#Edith Mirrielees

[diaryofaphilosopher]

It is not so very hard to judge a story after it is written, but after many years, to start a story still scares me to death. I will go so far as to say that the writer who is not scared is happily unaware of the remote and tantalizing majesty of the medium.

— John Steinbeck, in a letter congratulating his former creative writing professor at Stanford, Edith Mirrielees, for the paperback publication of her book, Story Writing.

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[thesorcerersapprentice]

The basic rule you gave us [for writing] was simple and heartbreaking. A story to be effective had to convey something from writer to reader and the power of its offering was the measure of its excellence. Outside of that, you said, there were no rules.

— John Steinbeck, in a letter congratulating his former creative writing professor at Stanford, Edith Mirrielees, for the paperback publication of her book, Story Writing.

[hothiphop69]

The basic rule you gave us was simple and heartbreaking. A story to be effective had to convey something from writer to reader and the power of its offering was the measure of its excellence. ... A story could be about anything and could use any means and technique at all—so long as it was effective.

John Steinbeck in a letter to his former creative writing teacher,  Edith Mirrielees.

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/05/it-has-never-got-easier.html

[diaryofaphilosopher]

I wonder whether you will remember one last piece of advice you gave me. It was during the exuberance of the rich and frantic twenties and I was going out into that world to try to be a writer. You said, “It’s going to take a long time, and you haven’t any money. Maybe it would be better if you could go to Europe.” “Why?” I asked. “Because in Europe poverty is a misfortune, but in America it is shameful. I wonder whether or not you can stand the shame of being poor.” It wasn’t too long afterwards that the depression came down. Then everyone was poor and it was no shame any more. And so I will never know whether or not I could have stood it. But surely you were right about one thing, Edith. It took a long time—a very long time. And it is still going on and it has never got easier. You told me it wouldn’t.

— John Steinbeck, in a letter congratulating his former creative writing professor at Stanford, Edith Mirrielees, for the paperback publication of her book, Story Writing.

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