author quotes

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Try, Try Again

Good advice for children and adults from T. H. Palmer.

From his “Teacher’s Manual” (1840), page 223. Thomas Haig Palmer was born on 27 December 1782 in Kelso, Scottish Borders, Scotland. In 1804, he immigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America, where he became a printer, a publisher, and an author of school textbooks and historical records. Thomas Haig Palmer passed on at 78 years of age on 20 July 1861 in Pittsford, Rutland County, Vermont, United States of America. Quick Biography of H. H. Palmer. 

 

A bit dated but, none-the-less, Here it is, verbatim:

Try, Try Again by T. H. Palmer

‘Tis a lesson you should head,

If at first you don’t succeed,

Try, try again;

Then your courage should appear,

For if you will persevere,

You will conquer, never fear

Try, try again;

Once or twice, though you should fail,

If you would at last prevail,

Try, try again;

If we strive ‘tis no disgrace

Though we do not win the race

What should you do in the case?

Try, try again

If you find your task is hard,

Time will bring you your reward,

Try, try again

All that other folks can do

Why, with patience, you not do?

Only keep this rule in view:

Try, try again.

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Elmore Had It Right.

Slogging along on a manuscript or other piece of writing? Taking longer to finish than you expected? Exhausted trying to complete that description, paragraph, sentence, scene, dialogue, or other story element? Mr. Leonard just might have been on to something when it comes to writing.

Elmore And Writing

Elmore Leonard (October 11th, 1925 – August 20th, 2013)  was a novelist, short-story writer, and screenwriter. His earliest novels were westerns but he didn’t limit his work to that genre. Among his best-known works are “Get Shorty,” “Out of Sight,” “Hombre,” “Mr. Majestyk,” “Rum Punch” (adapted as the film “Jackie Brown”), and short stories that became the films “3:10 to Yuma” and “The Tall T,” as well as the FX television series, “Justified.” 

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Writing Tips

 

“Bad writing precedes good writing. This is an infallible rule, so don’t waste time trying to avoid bad writing. (That just slows down the process.) Anything committed to paper can be changed. The idea is to start and go from there.” –Janet Hulstrand

 

“Self-doubt, exhaustion, and confusion are part of the process. Embrace them and don’t stop writing to examine what you have. The world is full of people trying to perfect chapter one.” –Kerry Greenwood

 

“If you are struggling with writing a character, write 20 things a reader will never know about your character. These will naturally bleed into your writing and provide a richness even though you don’t share the detail.” –Barbara Poelle