Quote

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.

Richard Hugo

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Richard Hugo
Age: 58 †
Born: 1923
Born: December 21
Died: 1982
Died: October 22
Poet
Writer
Make
Ugly
Besides
Longer
Minimum
Semicolons
Least
Sentence
Punctuation
Four
Length
Indicate
Sure
Idiot
Shorter
Words
Sentences
Seventeen
Need
Defined
Idiots
Needs
Relationships
Maximum

More quotes by Richard Hugo

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If you want to communicate, use the telephone
Richard Hugo
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Say nothing and just make music and you'll find plenty to say.
Richard Hugo
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I think it's better if you write poems that look like you.
Richard Hugo
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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.
Richard Hugo
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Never write a poem about anything that ought to have a poem written about it.
Richard Hugo
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Scholars look for final truths they will never find. Creative writers concern themselves with possibilities that are always there to the receptive.
Richard Hugo
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Assuming you can write clear English sentences, give up all worry about communication. If you want to communicate, use the telephone.
Richard Hugo
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A good creative-writing teacher can save a good writer a lot of time.
Richard Hugo
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You owe reality nothing and the truth about your feelings everything.
Richard Hugo
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An act of imagination is an act of self-acceptance.
Richard Hugo
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Think small.... If you can't think small, try philosophy or social criticism.
Richard Hugo
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A creative writing class may be one of the last places you can go where your life still matters.
Richard Hugo