Tyler Hall > Tyler's Quotes

“Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Write every day, line by line, page by page, hour by hour. Do this despite fear. For above all else, beyond imagination and skill, what the world asks of you is courage, courage to risk rejection, ridicule and failure. As you follow the quest for stories told with meaning and beauty, study thoughtfully but write boldly. Then, like the hero of the fable, your dance will dazzle the world.”
― Robert McKee

“There are only two forces at work in this world- black and white. Only people are grey.”
― Chris Heimerdinger, Gadiantons and the Silver Sword

“If you don't feel as close to God today as you did yesterday, who moved?”
― Chris Heimerdinger, Feathered Serpent, Part 1

“Knowing the precies answers is not as crucial as the certainty that the answers do, in fact, exist.”
― Chris Heimerdinger, Feathered Serpent, Part 2

“Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”
― William Blake

“Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing

1. Never open a book with weather.
2. Avoid prologues.
3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said”…he admonished gravely.
5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”
― Elmore Leonard

“you can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

“I can't stand it to think my life is going so fast and I'm not really living it.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

“Isn't it pretty to think so.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

“Oh Jake," Brett said, "We could have had such a damned good time together."
Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car slowed suddenly, pressing Brett against me.
Yes," I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

“It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night it is another thing.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

“How did you go bankrupt?"
Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

“Don't you ever get the feeling that all your life is going by and you're not taking advantage of it? Do you realize you've lived nearly half the time you have to live already?”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

“I am always in love.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

“Everyone behaves badly--given the chance.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

“You're not a moron. You're only a case of arrested development.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

“Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bullfighters.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

“I will protect those I hate. Even if the one I hate most is myself.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer