Hank Nuwer Starting a Writer's Quotation Page

Quotations for Writers

Quotations for Writers

"As a writer you one day find your body in excruciating pain and that is when you reach a point where you count the remaining seconds of life and intensely poke each second like gold in a pan. What you spill when you sift can never be regained." --Hank Nuwer, November 26, 2009.

"Writing only when you find a muse is practicing self-deception if you truly are a writer. It's like calling yourself a husband or wife if you treat your Muse like a one-night stand. You have to give (not just take) your all on good days and bad, and at the end of life maybe, just maybe, you can say you and that Muse had one heluva good satisfying marriage." --Hank Nuwer

"Here is one writer's version of Black Friday. You read and think because you're always shopping for ideas. You spend and spend all your energy. You love a sale but you can't be for sale. You reach here and there to touch the merchandise of life." --Hank Nuwer, Black Friday, November 2009.

"On writing a novel. Sometimes the words go on the page with a firehose. Sometimes they dribble onto the page like water through a sluice in a drought. Get the words down. Use dialog often to advance the plot. Hear the voices of your characters in your head. Complicate their lives. Repeat often." --Hank Nuwer, November 22, 2009

"Get into the reality of your characters' lives as best you can when writing a historical novel. My novel is about two Basque herders. I am having bread crusts in boiled milk, beans, and a bit of left-over lamb for breakfast. The meal transports me to 1899 Nevada south of Jiggs, NV. Food can jumpstart your chapter as you digest it." Hank Nuwer, November 20, 2009

"Daily writing gives me 2-3 hours of being alive. It's like trampolining while that trampoline is surrounded by hot stones and hot coals. Enjoy the lift and the heat but don't fall off and be consumed." --Hank Nuwer, November 20, 2009.

Happy Anniversary, Paris Review

Discovered The Paris Review in 1968 and am still a fan. Happy
50th, Ms Paree! Highlight for me is its interviews with authors. I once interviewed PR editor George Plimpton in his office. His bathroom had hundreds of pictures of himself on the walls. Guess that was better than another friend's bathroom who papered the walls with rejection slips. Loved this review!

Fisticuffs in the Washington Post

Veteran newshounds weren't surprised when one news guy punched another in the hallowed halls of the Washington Post.

I mean, journalism has a lot of fighting terms.

Stories are keyed into the sytem with a SLUG, for example!

We cover stories like education or cops by going on a BEAT.

In our stories, we separate key facts or a list with a BULLET.

Then, of course, we KILL a story with a SPIKE.

And saddest of all, copy editors go crazy if they let a WIDOW slip into the paper.

Oral B, Oral B -- The Terrible Toothbrush Saga Continues

To catch you up, gentle reader, I bought an Oral B toothbrush whose bristles fell out everywhere upon first brushing. I just woke up and I stil have more to get out between the molars. Yuk. So here's a poem and then a parody song to the Oral B makers!


When bristles fall like pine needles.
Oral B needs an ad campaign that wheedles.
For when bristles lodge in one's back teeth
You have to pick at your gums to get beneath.
... Read More
Song refrain:

As the blackbird in the spring
'neath the willow tree

Sat and piped
I heard him sing
cussing Oral B.
Oral B! Oral B! Made with flimsy hair

Brushing with thee makes me swallow bristles everywhere.

If you don't get "Aura Lee" click here. LOL



This has a happy ending. Oral B wrote a nice letter.

Hi Hank,

Thanks for contacting Oral-B.

Our goal is to produce high quality products that consistently delight our consumers and I'm sorry this wasn't your experience with our Oral B Advantage toothbrush. What you are describing is unusual, we would not expect this. All of our products go through numerous quality checks.

Please be assured I'm sharing your comments with the rest of our team.

Since your satisfaction means a great deal to us, I'm sending compensation by postal mail. You should receive my letter within the next 2-3 weeks.

Thanks again for writing
.
Laure
Oral-B Team

My dog

My dog has one time when he is a pain. It is when I prepare to go on a trip and pack my suitcase, a sort-of oversized backpack. He scoots under my feet, puts on a miserable face, gets licky and obnoxious, and has to be put outside.

This rarely happens

John Steinbeck in Travels with Charlie wrote that he was worried about being recognized when he set off in truck with his trusty poodle beside him. He never was. Today one of the very few times I was recognized by a stranger, a Kroger checkout woman, and it was because of an ESPN show she saw. It's happened 3-4 times at an airport, once on an elevator, once by a policeman who helped me after an auto accident, once on a plane, and once on a street. It's a very strange feeling when that happens.

Oral-B - No mas

Bought a new Oral-B Advantage toothbrush today and on first brushing a bunch of bristles fell out. In all the years of brushing I never had this happen. Definitely switching brands.