10 Writing Tips from Ursula Le Guin

Ursula Le Guin is astir apt champion known for her sci-fi and fantasy, but she besides wrote poetry, imaginative nonfiction, and literate fiction. She won galore awards for her work, and today, we stock a fewer Ursula Le Guin quotes connected penning to animate you to support moving toward your literate dream. 

I've been reference Ursula Le Guin for a agelong time, since I first discovered The Earthsea Cycle, which reinvigorated my love for fantasy.

She's besides celebrated for her science-fiction, particularly The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, and was 1 of nan first to show the world that women tin not only constitute awesome subject fiction, they tin often do it amended than men.

Le Guin was a “genre” writer who constantly pushed nan boundaries of what we deliberation of arsenic genre. Besides sci-fi and fantasy, she wrote poetry, imaginative nonfiction, and literate fiction.

We first shared her penning contented connected The Write Practice backmost successful 2014 erstwhile she was honored pinch nan Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters astatine nan National Book Awards. It's besides conscionable 1 of galore awards she received passim her career.

I honestly judge she will spell down successful history arsenic 1 of nan top writers, literate aliases otherwise, of nan 20th century.

Ursula Le Guin's Quotes connected Writing

With that successful mind, present are 10 quotes from Ursula Le Guin connected her process arsenic a writer:

1. “Show, Don't Tell” Is for Beginners

From ursulakleguin.com:

Thanks to “show don’t tell,” I find writers successful my workshops who deliberation exposition is wicked. They’re acrophobic to picture nan world they’ve invented. … This dread of penning a condemnation that isn’t crammed pinch “gutwrenching action” leads fabrication writers to trust acold excessively overmuch connected dialogue, to restrict sound to constricted 3rd personification and tense to nan present.

2. So Is “Write What You Know”

From ursulakleguin.com:

As for “Write what you know,” I was regularly told this arsenic a beginner. I deliberation it’s a very bully norm and person ever obeyed it. I constitute astir imaginary countries, alien societies connected different planets, dragons, wizards, nan Napa Valley successful 22002. I cognize these things. I cognize them amended than anybody other perchance could, truthful it’s my work to attest astir them.

3. Do Your Job arsenic a Writer, and Do it Really Well

From Paris Review:

But erstwhile group say, Did you ever want to beryllium a writer?, I person to opportunity no! I ever was a writer (tweet that, accent mine). I didn’t want to beryllium a writer and lead nan writer’s life and beryllium glamorous and spell to New York. I conscionable wanted to do my occupation writing, and to do it really well.

4. Shoot for nan Top, Always.

From Paris Review:

When asked what authors she measures her activity against, Le Guin says:

Charles Dickens. Jane Austen. And then, erstwhile I yet learned to publication her, Virginia Woolf. Shoot for nan top, always. You cognize you’ll ne'er make it, but what’s nan nosy if you don’t sprout for nan top? (tweet that)

5. Write Like Who You Are

From Paris Review:

Hey, conjecture what? You’re a woman. You tin constitute for illustration a woman. I saw that women don’t person to constitute astir what men constitute about, aliases constitute what men deliberation they want to read. I saw that women person full areas of acquisition men don’t person — and that they’re worthy penning and reference about.

6. Learn From nan Greats

From Paris Review:

It was Borges and Calvino who made maine think, Hey, look astatine what they’re doing! Can I do that?

7. Writing Is All About Learning to See

From Paris Review:

A very bully book tells maine news, tells maine things I didn’t know, aliases didn’t cognize I knew, yet I admit them — yes, I see, yes, this is really nan world is. Fiction — and poesy and play — cleanse nan doors of perception. (tweet that)

I emotion this, by nan way. It reminds maine of Oscar Wilde's quote, “No awesome artist ever sees things arsenic they really are. If he did, he would cease to beryllium an artist.”

8. Begin Your Story With a Voice

From Paris Review:

How should you statesman your story?

With a voice. With a sound successful nan ear. That first page I wrote, which nan caller progressed from, is simply Lavinia speaking to america — including me, apparently.

9. Focus connected nan Rhythm of nan Story

From Paris Review:

I want nan communicative to person a hit that keeps moving forward. Because that’s nan full constituent of telling a story. You’re connected a travel — you’re going from present to there. It’s sewage to move. Even if nan hit is very analyzable and subtle, that’s what’s going to transportation nan reader.

10. Don't Waste Time

From Paris Review:

And 1 of [the things you study arsenic you get older] is, you really request little … My exemplary for this is precocious Beethoven. He moves truthful strangely and rather abruptly sometimes from spot to spot successful his music, successful nan precocious quartets. He knows wherever he’s going and he conscionable doesn’t want to discarded each that clip getting there. … One is alert of this arsenic 1 gets older. You can’t discarded time.

How astir you? What do you emotion astir Ursula Le Guin? What has she taught you astir writing? Let america cognize successful the comments.