea of her into sudden flight.
Patrick Rothfuss
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When the hearthfire turns to blue, what to do? what to do? run outside, run and hide when his eyes are black as crow? where to go? where to go? near and far. Here they are. see a man without a face? move like ghosts from place to place. whats their plan? whats their plan? Chandrian. Chandrian
Patrick Rothfuss
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Old Cob tucked away his bowl of stew with the predatory efficency of a lifetime bachelor.
Patrick Rothfuss
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I can't count the men who have tried to seduce me away from my virtue by teaching me how to defend it.
Patrick Rothfuss
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All the truth in the world is held in stories.
Patrick Rothfuss
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With his eyes and those hands there won't be a woman safe in all the world when he starts hunting after the ladies.' 'Courting, dear,' my father corrected gently. 'Semantics,' she shrugged.
Patrick Rothfuss
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Stories only happen to people who can tell them.
Patrick Rothfuss
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I think the tendency to over-explain and over describe is one of the most common failings in fantasy. It's an unfortunate piece of Tolkien's legacy. Don't get me wrong, Tolkien was a great worldbuilder, but he got a little caught up describing his world at times, at the expense of the overall story.
Patrick Rothfuss
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I've waited a long time to show these flowers how pretty you are.
Patrick Rothfuss
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What has made me most proud - the things that I've done that I feel the most pride about - is helping people care about making the world better.
Patrick Rothfuss
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What were you thinking? Bast said with an odd mixture of confusion and concern. Coat was a long while in answering. I tend to think too much Bast. My greatest successes tended to come when I stopped thinking and simply did what felt right, even if there was no explantion for what I did.
Patrick Rothfuss
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I'd love to take a stab at writing videogames. There are a lot of storytelling opportunities that really aren't being taken advantage of in that field. I'd like to experiment with telling a truly non-linear story.
Patrick Rothfuss
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Only priests and fools are fearless and I've never been on the best of terms with God.
Patrick Rothfuss
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It was only then I realized I didn't know the name of Elodin's class. I leafed through the ledger until I spotted Elodin's name, then ran my finger back to where the title of the class was listed in fresh dark ink: Introduction to Not Being a Stupid Jackass. I sighed and penned my name in the single blank space beneath.
Patrick Rothfuss