Writing Quotes | Beyond Motive 23/25

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Writing Quotes

"People wonder why so many writers come to live in Paris. I've been living ten years in Paris and the answer seems simple to me: because it's the best place to pick ideas. Just like Italy, Spain.. or Iran are the best places to pick saffron. If you want to pick opium poppies you go to Burma or South-East Asia. And if you want to pick novel ideas, you go to Paris."

"People wonder why so many writers come to live in Paris. I've been living ten years in Paris and the answer seems simple to me: because it's the best place to pick ideas. Just like Italy, Spain.. or Iran are the best places to pick saffron. If you want to pick opium poppies you go to Burma or South-East Asia. And if you want to pick novel ideas, you go to Paris."

Roman Payne, American Novelist

Writing, Idea, Paris, Creativity, Inspirational

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"Through writing, an author opens the window of his heart through which a reader can see the inner self of the author."

"Through writing, an author opens the window of his heart through which a reader can see the inner self of the author."

Debasish Mridha, American Author

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"My job is unbearable to me because it conflicts with my only desire and my only calling, which is literature. Since I am nothing but literature and can and want to be nothing else, my job will never take possession of me, it may, however, shatter me completely, and this is by no means a remote possibility."

"My job is unbearable to me because it conflicts with my only desire and my only calling, which is literature. Since I am nothing but literature and can and want to be nothing else, my job will never take possession of me, it may, however, shatter me completely, and this is by no means a remote possibility."

Franz Kafka, Austrian Novelist

Writing, Purpose, Identity, Work

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"Be a poet and write your own unique poetry of life."

"Be a poet and write your own unique poetry of life."

Debasish Mridha, American Author

Writing, Poetry, Life, Expression

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"Good writing is true writing. If a man is making a story up it will be true in proportion to the amount of knowledge of life that he has and how conscientious he is, so that when he makes something up it is as it would truly be."

"Good writing is true writing. If a man is making a story up it will be true in proportion to the amount of knowledge of life that he has and how conscientious he is, so that when he makes something up it is as it would truly be."

Ernest Hemingway, American Novelist

Writing, Truth, Knowledge, Life

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"Cut out all these exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke."

"Cut out all these exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke."

F. Scott Fitzgerald, American Author

Writing, Communication, Humor, Style

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"A writer should never wait for inspiration but be the inspiration."

"A writer should never wait for inspiration but be the inspiration."

Debasish Mridha, American Author

Writing, Writer, Inspiration, Duty, Self

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"My early writing was a silent fury - at what or whom, I had no idea - but I shut it in until it burned my bones and now, I've let it out..."

"My early writing was a silent fury - at what or whom, I had no idea - but I shut it in until it burned my bones and now, I've let it out..."

John Geddes, Canadian Author

Writing, Emotion, Silence, Expression

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"If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."

"If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."

Stephen King, American Author

Writing, Wisdom, Truth, Power, Today

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"Every author believes, when his first book is published, that those that acclaim it are his personal friends or impersonal peers, while its revilers can only be envious rogues and nonentities."

"Every author believes, when his first book is published, that those that acclaim it are his personal friends or impersonal peers, while its revilers can only be envious rogues and nonentities."

Vladimir Nabokov, American Novelist

Writing, Ego, Criticism, Success

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"A writer's style should be direct and personal, his imagery rich and earthy, and his words simple and vigorous. The greatest writers have the gift of brilliant brevity, are hard workers, diligent scholars and competent stylists."

"A writer's style should be direct and personal, his imagery rich and earthy, and his words simple and vigorous. The greatest writers have the gift of brilliant brevity, are hard workers, diligent scholars and competent stylists."

Ernest Hemingway, American Novelist

Writing, Style, Simplicity, Work

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"My whole theory of writing I can sum up in one sentence. An author ought to write for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward."

"My whole theory of writing I can sum up in one sentence. An author ought to write for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward."

F. Scott Fitzgerald, American Author

Writing, Creativity, Youth, Legacy

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"Don't interrupt when your characters take a flight of their own."

"Don't interrupt when your characters take a flight of their own."

Pawan Mishra, Indian Author

Writing, Creativity, Autonomy, Storytelling

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"It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does."

"It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does."

William Faulkner, American Novelist

Writing, Character, Storytelling, Observation, Narrative

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"To be a fantastic writer, live in your dreams and imaginations where you can dance like a peacock, swim like a shark, and fly like a butterfly. Live where reality has no power to change you."

