Writing Quotes | Beyond Motive 10/27

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Writing Quotes

"If I'm grumpy I sure do enjoy writing The Walking Dead."

"If I'm grumpy I sure do enjoy writing The Walking Dead."

Robert Kirkman, American Writer

Writing, Walking

32

"I don't exist without writing."

"I don't exist without writing."

Jewel Kilcher, American Musician

32

"I didn't hang around films. I don't know if I'd ever seen Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes."

"I didn't hang around films. I don't know if I'd ever seen Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes."

Patricia Highsmith, American Novelist

32

"And before I'd got to the end of the first paragraph, I'd come up slap bang against a fundamental problem that still troubles me today whenever I begin a story, and it's this: where am I telling it from?"

"And before I'd got to the end of the first paragraph, I'd come up slap bang against a fundamental problem that still troubles me today whenever I begin a story, and it's this: where am I telling it from?"

Philip Pullman, British Writer

Writing, End, First, Today

32

"Writers have a well-deserved reputation for being eccentric. Everything you've heard is true."

"Writers have a well-deserved reputation for being eccentric. Everything you've heard is true."

Sara Sheridan, Scottish Author

Writing, Creativity, Eccentricity, Truth, Expression

32

"Generally I finish a first draft in 2-6 months, then I set it aside for a while so that when I come back to it I can read it with fresh eyes and figure out how to improve it."

"Generally I finish a first draft in 2-6 months, then I set it aside for a while so that when I come back to it I can read it with fresh eyes and figure out how to improve it."

Margaret Haddix, American Author

Writing, Draft, Eyes, First, Months

31

"I am so happy to be on a show with writing I wanted to participate in."

"I am so happy to be on a show with writing I wanted to participate in."

Yancy Butler, American Actress

31

"The book is openly a kind of spiritual autobiography, but the trick is that on any other level it's a kind of insane collage of fragments of memory."

"The book is openly a kind of spiritual autobiography, but the trick is that on any other level it's a kind of insane collage of fragments of memory."

Jonathan Lethem, American Writer

Writing, Autobiography, Memory, Spiritual

31

"I enjoy writing for third and fourth graders most of all."

"I enjoy writing for third and fourth graders most of all."

Beverly Cleary, American Author

31

"Writers would submit scripts to me, and if I liked one well enough to submit to magazine editors, I had the know-how whether the story was good or bad."

"Writers would submit scripts to me, and if I liked one well enough to submit to magazine editors, I had the know-how whether the story was good or bad."

Julius Schwartz, American Editor

Writing, Editors, Writers

31

"I am one day going to be working openly in the motion picture industry. When that day comes, I swear to you that I will never sign a term contract with any major studio."

"I am one day going to be working openly in the motion picture industry. When that day comes, I swear to you that I will never sign a term contract with any major studio."

Dalton Trumbo, American Novelist

Writing, Day, Will

31

"Writing is like walking in a deserted street. Out of the dust in the street you make a mud pie."

"Writing is like walking in a deserted street. Out of the dust in the street you make a mud pie."

John le Carre, English Writer

Writing, Deserted, Walking

31

"Even when I think I'm writing really young, they say it's too mature."

"Even when I think I'm writing really young, they say it's too mature."

Cynthia Weil, American Musician

31

"I just wrote what I felt like writing since they seemed to sell."

"I just wrote what I felt like writing since they seemed to sell."

Jack Vance, American Author

31

"That's the best thing about writing, when you're in that zone, you're porous, ready to absorb the solution."

"That's the best thing about writing, when you're in that zone, you're porous, ready to absorb the solution."

Michael Chabon, American Author

Writing, Solution, Zone

31

"I try to write in plain brown blocks of American speech but occasionally set in an ancient word or a strange word just to startle the reader a little bit and to break up the monotony of the plain American cadence."

"I try to write in plain brown blocks of American speech but occasionally set in an ancient word or a strange word just to startle the reader a little bit and to break up the monotony of the plain American cadence."

James Laughlin, American Poet

Writing, Speech, Word

31

"The trade of authorship is a violent, and indestructible obsession."

"The trade of authorship is a violent, and indestructible obsession."

