Just in case you’ve ever wondered what a second-pass edit looks like:

other-wordly:

pronunciation | \a-doks-‘o-graf-E\
submitted by | Azalea Mastio
submit words | here

My cousin Helen, who is in her 90s now, was in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. She and a bunch of the girls in the ghetto had to do sewing each day. And if you were found with a book, it was an automatic death penalty. She had gotten hold of a copy of ‘Gone With the Wind’, and she would take three or four hours out of her sleeping time each night to read. And then, during the hour or so when they were sewing the next day, she would tell them all the story. These girls were risking certain death for a story. And when she told me that story herself, it actually made what I do feel more important. Because giving people stories is not a luxury. It’s actually one of the things that you live and die for.

Neil Gaiman (via brandx)

(Source: jaynestown)

For the confusèd among you.

Old English (Anglo-Saxon): Eft he axode, hu ðære ðeode nama wære þe hi of comon. Him wæs geandwyrd, þæt hi Angle genemnode wæron. Þa cwæð he, "Rihtlice hi sind Angle gehatene, for ðan ðe hi engla wlite habbað, and swilcum gedafenað þæt hi on heofonum engla geferan beon."
Middle English: In þat lond ben trees þat beren wolle, as þogh it were of scheep; whereof men maken clothes, and all þing þat may ben made of wolle. In þat contree ben many ipotaynes, þat dwellen som tyme in the water, and somtyme on the lond: and þei ben half man and half hors, as I haue seyd before; and þei eten men, whan þei may take hem.
Early Modern English: But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she Be not her maid, since she is envious; Her vestal livery is but sick and green And none but fools do wear it; cast it off. It is my lady, O, it is my love!
Modern English: Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

(Source: bitchimrickjames)

(Source: imgfave)

All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.

F. Scott Fitzgerald (via libraryland)

Above all, I am addicted to words.

(Source: thingssheloves)

25 Reasons Writers Are Bug-Fuck Nuts

It is in our makeup to be desperate for attention. We write our books, our films, our articles, and we’re not writing them so that we can just read them back to ourselves and have a jolly good laugh. We want you to read them, too. And you. And you! And you over there, hiding behind the shrubs. The more attention we get, the more successful we become — or, at least, feel. The ironic part is, many aren’t comfortable with that attention and yet seek it like junkies. Which, you guessed it, makes us a wee smidgen bit crazy.

(Source: audreyii-fic)

do you ever get 40k into writing a fic

and get your first-pass notes back from your editor

and think

i should just give up writing and go live in a cave and eat bats

because i would probably be better at that

She writes like she’s starving and reads like she’s feasting.

R.D. Larson (via booksandnerds)

Whatever you are writing, it is making you better. There is no lost time, there is no lost cause, there are no lost words. Everything is going towards something good.

How Writers Can Stay Optimistic - Amy Spencer - GalleyCat (via cleolinda)

Heh, I do love to write about food.  It’s one of the things I think I do particularly well in terms of writing, actually, but I’m not sure what a great skill that really is… :P

Thank you!

(Source: psychodrui)