How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
The book came out the following autumn and has been the most successful of my novels. (12.19)
At least it paid off. This book is the one Lamott rewrote three times. Sometimes you have to step up to the plate an awful lot of times before you hit that home run. If it's hard to write, that sometimes means it's going to be great when you finally finish.
Quote #5
Whenever I tell this story to my students, they want to see the actual manuscript of the plot treatment. When I bring it in, they pore over it like it is some kind of Rosetta stone. It is typed on paper that has become crisp with age. There are annotations, smudges, and rings left by coffee and by red wine. It strikes me as being a brave document, rather like the little engine who could on the morning after. (12.20)
Our copy of The Little Engine That Could didn't say anything about the morning after. Writing really does take a ton of courage, over and over again. And a lot of triple espressos.
Quote #6
All four of them are excellent writers, but only one of them has been published at all, and that was just one article. But you know what? They love each other. They still look forward to their meetings after all these years. They are better writers and better people because of their work with each other. (21.24)
If most aspiring writers knew how long it takes to get published, they'd be too scared to try. But like Lamott's students, many writers really do get a lot out of a writer's group. It's like joining the Order of the Phoenix or something—and the Order of the Phoenix totally wins, even if it takes them three books.