George Sand, French Novelist

Writing, Authorship, Obsession, Trade

31

"Whether it's string writing or whatever, I try to write for what each instrumentalist can do best."

"Whether it's string writing or whatever, I try to write for what each instrumentalist can do best."

Chuck Mangione, American Musician

31

"The world may be full of fourth-rate writers but it's also full of fourth-rate readers."

"The world may be full of fourth-rate writers but it's also full of fourth-rate readers."

Barbara Walters, American Journalist

Writing, May, World, Writers

31

"I came in on the decline. Phil Elliot was in first, he got his book out, he sold thirteen thousand, I think he got two issues out before I got mine in, this was March '87. He was out in December '86."

"I came in on the decline. Phil Elliot was in first, he got his book out, he sold thirteen thousand, I think he got two issues out before I got mine in, this was March '87. He was out in December '86."

Eddie Campbell, Scottish Artist

Writing, December, First, March

31

"I'm a good scholar when it comes to reading but a blotting kind of writer when you give me a pen."

"I'm a good scholar when it comes to reading but a blotting kind of writer when you give me a pen."

John Millington Synge, Irish Poet

Writing, Pen, Reading, Writer

31

"His passion has aroused the best and the beast in man. And the beast waited for him in the kitchen."

"His passion has aroused the best and the beast in man. And the beast waited for him in the kitchen."

Theodore White, American Journalist

Writing, Kitchen, Man, Passion

31

"Anyone who claims to be good at lying is obviously bad at lying. Thus - as a writer myself - I cannot comment on whether or not writers are exceptionally good liars, because whatever I said would actually mean its complete opposite."

"Anyone who claims to be good at lying is obviously bad at lying. Thus - as a writer myself - I cannot comment on whether or not writers are exceptionally good liars, because whatever I said would actually mean its complete opposite."

Chuck Klosterman, American Critic

Writing, Lying, Writer, Writers

31

"Writing only leads to more writing."

"Writing only leads to more writing."

Sidonie Gabrielle Colette, French Novelist

31

"One of the key secrets of great writing is knowing where to start and when to stop."

"One of the key secrets of great writing is knowing where to start and when to stop."

Chloe Thurlow, British Novelist

Writing, Strategy, Creativity, Observation

31

"Writing good ads is easy when you have something to say."

"Writing good ads is easy when you have something to say."

Roy H. Williams, American Businessman

31

"You have to remember that I was a bright but simple fellow from Canada who seldom, if ever, met another writer, and then only a so-called literary type that occasionally sold a story and meanwhile worked in an office for a living."

"You have to remember that I was a bright but simple fellow from Canada who seldom, if ever, met another writer, and then only a so-called literary type that occasionally sold a story and meanwhile worked in an office for a living."

A. E. van Vogt, Canadian Author

Writing, Canada, Literary, Living, Office

31

"Don't write when you're angry and under deadline, with time to test it only on friends who know what you mean, not on strangers who don't."

"Don't write when you're angry and under deadline, with time to test it only on friends who know what you mean, not on strangers who don't."

Gloria Steinem, American Activist

Writing, Patience, Emotion, Expression

31

"But with writing, all you need is a pad of paper."

"But with writing, all you need is a pad of paper."

Scott Caan, American Actor

31

"You either have to write or you shouldn't be writing. That's all."

"You either have to write or you shouldn't be writing. That's all."

Joss Whedon, American Writer

Writing, Discipline, Creativity, Focus

31

"I have a high guilt quotient. A poem can go through as many as 50 or 60 drafts. It can take from a day to two years-or longer."

"I have a high guilt quotient. A poem can go through as many as 50 or 60 drafts. It can take from a day to two years-or longer."

Rita Dove, American Poet

Writing, Day, Guilt, Years

31

"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia."

"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia."

E. L. Doctorow, American Author

31

"It has always been something I could do, and it may seem odd that in my case I seem to create an interesting narrative and frustrate the reader's opportunities to follow it at every step."

"It has always been something I could do, and it may seem odd that in my case I seem to create an interesting narrative and frustrate the reader's opportunities to follow it at every step."

