Like most people, I read novels and watch movies (films?) for the stories, and for the action. But every once in a while a real nugget of a phrase drops into my lap, and sticks with me…phrases like “along come a stranger and stopped to argue some,” or “lean and sere as a winter wolf.”
I don’t have to dig around in the data banks of my mind for those. The only hitch is finding a way to share them with other readers and writer who might appreciate them as I do.
All of which is preamble to thinking it might be fun to offer a copy of my novel Stone Fly to the first two or three readers who would like to share personal favorites we can post here.
For now I’ll post my disclaimer that I never steal phrases from other writers. This is just for love of the language.
Rod
Great idea, Rod. Here’s one from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s notebook: “Ah, it was a great feeling to relax — the best feeling, unlike any sinking down he had ever known before.”
I recently re-read this novel because I suspected that what I remembered about it as a younger reader was not the whole story. “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” George Orwell, 1984.
I’d say that might grab a reader’s attention. I think it would mine. Thanks!
I like this quote myself:
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
By: Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Wonderful. Thank you for sharing. I’ll look for Maya Angelou. Rod