Writing Quotes

"Writing is a difficult, lonely endeavor, and every writer is a perpetual beginner. Therefore,..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:20:37 -0500

“Writing is a difficult, lonely endeavor, and every writer is a perpetual beginner. Therefore, don’t be ungenerous with another person’s attempts. Such an act will only reflect on you.”

- Isabella Franconati

"It is absurd to think that the only way to tell if a poem is lasting is to wait and see if it lasts...."

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:40:37 -0500

“It is absurd to think that the only way to tell if a poem is lasting is to wait and see if it lasts. The right reader of a good poem can tell the moment it strikes him that he has taken an immortal wound - that he will never get over it.”

- Robert Frost

"The contract between the author and the reader is a game. And the game…is one of the greatest..."

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:20:30 -0500

“The contract between the author and the reader is a game. And the game…is one of the greatest inventions of Western civilization: the game of telling stories, inventing characters, and creating the imaginary paradise of the individual, from whence no one can be expelled because, in a novel, no one owns truth and everyone has the right to be heard and understood.”

- Carlos Fuentes

"Nouns and verbs are almost pure metal; adjectives are cheaper ore."

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:40:29 -0500

“Nouns and verbs are almost pure metal; adjectives are cheaper ore.”

- Marie Gilchrist

"The greatest possible mint of style is to make the words absolutely disappear into the thought."

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:20:42 -0500

“The greatest possible mint of style is to make the words absolutely disappear into the thought.”

- Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Words, like eyeglasses, blur everything that they do not make more clear."

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:40:29 -0500

“Words, like eyeglasses, blur everything that they do not make more clear.”

- Joseph Joubert

"I can’t write five words but that I change seven."

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:20:36 -0500

“I can’t write five words but that I change seven.”

- Dorothy Parker

"If you would be pungent, be brief, for it is with words as with sunbeams - the more they are..."

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:40:35 -0500

“If you would be pungent, be brief, for it is with words as with sunbeams - the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.”

- Robert Southey

"Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:20:39 -0500

“Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”

- William Strunk Jr.

"I love writer’s block! I love it for the same reasons I love tree spirits and talking woodland..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:40:36 -0500

“I love writer’s block! I love it for the same reasons I love tree spirits and talking woodland creatures - they’re charming and they don’t exist.”

- Paul J. Silvia

"I know when a story is finished when there is not a single thing more I can think to do to it. And..."

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:20:19 -0500

“I know when a story is finished when there is not a single thing more I can think to do to it. And since I know at the start what the last line will be, I know when I’ve reached that point as logically as I can that it’s finished. As for the rewriting—it’s not foolproof, of course, but if you’re honest about having thought of every possibility and you still come back to what you have, what more can you do?”

- Amy Hempel

"A novel is not a summary of its plot but a collection of instances, of luminous specific details..."

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:40:26 -0500

“A novel is not a summary of its plot but a collection of instances, of luminous specific details that take us in the direction of the unsaid and unseen.”

- Charles Baxter

"Art never responds to the wish to make it democratic; it is not for everybody; it is only for those..."

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:20:21 -0500

“Art never responds to the wish to make it democratic; it is not for everybody; it is only for those who are willing to undergo the effort needed to understand it.”

- Flannery O’Connor

"Somebody gets into trouble, then gets out of it again. People love that story. They never get tired..."

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:40:28 -0500

“Somebody gets into trouble, then gets out of it again. People love that story. They never get tired of it.”

- Kurt Vonnegut

"The main question of a novel is—did it amuse? Were you surprised at dinner coming so soon? Did..."

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:20:42 -0500

“The main question of a novel is—did it amuse? Were you surprised at dinner coming so soon? Did you mistake eleven for ten? Were you too late to dress? And did you sit up beyond the usual hour? If a novel produces these effects, it is good; if it does not—story, language, love, scandal itself cannot save it. It is only meant to please, and it must do that or it does nothing.”

- Sydney Smith

"Restrictions and writing shouldn’t mix. Let your mind be open. Let it be a creative canvas."

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:40:32 -0500

“Restrictions and writing shouldn’t mix. Let your mind be open. Let it be a creative canvas.”

- Lauren Hammond

"When you’re socially awkward, you’re isolated more than usual, and when you’re..."

Sat, 11 May 2013 18:20:37 -0500

“When you’re socially awkward, you’re isolated more than usual, and when you’re isolated more than usual, your creativity is less compromised by what has already been said and done. All your hope in life starts to depend on your craft, so you try to perfect it. One reason I stay isolated more than the average person is to keep my creativity as fierce as possible. Being the odd one out may have its temporary disadvantages, but more importantly, it has its permanent advantages.”

- Criss Jami

"Good writers have two things in common: they would rather be understood than admired, and they do..."

Sat, 11 May 2013 13:40:33 -0500

“Good writers have two things in common: they would rather be understood than admired, and they do not write for hairsplitting and hypercritical readers.”

- Friedrich Nietzsche

"I love writing in longhand. Writing in longhand, I think, is a marvelous thing to do for a writer..."

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:20:27 -0500

“I love writing in longhand. Writing in longhand, I think, is a marvelous thing to do for a writer these days. If you have a notebook and a nice pen you can go off somewhere, you can write that’s solar powered. You can drop it or get it wet and pretty much all of your work will continue to be there. If you suddenly decide to look up a word or check a reference you will not look up four hours later, blinking, finding yourself somehow in the middle of an Ebay auction you never had any plans to be part of.”

- Neil Gaiman

"Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed."

Fri, 10 May 2013 13:40:28 -0500

“Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed.”

- Ray Bradbury