Category: Famous Writers

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Famous Writers

Amy Winehouse- On Drying Your Own Tears

Amy Winehouse was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul (sometimes labeled as blue-eyed soul and neo soul), rhythm and blues, and jazz.

Although in the end of her outrageous career, she has left the world unexpected. She has provided numerous songs that relatable in a painful but beautiful sense. Here are some lyrics that proves that she will always be the girl from the jazz bar with great talent.

Pain of moving on…

“All I can ever be to you
Is a darkness that we knew
And this regret I’ve got accustomed to
Once it was so right
When we were at our height
Waiting for you in the hotel at night
I knew I hadn’t met my match
But every moment we could snatch
I don’t know why I got so attached
It’s my responsibility
And you don’t owe nothing to me
But to walk away I have no capacity”

-Amy Winehouse, Tears Dry on Their Own

In being strong despite of painful occurrences…

“It’s okay in the day
I’m staying busy
Tied up enough so I don’t have to wonder where is he
Got so sick of crying
So just lately
When I catch myself, I do a one-eighty
I stay up, clean the house
At least I’m not drinking
Run around just so I don’t have to think about thinking
That silent sense of content
That everyone gets
Just disappears ‘soon as the sun sets”

-Amy Winehouse, Wake Up Alone

Importance of music…

“I’d rather be at home with a Ray
I ain’t got seventy days
‘Cause there’s nothing, there’s nothing you can teach me
That I can’t learn from Mr. Hathaway”

-Amy Winehouse, Rehab

Amy Winehouse is known for her problems in substance addiction. We can all attest that people have their own way in coping with pain. Pain is beautiful in so many ways when it comes to creativity and writing. Amy Winehouse, equipped with her inner connection with pain and all its gratification, has shown us that there is a silver lining even the darkest of days.

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Famous Writers

Lauryn Hill – On Miseducation

 

Lauryn Hill is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is best known for being a member of the Fugees and for her critically acclaimed solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which won numerous awards and broke several sales records.

She drops truth bombs to educate everyone about the realites of the world in general. Here are some Lauryn Hill sayings that we all should live by:

“If everyone is a product of this society, who will say the things that need to be said, and do the things that need to be done, without compromise? Truth will never start out popular in a world more concerned with marketability than righteousness. It will initially suffer ridicule and even violence- yet ultimately it is undeniable. All of humanity is living in a dream world, but suffering real consequences.”
― Lauryn Hill

“It’s difficult because we live in a world that doesn’t really respect the creative and intellectual contributions of women.
It’s more like “Oh, you’re so cute. Be quiet. Shhh, don’t talk too much.”
― Lauryn Hill

“Now don’t you understand man universal law
What you throw out comes back to you, star
Never underestimate those who you scar
Cause karma, karma, karma comes back to you hard”
― Lauryn Hill

It’s hard to be inspirational in this day and age. Everyone can provide certain creativity in a particular set of industry or community. There is a rarity in people who see beneath the lies of the systematized structure of generational norm. If you can ever be as wise as Lauryn Hill on this generation, be a spark of hope.

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Famous Writers

John Green – On the Bright Side

John Green is an American author, vlogger, writer, producer, actor and editor. John Green is one of the most revered authors of today. He is known for his Young Adult Fiction books. Some of his books even become movies. Not just movies, these books-turned-movies are all box-office hits.

Here are some quotes from John Green’s infamous books:

On love without inhibitions…

“There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There’s .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. A writer we used to like taught us that. There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers than I’m likely to get, and God, I want more numbers for Augustus Waters than he got. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

Teenage perception…

“When adults say, “Teenagers think they are invincible” with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don’t know how right they are. We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born, and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations. They forget that when they get old. They get scared of losing and failing. But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail.”
― John Green, Looking for Alaska

Life as a young adult…

“Did you know that for pretty much the entire history of the human species, the average life span was less than thirty years? You could count on ten years or so of real adulthood, right? There was no planning for retirement, There was no planning for a career. There was no planning. No time for plannning. No time for a future. But then the life spans started getting longer, and people started having more and more future. And now life has become the future. Every moment of your life is lived for the future–you go to high school so you can go to college so you can get a good job so you can get a nice house so you can afford to send your kids to college so they can get a good job so they can get a nice house so they can afford to send their kids to college.”
― John Green, Paper Towns

If you are a fan of John Green, then you know that writing is also kind of preachy but can also connect a generation filled with missed connections. Maybe we can all put down everything and try to reconnect in the most vintage way – writing with all our convictions.

