When we first encounter a genre, we naturally read a variety of writers -- some will resonate more than others. Pick one or two that speak to you, and study them in great detail; don’t worry about how well-received they are by the public.

Jien’s best known work translates humbly as, The Jottings of a Fool. It begins, “While seeking diversion from the sleeplessness of old age, I spend more and more time -- as I approach the end of life -- observing world affairs. Consequently I have become aware of certain principles...”

Once the writer’s friend, the cigarette -- both procrastination tool and brain stimulant -- now begins its slow exit from literary soirees and solo escapades of creation.

Not everything has to take 800, or 80,000, words. Sometimes the blessedness in a communication is how quickly it comes to the point.

Of the innumerable Doctorow quotes on the craft of fiction, this seems to be his most popular: “Writing is like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” -- contributed by Leon Sterling

Maupin was one of the first writers to address the subject of AIDS, as early as 1983. In 2000 he said, “I’ve always been proud of the fact that I’ve been openly gay longer than just about anybody writing today.” What is true about your life and perspective that you may still be reticent to share? Does that help or hinder your reader? Yourself?

The previous year, the Stones owed more in taxes than they could pay and left the U.K. before the government could seize their assets. Renting a villa in the south of France, the band worked all night, every night, from eight in the evening until three the following morning on their new album -- now generally regarded as their best.

Among Marinetti's eleven principles (including the destruction of the "I" in literature), is this: "We must abolish the adjective so that the naked noun can retain its essential color. The adjective, carrying in it a principle of nuance, is incompatible with our dynamic vision, because it implies a pause, a mediation."

The year before, Greenfield had debuted at the Met (Metropolitan Hall) in New York before four thousand white patrons. After the concert, Greenfield apologized to her own people for their exclusion from the performance and gave a concert to benefit the Home of Aged Colored Persons and the Colored Orphan Asylum.

Simenon went into total seclusion when he wrote a novel, giving himself over completely to his creativity. He would have his physician visit both before his retreats, and after...when his blood pressure would actually be lower.

Sometimes band members are what are known as a "rough mix" -- yet the music sounds better when they are kept together. Whom in your creative circle do you experience constructive friction with?

T.S. Eliot is famously quoted for saying, "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal." We think MacLeish's quote is just a bit juicier, “A real writer learns from earlier writers the way a boy learns from an apple orchard -- by stealing what he has a taste for, and can carry off.”

Baum's last words were: "Now I can cross the shifting sands," referring to the desert that surrounded Oz in his tales. After writing thirteen Oz books in total, Baum no doubt lived at least part of each day in his alternate reality...which probably helped his writing, don’t you think?

Many of us toil over our craft in seclusion because we don't know what outlets will publish our creative expression. But you have to start somewhere: a blog, an essay for a newsletter, a tiny poem published in the corner of The Examiner perhaps... And then let fate take over from there.

"Ohio" was written, recorded and was playing on the radio within two and a half weeks of the shootings. Sometimes our creative response time has to be more immediate than our longer-term projects lead us to believe. If you are inspired by something happening now, respond to it now.