"To be a fantastic writer, live in your dreams and imaginations where you can dance like a peacock, swim like a shark, and fly like a butterfly. Live where reality has no power to change you."

Debasish Mridha, American Author

Writing, Dreams, Imagination

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"After all, it isn't really difficult to write books. Especially if you either write a rotten story in good English or a good story in rotten English, which is as far as most people seem to get nowadays."

"After all, it isn't really difficult to write books. Especially if you either write a rotten story in good English or a good story in rotten English, which is as far as most people seem to get nowadays."

Dorothy L. Sayers, British Author

Writing, Simplicity, Storytelling, Expression

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"I put a piece of paper under my pillow, and when I could not sleep I wrote in the dark."

"I put a piece of paper under my pillow, and when I could not sleep I wrote in the dark."

Henry David Thoreau, American Author

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"I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write and then I remember that it was always difficult and how nearly impossible it was sometimes."

"I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write and then I remember that it was always difficult and how nearly impossible it was sometimes."

Ernest Hemingway, American Novelist

Writing, Struggle, Perseverance, Creativity

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"You spill a lot of beans in historical fiction. Crime fiction is about spilling no beans at all. You spill the least beans you possibly can. So because I had already written historical fiction before I was really good at the spilling beans section, but the new skill I had to learn when I was writing Brighton Belle was difficult. I had to avoid the equivalent of shouting, "this character's a murderer! Look who did it!."

"You spill a lot of beans in historical fiction. Crime fiction is about spilling no beans at all. You spill the least beans you possibly can. So because I had already written historical fiction before I was really good at the spilling beans section, but the new skill I had to learn when I was writing Brighton Belle was difficult. I had to avoid the equivalent of shouting, "this character's a murderer! Look who did it!."

Sara Sheridan, Scottish Author

Writing, Mystery, Storytelling, Secrets, Skill

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"There are two moments worthwhile in writing, the one when you start and the other when you throw it in the waste-paper basket."

"There are two moments worthwhile in writing, the one when you start and the other when you throw it in the waste-paper basket."

Samuel Beckett, Irish Playwright

Writing, Creation, Rejection, Process

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"A pen name is a nickname."

"A pen name is a nickname."

A. D. Posey, American Poet

Writing, Identity, Creativity, Literature, Expression

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"When I write, I see the character inside out, not outside in."

"When I write, I see the character inside out, not outside in."

Debasish Mridha, American Author

Writing, Character, Truth, Expression

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"No writing is effortless. I'm not saying you can't have a good day where the words just kind of flow, but even those words have to be edited. Probably more than once. And I'm not saying a character hasn't somehow gone in a different direction that I wanted her to go, but that was me, not her. I let her get away from me. I let her roam free and nine times out of ten, the result is not good. I have to go back and start over because she veered off the path of my book. She changed the vision. And I did that. Not her."

"No writing is effortless. I'm not saying you can't have a good day where the words just kind of flow, but even those words have to be edited. Probably more than once. And I'm not saying a character hasn't somehow gone in a different direction that I wanted her to go, but that was me, not her. I let her get away from me. I let her roam free and nine times out of ten, the result is not good. I have to go back and start over because she veered off the path of my book. She changed the vision. And I did that. Not her."

Darynda Jones, American Author

Writing, Creativity, Effort, Editing

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"I am always chilled and astonished by the would-be writers who ask me for advice and admit, quite blithely, that they "don't have time to read." This is like a guy starting up Mount Everest saying that he didn't have time to buy any rope or pitons."

"I am always chilled and astonished by the would-be writers who ask me for advice and admit, quite blithely, that they "don't have time to read." This is like a guy starting up Mount Everest saying that he didn't have time to buy any rope or pitons."

Stephen King, American Author

Writing, Wisdom, Inspirational, Truth, Power

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"Good writing like good sex requires discipline."

"Good writing like good sex requires discipline."

Chloe Thurlow, British Novelist

Writing, Discipline, Creativity, Skill

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"After each of his books, the writer, for a while, feels once again that he can now die happy."

"After each of his books, the writer, for a while, feels once again that he can now die happy."

Criss Jami, American Philosopher

Writing, Truth, Wisdom, Life, Power

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"If you read something, what you have written you ain't gonna like it...- It sounds horrible... so write don't read your own stuff."

"If you read something, what you have written you ain't gonna like it...- It sounds horrible... so write don't read your own stuff."

