Roy Peter Clark Quotes

If a period is a stop sign, then what kind of traffic flow is created by other marks? The comma is a speed bump; the semicolon is what a driver education teacher calls a “rolling stop”; the parenthetical expression is a detour; the colon is a flashing yellow light that announces something important up ahead; the dash is a tree branch in the road.

I may have grown up in the Age of Aquarius, but I'm growing old in the Age of the Acronym.

Express your most powerful thought in the shortest sentence.

Everyone should read, we say, but we act as if only those with special talent should write.

Writing is not magic. It’s a craft, a process, a set of steps. As with any process, things sometimes break down. Even in a good story, the writer runs into problems. So the act of writing always includes problem solving.

Having the urge to write is one thing; acting on it is another.

For what good is freedom of expression if you lack the means to express yourself?

Riffing on language will create wonderful effects you never intended. Which leads me to this writing advice: 'Always take credit for good stuff you didn't intend, because you'll be getting plenty of criticism in your career for bad stuff you didn't mean either.'

A teacher of mine once said there are no true synonyms.

Without a serious study of journalism, there can be no understanding of citizenship, democracy, or community.