Writers On Writing Quotes

As far as you are able to gather from hints scattered through these letters, Apocryphal Power, riven by internecine battles and eluding the control of its founder, Ermes Marana, has broken into two groups: a sect of enlightened followers of the Archangel of Light and a sect of nihilist followers of the Archon of Shadow. The former are convinced that among the false books flooding the world they can track down the few that bear a truth perhaps extrahuman or extraterrestrial. The latter believe that only counterfeiting, mystification, intentional falsehood can represent absolute value in a book, a truth not contaminated by the dominant pseudo truths.

~ Italo Calvino

If a writer manages to be fascinating about his own novels, then there are only two possibilities: either he is merely voicing out loud what he wrote in his book, and he is a parrot; or he is explaining interesting things that he didn't discuss in his book, in which case the book in question is a failure since it does not live up to its claims.

~ Amélie Nothomb

He would write and write. He would make wonderful things happen. Some of it would be true. All of it would be true. Most of it would be true.

~ Kate Dicamillo

The mist after rain, uninterrupted rainfall on rooftops, pitter-patter intellect. The thoughts I leave behind like footsteps.

~ Chris Campanioni

You will not publish 100% of the books you don’t write.

~ M. Kirin

There is no ceremony, no initiation ritual, no secret hand-shake. All you need to be a writer is to write.

~ M. Kirin

When the silence comes and the echoes of former life fades, what will have mattered will be, one made the world a bit better ‘fore their de-berthing. Writing, needs none, but the initial push of heart and passion, enabling the story to take flight, doves to clouds, clouds to doves, then to faithfully follow its unfolding through the quill transcribed, this self-perpetuating engine once born, with no further fuel required, to lift others in the journey, through time, for all time.

~ Tom Althouse

You have to be in your middle thirties before you have anything worth saying.

~ Peter Bowen

The writer sat besides the weeping Gilgamesh, witnessed the sinking of the unsinkable ships. He was there, and he wasn't. Like a naturalist observing the tarn of life from an unseen bubble of neutrality.

~ Jebreel Nahaary

The writer sat besides the weeping Gilgamesh, swam out of all the unsinkable ships sank. He was there, and he wasn't. Like a naturalist observing the tarn of life from an unseen bubble of neutrality.

~ Jebreel Nahaary

Make today the day you begin that awesome idea you have had for years. Now go, write this book, and remember that today is an important day in history.

~ M. Kirin

Most writers who are beginners, if they are honest with themselves, will admit that they are praying for a readership as they begin to write. But it should be the quality of the craft not the audience, that should be the greatest motivating factor. For me, at least, I can declare that when I wrote THINGS FALL APART I couldn't have told anyone the day before it was accepted for publication that anybody was going to read it. There was no guarantee; nobody ever said to me, Go and write this, we will publish it and we will read it; it was just there. But my brother-in-law who was not a particularly voracious reader, told me that he read the novel through the night and it gave him a terrible headache the next morning. And I took that as an encouraging endorsement!The triumph of the written word is often attained when the writer achieves union and trust with the reader, who then becomes ready to be drawn deep into unfamiliar territory, walking in borrowed literary shoes so to speak, toward a deeper understanding of self or society, or of foreign peoples, cultures and situations.

~ Chinua Achebe

There is only one way to overcome the difficulty of writing, and that is to write. Thought only becomes effective and productive at the time of writing.

~ Amélie Nothomb

It's good to write badly. Things can only get better.

~ Alan Dapre

Introduction of deus ex machina is a tell-tale sign of sloppy plotting.

~ Mike Mehalek

I assure you, I've come to one of those natural breaks in the book, where one can walk away and let things go on working in the subconscious. It's true, don't look so unbelieving. It means I can afford to tear myself away from my view of the pigsties and go out on parole, as much as I like and you'll put up with.

~ Mary Stewart

You don't have to take it out on my typewrite ya' know. It's not the machine's fault that you can't write. It's a sin to do that to a good machine.

~ Sam Shepard

I admire the person who can write it right off. Mencken once said that a person who thinks clearly can write well. But I don't think clearly--too many thoughts bump into one another. Trains of thought run on a track of the Central Nervous System--the New York Central Nervous System, to make it worse.

~ James Thurber

Growing up, I used to climb out my window onto the roof and look up at the stars. There, in the quiet, I would write stories inside my head.

~ Christy Hall

Some of the best characters are the most flawed characters.

~ Brian A. Mcbride

Souls are more important than stories, yes. But stories are a window to the soul. Without stories, the soul suffocates.

~ Christy Hall

Tell it fast before you get scared and silence yourself. You’ll never wish you’d held back a little more.

~ Catherynne M. Valente

My mother, who is a pianist and a fine artist, purchased a piano for me. Twice. This was back when I was a small girl. Pianos, of course, came complete with the quintessential piano teacher who whacked my hand with a stick each time I struck the wrong key. I learned a few pieces, yes, but eventually my pen compelled me to write too much and the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind compelled me to climb trees too often. Sorry mom. Coincidentally, books come from trees and flipping the pages sounds like wind through leaves... hhhmmmm... I guess I’m still just climbing trees now, but in a different way!

~ C. Joybell C.

As a writer, I like the list of things to strive for that Richard Yates kept above his typewriter:genuine claritygenuine feelingthe right wordthe exact English sentencethe eloquent detailthe rigorous dramatization of story

~ Richard Yates

When I was a little boy, they called me a liar, but now that I'm a grown up, they call me a writer.

~ Isaac Bashevis Singer

I don’t do math.

~ Buffy Andrews

I'm trying to give my character voice but he won't speak.

~ Buffy Andrews

Conflict. Conflict. Where art thou conflict?

~ Buffy Andrews

Hey Revision. You can be a pain but you do make Book better.

~ Buffy Andrews

If you see it in Strunk and White it's so.

~ Buffy Andrews

To become a WRITER I had to learn to INTERRUPT, to speak up, to speak a little louder, and then LOUDER, and then to just speak in my own voice which is NOT LOUD AT ALL.

~ Deborah Levy

I'm in love with writing, but sometimes I swear it hates me.

~ Buffy Andrews

You say you're a writer but you're depressed. Not an excuse, write from there. Write some depressing sh*t. Believe me. You will have plenty of readers who can relate. Remember writers write.

~ Stanley Christopher

Sometimes the writing just comes and we're like, oh yeah. Gotta love when that happens.

~ Buffy Andrews

Me to characters: talk to me people.

~ Buffy Andrews

Good editors are priceless.

~ Buffy Andrews

If I write as well as I golf, I'm in trouble!

~ Buffy Andrews

Show me the contract.

~ Buffy Andrews

A tweet a day keeps writer's block away.

~ Buffy Andrews

A cliffhanger is when ...

~ Buffy Andrews