Deyth Banger, American Blogger

Writing, Wisdom, Truth, Life, Power

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"I think politics is deadly to write about, frankly. If you have a political agenda and you set out to write a novel to prove that, say, capitalism should crumble, then it's going to be a really bad novel. Very few people have been able to deal with political fiction - Dickens, Dostoyevsky. But even Tolstoy got really tiresome when he was talking about the serfs. You have to let characters be characters, not [gruff voice] Mr Capitalism or [girlie voice] Miss Anti-Fur."

"I think politics is deadly to write about, frankly. If you have a political agenda and you set out to write a novel to prove that, say, capitalism should crumble, then it's going to be a really bad novel. Very few people have been able to deal with political fiction - Dickens, Dostoyevsky. But even Tolstoy got really tiresome when he was talking about the serfs. You have to let characters be characters, not [gruff voice] Mr Capitalism or [girlie voice] Miss Anti-Fur."

Donna Tartt, American Novelist

Writing, Politics, Art, Creativity

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"A writer out of loneliness is trying to communicate like a distant star sending signals. He isn't telling, or teaching, or ordering. Rather, he seeks to establish a relationship with meaning, of feeling, of observing. We are lonesome animals. We spend all our live trying to be less lonesome. And one of our ancient methods is to tell a story, begging the listener to say, and to feel, "Yes, that's the way it is, or at least that's the way I feel it. You're not as alone as you thought." To finish is sadness to a writer, a little death. He puts the last word down and it is done. But it isn't really done. The story goes on and leaves the writer behind, for no story is ever done."

"A writer out of loneliness is trying to communicate like a distant star sending signals. He isn't telling, or teaching, or ordering. Rather, he seeks to establish a relationship with meaning, of feeling, of observing. We are lonesome animals. We spend all our live trying to be less lonesome. And one of our ancient methods is to tell a story, begging the listener to say, and to feel, "Yes, that's the way it is, or at least that's the way I feel it. You're not as alone as you thought." To finish is sadness to a writer, a little death. He puts the last word down and it is done. But it isn't really done. The story goes on and leaves the writer behind, for no story is ever done."

John Steinbeck, American Author

Writing, Loneliness, Communication, Story

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"For a writer it's a genuinely interesting and hopefully profitable era that makes a variety of books available to a variety of readers, extending both what's available and who gets to read it."

"For a writer it's a genuinely interesting and hopefully profitable era that makes a variety of books available to a variety of readers, extending both what's available and who gets to read it."

Sara Sheridan, Scottish Author

Writing, Books, Opportunity, Creativity

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"Find what gave you emotion; what the action was that gave you excitement. Then write it down making it clear so that the reader can see it too. Prose is architecture, not interior decoration, and the Baroque is over."

"Find what gave you emotion; what the action was that gave you excitement. Then write it down making it clear so that the reader can see it too. Prose is architecture, not interior decoration, and the Baroque is over."

Ernest Hemingway, American Novelist

Writing, Emotion, Excitement, Prose

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"A novelist has to know enough about a subject to fool the passenger next to him on an airplane."

"A novelist has to know enough about a subject to fool the passenger next to him on an airplane."

David Foster Wallace, American Writer

Writing, Knowledge, Deception, Skill

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"It comes a point in which you don't know if you write books or the books write you."

"It comes a point in which you don't know if you write books or the books write you."

Robin Sacredfire, Portuguese Philosopher

Writing, Identity, Reflection, Creativity

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"Don't be 'a writer.' Be writing."

"Don't be 'a writer.' Be writing."

William Faulkner, American Novelist

Writing, Action, Art, Process

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"The Book is more important than your plans for it. You have to go with what works for The Book ~ if your ideas appear hollow or forced when they are put on paper, chop them, erase them, pulverise them and start again. Don't whine when things are not going your way, because they are going the right way for The Book, which is more important. The show must go on, and so must The Book."

"The Book is more important than your plans for it. You have to go with what works for The Book ~ if your ideas appear hollow or forced when they are put on paper, chop them, erase them, pulverise them and start again. Don't whine when things are not going your way, because they are going the right way for The Book, which is more important. The show must go on, and so must The Book."

E.A. Bucchianeri, American Author

Writing, Creativity, Persistence, Adaptation

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"The ancient commission of the writer has not changed. He is charged with exposing our many grievous faults and failures, with dredging up to the light our dark and dangerous dreams for the purpose of improve."

"The ancient commission of the writer has not changed. He is charged with exposing our many grievous faults and failures, with dredging up to the light our dark and dangerous dreams for the purpose of improve."

