on writing - a writer is...

A writer lives, at least, in a state of astonishment. Beneath any
feeling he has of the good or evil of the world lies a deeper one of
wonder at it all. To transmit that feeling, he writes.
- William Sansom

Real writers are those who want to write, need to write, have to write.
- Robert Penn Warren

The duty and the task of a writer are those of an interpreter.
- Marcel Proust

the well written - f. scott fitzgerald

You will walk differently alone, dear, through a thicker atmosphere,
forcing your way through the shadows of chairs, through the
dripping smoke of the funnels. You will feel your own reflection
sliding along the eyes of those who look at you. You are no longer
insulated; but I suppose you must touch life in order to spring from it.

- F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tender Is the Night

By Emily Humphries

photo stories - empire state building

Buildings can have personalities of their own - allure, mystery, evils.
The show 666 Park Avenue builds on this premise, as do Millhauser's
"The Barnam Museum" and many of his other stories in Dangerous
Laughter ("The Tower" and "The Other Town").   The lavish houses in
Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby play important roles as well.  The list
goes on and on.  What houses, towers, and skyscrapers play roles in
your stories?

Downtown. Lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder.
And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.
- Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

By Warhol

the well written - f. scott fitzgerald

She was dazzling - alight; it was agony to comprehend
her beauty in a glance.

- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful And Damned

By Felicia Olin

from unexpected places - street style

These are from The Sartorialist - some fun characters to describe in vivid, unique ways.
It's all about the details of their hair, the way the skin shifts around the eyes, a strange frock or two, a particular grin.  Pick a random person and try to describe them on one of those crazy original ways.  I just finished The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who had a great talent for this:

Now he was a sturdy, straw haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner.  Two shining, arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward.  Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body - he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat.  It was a body capable of enormous leverage - a cruel body.

the well written - f. scott fitzgerald

In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings
and the champagne and the stars.

- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

By Alyssa Scott

Trailer for the film by Baz Luhrmann.