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Famous Writers

David Levithan – On Unconditional Love

David Levithan is by far the best in telling stories about love in a literary form. Although his books tackle more on the young adult kind of love, don’t we all need a little reminder of how exciting it is to love without inhibitions and control? The kind of love that is so deep that no pain or scar can ever be the key to being scared or frightened. Most of his works are remarkable because it all shows us that love can thrive and survive even in the most bizarre ways.

Here are some lines from some from David Levithan’s novels:

“What is it about the moment you fall in love? How can such a small measure of time contain such enormity? I suddenly realize why people believe in déjà vu, why people believe they’ve lived past lives, because there is no way the years I’ve spent on this earth could possibly encapsulate what I’m feeling. The moment you fall in love feels like it has centuries behind it, generations—all of them rearranging themselves so that this precise, remarkable intersection could happen. In you heart, in your bones, no matter how silly you know it is, you feel that everything has been leading to this, all the secret arrows were pointing here, the universe and time itself crafted this long ago, and you are just now realizing it, you are now just arriving at the place you were always meant to be.”
― David Levithan, Every Day

“Sometimes when you hit send, you can imagine the message going straight into the person’s heart. But other times, like this time, it feels like the words are merely falling into a well.”
― David Levithan, Every Day

“It’s one thing to fall in love. It’s another to feel someone else fall in love with you, and to feel a responsibility toward that love.”
― David Levithan, Every Day

If you ever plan on writing a love letter, trust that the words of David Levithan can bring you to the right path. A little inspiration and a lot of love can really go a long way.

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Famous Writers

Ned Vizzini – On Tackling Serious Matters

Ned Vizzini is one of the writers who had openly admitted his fight against mental illness. It is a common for writers to experience depression and anxiety and most of them in a very severe way. Ned Vizzini lost his fight against clinical depression but has managed to write novels that would help people understand the daily and general problems of a person who is experiencing struggles with their mental health.

As a writer, we can learn a lot from Ned Vizzini in terms of expressing even the hardest situations in our lives or our rock bottom.

Here are some quotes that Ned Vizzini gave us to remember him by:

“Its so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself. That’s above and beyond everything else, and it’s not a mental complaint-it’s a physical thing, like it’s physically hard to open your mouth and make the words come out. They don’t come out smooth and in conjunction with your brain the way normal people’s words do; they come out in chunks as if from a crushed-ice dispenser; you stumble on them as they gather behind your lower lip. So you just keep quiet.”
― Ned Vizzini, It’s Kind of a Funny Story

“Sometimes I just think depression’s one way of coping with the world. Like, some people get drunk, some people do drugs, some people get depressed. Because there’s so much stuff out there that you have to do something to deal with it.”
― Ned Vizzini, It’s Kind of a Funny Story

“I’m not better, you know. The weight hasn’t left my head. I feel how easily I could fall back into it, lie down and not eat, waste my time and curse wasting my time, look at my homework and freak out and go and chill at Aaron’s, look at Nia and be jealous again, take the subway home and hope that it has an accident, go and get my bike and head to the Brooklyn Bridge. All of that is still there. The only thing is, it’s not an option now. It’s just… a possibility, like it’s a possibility that I could turn to dust in the next instant and be disseminated throughout the universe as an omniscient consciousness. It’s not a very likely possibility.”
― Ned Vizzini, It’s Kind of a Funny Story

So if you ever are suffering from depression or anxiety, ask for help. You don’t need to create a novel like Ned but you sure can express yourself even in the smallest form.

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Famous Writers

Quentin Tarantino – On Versatility


Quentin Tarantino is undeniably one of the most versatile screenplay writers of the contemporary film industry. If you want to be original in the sense of storytelling, you are in luck if you plan to make Quentin your personal writing inspiration. He is undoubtedly one of the most eccentric in the field of fluid transition of thoughts to writing.

One of the most iconic scenes in a Quentin Tarantino movie is the character of Samuel Jackson being religiously absolving…

“There’s a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you.” Now… I been sayin’ that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, that meant your ass. You’d be dead right now. I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherfucker before I popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this mornin’ made me think twice. See, now I’m thinking: maybe it means you’re the evil man. And I’m the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here… he’s the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could mean you’re the righteous man and I’m the shepherd and it’s the world that’s evil and selfish. And I’d like that. But that shit ain’t the truth. The truth is you’re the weak. And I’m the tyranny of evil men. But I’m tryin’, Ringo. I’m tryin’ real hard to be the shepherd.”

– Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction

This kind of writing is the kind of originality you want to achieve in writing anything original. How you portray your uniqueness in writing letters should be just like how you want to be understood. Take Quentin Tarantino’s versatility and your letter will surely be interesting and creative. Always remember: Dare to be iconic!

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Famous Writers

Bob Marley – On “Rebelution”

It is a known fact that Bob Marley has fought for the rights of many in Jamaica through his songs. Songwriting, although a little different than literary platform, is one of the most influential forms of writing cause it combines both the artistry of writing and rhythm. It captures the soul of man and can make the masses understand the meaning the writer tries to transcend.

Here are some of the best lyrics Bob Marley has bestowed upon us mere humans:

On standing up for what you believe in…

“Preacher man don’t tell me heaven is under the earth
I know you don’t know what life is really worth
Is not all that glitters in gold and
Half the story has never been told
So now you see the light, aay
Stand up for your right. Come on.”

-Bob Marley, Get Up Stand Up

On social truth…

“Said he was a Buffalo Soldier win the war for America;
Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta,
Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival;
Driven from the mainland to the heart of the Caribbean.”

-Bob Marley, Buffalo Soldier

On self-belief and resistance…

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
‘Cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? Ooh!
Some say it’s just a part of it:
We’ve got to fulfill the book.”

-Bob Marley, Redemption Song

If you have any predicaments, always fight for it. A person with conviction can send a powerful message. It can be in the form of song, novel, or even through writing. If you feel like being a strong believer of anything or you possess an opinion, you can express it through writing. Bob Marley is a great example of a writer who translates his principles through his own way. If you need an inspiration in writing what you need to say, Bob Marley is your guide.

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Famous Writers

Tina Fey – On Comedy

 

Tina Fey is a writer that started from “Saturday Night Live!” and became a producer for certain shows such as Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and 30 Rock. She was also known for her impression as the Republican politician, Sarah Palin.

She wrote a humor book called Bossypants and co-wrote the movies, Sisters, and Baby Mama.

One of the favorites from her book was the prayer she made for her daughter;

“First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen.Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.”

-Tina Fey, Bossypants

 

If you would like to make a humorous letter, you can bet your bottom dollar that Tina Fey is a good influence in a literary sense.

 

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Famous Writers

Oscar Wilde – On Being a Nonconformist

Ladies and Gentlemen, let us all welcome the saint of all the hipsters! Seriously, this is every hipster’s idol. He writes like he doesn’t belong in his time. This writer is Oscar Wilde. There has been a movie about him starring Daniel Radcliffe, so yeah, I bet this didn’t come as a surprise to our old friends, the hipster geeks.

Who is Oscar Wilde, you ask?

Oscar Wilde was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London’s most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. He is remembered for his epigrams, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, his plays, as well as the circumstances of his imprisonment and early death.

Now, we must ponder upon some of the notable quotations of Mr. Oscar Wilde;

“Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one’s head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost

Oscar Wilde dared to not conform to the era he belongs. If you would write a letter to anyone about anything, read some of Oscar Wilde’s works and see how it changes the way you express yourself through words and sentences. Dare to be wild like Oscar Wilde.

 

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Famous Writers

Neil Gaiman – On Imagination

Neil Gaiman is the man who defined where our dreams come from. He has written every fabric of the creative structure in which all imagination failed comparison to. This is the epitome of the gregarious search for modern fantastical, but gritty, merge of the surreal and the unreal.

Neil Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theater, and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book.

Here are some of the quotes that Neil Gaiman has written for all his readers;

“I’ve been making a list of the things they don’t teach you at school. They don’t teach you how to love somebody. They don’t teach you how to be famous. They don’t teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don’t teach you how to walk away from someone you don’t love any longer. They don’t teach you how to know what’s going on in someone else’s mind. They don’t teach you what to say to someone who’s dying. They don’t teach you anything worth knowing.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones

“Everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody — no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds… Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 5: A Game of You

“When I was a child, adults would tell me not to make things up, warning me of what would happen if I did. As far as I can tell so far, it seems to involve lots of foreign travel and not having to get up too early in the morning.”
― Neil Gaiman, Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fiction and Illusions

The first step in writing whether a book or a letter is to exercise transcription of imagination to words. Neil Gaiman proves that there is no limit to imagination and it can be a powerful catalyst for others to write and be read.