A good creative-writing teacher can save a good writer a lot of time.

Maximum sentence length: seventeen words. Minimum:one No semicolons. Semicolons indicate relationships that only idiots need defined by punctuation. Besides, they are ugly. Make sure each sentence is at least four words longer or shorter than the one before it.

Never write a poem about anything that ought to have a poem written about it.

I think it's better if you write poems that look like you.

A creative writing class may be one of the last places you can go where your life still matters.

You owe reality nothing and the truth about your feelings everything.

Assuming you can write clear English sentences, give up all worry about communication. If you want to communicate, use the telephone.

An act of imagination is an act of self-acceptance.

Think small.... If you can't think small, try philosophy or social criticism.

If you want to communicate, use the telephone

Rub a half potato on your wart and wrap it in a damp cloth. Close your eyes and whirl three times and throw. Then bury rag and spud exactly where they fall.

Scholars look for final truths they will never find. Creative writers concern themselves with possibilities that are always there to the receptive.

Say nothing and just make music and you'll find plenty to say.