You may have a friend who is plain-spoken to the point of being blunt. Someone straddling the line between honesty and bad manners. Someone uneasy around sensitive people, often responding to a frown with, “Just kidding!”

Some of my favorite writer’s quotes are “blunt.” Whether frank or bitter or both, there’s a blend of economy and acumen in the quotes that follow. (The Hemingway quote, for example, applies directly to my own work. Perhaps he transcended death in order to read my latest work-in-progress…) Enjoy!

“The first draft of everything is shit.” ~Ernest Hemingway

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time—or the tools—to write. Simple as that.” ~Stephen King

“Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.” ~Oscar Wilde

“Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.” ~Kurt Vonnegut

“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.” ~Elmore Leonard

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” ~W. Somerset Maugham

“When I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split.” ~Raymond Chandler

“Get comfortable with your day job.” ~Michael Pemental