Writing Advice Quotes

I personally believe that one learns to write by writing.

~ Jack Jordan

Fanscination is what keeps a writer going. To be able to write, a writer has to be fascinated about a particular something that becomes the idea of the story

~ Ika Natassa

It wont do to say that the reader is too dumb or too lazy to keep pace with the train of thought. If the reader is lost, it's usually because the writer hasn't be careful enough.

~ William Zinsser

Beware, then, of the long word that's no better than the short word: assistance (help), numerous (many), facilitate (ease), Individual (man or woman), remainder (rest), initial (first), implement (do), sufficient (enough), attempt (try), referred to as (called), and hundreds more. Beware of all the slippery new fad words: paradigm and parameter, prioritize and potentialize. They are all weeds that will smother what you write. Don't dialogue with someone you can talk to. Don't interface with anybody.

~ William Zinsser

One of the hardest things for a writer to do is delete words.

~ Alessandra Torre

There may be a Nurse Ratched-like listing of things that must be done right this moment: foods that must come out of the freezer, appointments that must be canceled or made, hairs that must be tweezed. But you hold an imaginary gun to your head and make yourself stay at the desk.

~ Anne Lamott

For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts.

~ Anne Lamott

Almost every single thing you hope publication will do for you is a fantasy, a hologram--it's the eagle on your credit card that only seems to soar.

~ Anne Lamott

The feeling that the work is magnificent, and the feeling that it is abominable, are both mosquitoes to be repelled, ignored, or killed, but not indulged.

~ Annie Dillard

You can read in the space of a coffin, and you can write in the space of a toolshed meant for mowers and spades.

~ Annie Dillard

A writer must pay attention his or her surroundings.

~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Each time I write, I reaffirm my soul.

~ Rob Bignell

There is always, always, always something to write about.

~ Rob Bignell

Every book I've read appears in my writing.

~ Rob Bignell

...you are a writer the moment you start writing, not when you've sold your first book.

~ Rob Bignell

On a related note, I think for many of us, the first step in becoming a good writer is to write crap. In all seriousness, none of us are born knowing how to write. Almost all of us will produce a lot of really lousy stories before we start to get good. (Not all of us will choose to publish those lousy stories, but that's a whole separate discussion...)

~ Jim C. Hines

How do you paint a writer's block?Just fill it with fifty shades of black.

~ Ana Claudia Antunes

...ugly interlopers threaten to choke off your story, depriving it of much-needed nutrition, sunlight and water. Identify and cut those weeds – the life-sucking adverbs, the shade-killing descriptions that don’t move the story forward, the crowding passive voice sentences.

~ Rob Bignell

Even great, best selling writers produce works that fall flat from expectations. This writing thing isn't easy and everything you produce won't be a best seller, but you must write anyway. You have to write because you love it, because it fuels you, because you can feel the stories living inside you, nudging you, prodding you, itching to get out and the only thing worse than writing it and failing is not writing it. As the late Maya Angelou once said, There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.Even if your work doesn't resonate with others, it is still worth writing. And that in itself, is what's important.

~ Nancy Arroyo Ruffin

Description is the color in the canvas of your story.

~ M. Kirin

TODAY IS A GREAT DAY TO MAKE ART.

~ M. Kirin

Do you think you’re not ‘ready’ to start that big story idea/project you’ve been thinking about forever?Jump in. Write anyway. The only way to make the impossible a reality is to take a leap of faith.

~ M. Kirin

All great stories began as shitty first drafts.There are no exceptions to this.

~ M. Kirin

Writing is an adventure. There is no way to know where it will take you, and what you will find. You could find success. You could find fans. Or, best of all, you could find yourself.

~ M. Kirin

Stop beating yourself up over all the days you didn’t work on your story. Focus on what you can do today.Sit down, and write.

~ M. Kirin

All great writers share one thing in common:They finished their books.

~ M. Kirin

Originality is not writing the story that has never been told, but writing the stories only you can tell.

~ M. Kirin

If you only had a year left to live, what book would you write?Now, write that book.

~ M. Kirin

The only way to overcome fear and doubt is to go against them.

~ M. Kirin

Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is beyond our reach. The best time to write is now, in the present.

~ M. Kirin

Every writer in the history of the world has been afraid to put words on the page. But we only remember those who overcame that fear.

~ M. Kirin

If you were waiting for a sign that you’re meant to be a writer…THIS IS IT.

~ M. Kirin

You were meant to write this book.

~ M. Kirin

You’re writing someone’s ‘future’ favorite book.

~ M. Kirin

If you wish to be a writer– then write, and don’t allow anyone to tell you that you’re on the ‘wrong’ path. You know where you’re going, and each word you write gets you a step closer.

~ M. Kirin

...authority is the unmistakeable tone in the voice of a true writer...

~ John Geddes

Write what you want to write and would like to read, not for any invisible audience. Your readers will find you.

~ David John Griffin

Do not forget to write your sacred book.

~ Lailah Gifty Akita

To master magical realism, one must make the real seem unreal but, more importantly, make the unreal seem real.

~ Kevin Ansbro

The biggest thing for aspiring writers I would say is that writing is hard work. You can’t sustain the fantasy that it should somehow be otherwise for you because you are more special or more committed than other aspiring writers. You aren’t sitting down to be entertained by the gods or to entertain yourself. At times it can be a thrill and it feels more like play, but we are easily deceived by whatever pleasures or rewards writing can offer. Exhilarating work is still work. Is it work, or is it play? And the answer is “yes.” Does it sometimes feel like it comes easily or naturally? Yes. But did it really come easily? No. Writing doesn’t offer the rhythmic endorphin hit you get scrolling down the screen clicking on memes. Are you up for the work it is going to take to become successful as a writer? It is going to be harder than you think. You are submitting to forces and to a process that you can’t fully control. There is maybe a tiny bit more control if you self-publish, and there is no shame in doing that, but even that is going to introduce hard work. Probably harder than you think. If my next novel can’t find a home, I’m not above self-publishing it in some capacity and then moving on to the next project.

~ Brian K. Friesen