John Steinbeck, American Author

Writing, Truth, Improvement, Darkness

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"There was, in my view, an unwritten contract with the reader that the writer must honour. No single element of an imagined world or any of its characters should be allowed to dissolve on an authorial whim. The invented had to be as solid and as self-consistent as the actual. This was a contract founded on mutual trust."

"There was, in my view, an unwritten contract with the reader that the writer must honour. No single element of an imagined world or any of its characters should be allowed to dissolve on an authorial whim. The invented had to be as solid and as self-consistent as the actual. This was a contract founded on mutual trust."

Ian McEwan, British Author

Writing, Integrity, Consistency, Trust

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"In old days books were written by men of letters and read by the public. Nowadays books are written by the public and read by nobody."

"In old days books were written by men of letters and read by the public. Nowadays books are written by the public and read by nobody."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Writing, Books, Public, Change, Irony

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"A writer writesregardless...even though...notwithstanding...despite...at any rate...anyhow...nevertheless...in the face of...undeterred by...heedless of...and because.The true writer simply continues to write."

"A writer writesregardless...even though...notwithstanding...despite...at any rate...anyhow...nevertheless...in the face of...undeterred by...heedless of...and because.The true writer simply continues to write."

Richelle E. Goodrich, American Poet

Writing, Inspirational, Truth, Power, Today

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"I'd be somewhat of a lousy writer if I didn't know what to say."

"I'd be somewhat of a lousy writer if I didn't know what to say."

S. A. Tawks, British Author

Writing, Expression, Creativity, Voice

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"Writing is an abstract art of drawing pictures of the conscious and subconscious mind with words."

"Writing is an abstract art of drawing pictures of the conscious and subconscious mind with words."

Debasish Mridha, American Author

Writing, Art, Mind, Pictures

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"There is only one thing a writer can write about: what is in front of his senses at the moment of writing... I am a recording instrument... I do not presume to impose "story "plot "continuity... Insofar as I succeed in Direct recording of certain areas of psychic process I may have limited function... I am not an entertainer..."

"There is only one thing a writer can write about: what is in front of his senses at the moment of writing... I am a recording instrument... I do not presume to impose "story "plot "continuity... Insofar as I succeed in Direct recording of certain areas of psychic process I may have limited function... I am not an entertainer..."

William S. Burroughs, American Writer

Writing, Observation, Authenticity, Perception

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"Sometimes it helps to pick out one person-a real person you know, or an imagined person-and write to that one."

"Sometimes it helps to pick out one person-a real person you know, or an imagined person-and write to that one."

John Steinbeck, American Author

Writing, Communication, Solitude, Expression

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"You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or despair ... Come to it any way but lightly."

"You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or despair ... Come to it any way but lightly."

Stephen King, American Author

Writing, Inspirational, Power, Future

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"Maugham then offers the greatest advice anyone could give to a young author: "At the end of an interrogation sentence, place a question mark. You'd be surprised how effective it can be."

"Maugham then offers the greatest advice anyone could give to a young author: "At the end of an interrogation sentence, place a question mark. You'd be surprised how effective it can be."

Woody Allen, American Director

Writing, Advice, Life, Creativity

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"He looked up at her and smiled crookedly, holding out a few sheets of paper. "Will you read this? i think maybe it sucks. or maybe it's awesome. it's probably awesome. Tell me it's awesome,okay? Unless it sucks."

"He looked up at her and smiled crookedly, holding out a few sheets of paper. "Will you read this? i think maybe it sucks. or maybe it's awesome. it's probably awesome. Tell me it's awesome,okay? Unless it sucks."

Rainbow Rowell, American Author

Writing, Insecurity, Confidence, Expression

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"The eloquence of the pen is just as sharp as the point of a sword."

"The eloquence of the pen is just as sharp as the point of a sword."

Matshona Dhliwayo, Zimbabwean Philosopher

Writing, Expression, Power, Impact

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"Cliches are the viruses that infect your writing with diseases."

"Cliches are the viruses that infect your writing with diseases."

Pawan Mishra, Indian Author

Writing, Clarity, Originality, Language

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"I have no problem in moving a date one way or another or coming up with a subplot that gets my characters in (or out) of a fix more rambunctiously than the extant records show."

"I have no problem in moving a date one way or another or coming up with a subplot that gets my characters in (or out) of a fix more rambunctiously than the extant records show."

Sara Sheridan, Scottish Author

Writing, Creativity, Adaptation, Flexibility, Plot

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"If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul."

"If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German Poet

Writing, Clarity, Thought, Nobility

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