Eudora Welty's brilliance is evident in her book ON WRITING. Each chapter is an essay approaching various topics on the writing of fiction. This book published in 2002 is an excerpt from, THE EYE OF THE STORY, originally published in 1977. Topics approached in various chapters of the book include (but are not limited to) short stories; writing and analyzing fiction; and the use of place, words, and time in fiction. The brilliance of Eudora Welty's ability to dissect these concepts and present them in such a teachable manner, makes this book a valuable reference for the aspiring writer and published author alike.
The following are my favorite quotes from ON WRITING:
"Indifference would indeed be corrupting to the fiction writer, indifference to any part of man's plight. Passion is the chief ingredient of good fiction. It flames right out of sympathy for the human condition and goes into all great writing."
"Writing in the heat of passion can be done with extremely good temper."
"And so finally I think we need to write with love. Not in self-defense, not in hate, not in the mood of instruction, not in rebuttal, in any kind of militance, or in apology, but with love."
"Out of love you can write with straight fury."
"Every writer, like everybody else, thinks he's living through the crisis of the ages."
"Remembering is so basic and vital a part of staying alive that it takes on the strength of an instinct of survival, and acquires the power of an art."
I gave this book a four star rating on Goodreads. You can follow me on Goodreads at this link.