Harry Mathews, American Author

31

"I write the poems first, with only a few exceptions for odd reasons, where I'm given the illustration first."

"I write the poems first, with only a few exceptions for odd reasons, where I'm given the illustration first."

Jack Prelutsky, American Poet

Writing, First, Poems

31

"My dad would go to work every day and write in a room full of funny people. He enjoyed it. I know great writers who find the process agonising but to me, writing has always been sheer joy."

"My dad would go to work every day and write in a room full of funny people. He enjoyed it. I know great writers who find the process agonising but to me, writing has always been sheer joy."

Joss Whedon, American Writer

Writing, Joy, Creativity, Process

31

"The thriller is the most popular literary genre of the 20th century."

"The thriller is the most popular literary genre of the 20th century."

Ken Follett, Welsh Author

Writing, Literary, Popular

31

"Writing seems to be more difficult as you move through the years."

"Writing seems to be more difficult as you move through the years."

George Crumb, American Composer

30

"No, you're either born a writer, a storyteller, or you're not."

"No, you're either born a writer, a storyteller, or you're not."

John Milius, American Director

Writing, Writer

30

"I didn't have any agenda or plan when I started writing stuff."

"I didn't have any agenda or plan when I started writing stuff."

David Byrne, Scottish Musician

30

"Eventually the bad stuff I'm writing turns into better stuff. Other times, I've just walked away from what I was working on, and figured I'd have a better perspective when I came back to it."

"Eventually the bad stuff I'm writing turns into better stuff. Other times, I've just walked away from what I was working on, and figured I'd have a better perspective when I came back to it."

Margaret Haddix, American Author

Writing, Perspective

30

"Whatever precautions you take so the photograph will look like this or that, there comes a moment when the photograph surprises you. It is the other's gaze that wins out and decides."

"Whatever precautions you take so the photograph will look like this or that, there comes a moment when the photograph surprises you. It is the other's gaze that wins out and decides."

Jacques Derrida, French Philosopher

Writing, Surprises, Will

30

"Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo."

"Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo."

Don Marquis, American Poet

Writing, Echo, Publishing, Waiting

30

"'Made it as a writer'? I'm still wondering if I've made it as a writer. I've made it as a published writer of the type of SF that I want to write and read, but I'm still waiting for that big breakthrough."

"'Made it as a writer'? I'm still wondering if I've made it as a writer. I've made it as a published writer of the type of SF that I want to write and read, but I'm still waiting for that big breakthrough."

Eric Brown, British Writer

Writing, Waiting, Want

30

"Anyone nit-picking enough to write a letter of correction to an editor doubtless deserves the error that provoked it."

"Anyone nit-picking enough to write a letter of correction to an editor doubtless deserves the error that provoked it."

Alvin Toffler, American Author

Writing, Correction, Error

30

"Eloquence is a painting of the thoughts."

"Eloquence is a painting of the thoughts."

Blaise Pascal, French Philosopher

Writing, Thoughts, Eloquence, Painting

30

"It's difficult for me to feel that a solid page without the breakups of paragraphs can be interesting. I break mine up perhaps sooner than I should in terms of the usage of the English language."

"It's difficult for me to feel that a solid page without the breakups of paragraphs can be interesting. I break mine up perhaps sooner than I should in terms of the usage of the English language."

A. E. van Vogt, Canadian Author

Writing, English, Language

30

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."

William Wordsworth, English Poet

30

"The very quick and high sales of the book caught us off guard, but fortunately we got the second edition from the printers at the end of last week and the shops should now be stocked again."

"The very quick and high sales of the book caught us off guard, but fortunately we got the second edition from the printers at the end of last week and the shops should now be stocked again."

Hansie Cronje, South African Athlete

Writing, End, Now, Quick, Sales

30

"I'm a third done into a new book but sorry - I have a superstition about talking about it!"

"I'm a third done into a new book but sorry - I have a superstition about talking about it!"

Joanna Trollope, English Novelist

Writing, Superstition, Talking

30

"I write short stories, and I wrote a play."

"I write short stories, and I wrote a play."

Rita Dove, American Poet

30

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