Writing Quotes | Beyond Motive 5/25

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Writing Quotes

"The writer wants to be understood much more than he wants to be respected or praised or even loved. And that perhaps, is what makes him different from others."

"The writer wants to be understood much more than he wants to be respected or praised or even loved. And that perhaps, is what makes him different from others."

Leo Rosten, American Novelist

Writing, Writer

13

"Write something, even if it's just a suicide note."

"Write something, even if it's just a suicide note."

Gore Vidal, American Novelist

Writing, Suicide

13

"I keep the drafts of each poem in color-coded folders. I pick up the folders according to how I feel about that color that day."

"I keep the drafts of each poem in color-coded folders. I pick up the folders according to how I feel about that color that day."

Rita Dove, American Poet

13

"Actually, the 14 novels were written over a period of just over 6 years."

"Actually, the 14 novels were written over a period of just over 6 years."

George Stephen, Canadian Businessman

13

"For a director and a producer to be named on the writing credits is practically unheard of."

"For a director and a producer to be named on the writing credits is practically unheard of."

Terry Southern, American Writer

13

"I feel as if I'm clearly part of a trend among writers who take themselves seriously - and I confess to taking myself as seriously as the next writer."

"I feel as if I'm clearly part of a trend among writers who take themselves seriously - and I confess to taking myself as seriously as the next writer."

Jonathan Franzen, American Novelist

Writing, Writer, Writers

13

"Of all fatiguing, futile, empty trades, the worst, I suppose, is writing about writing."

"Of all fatiguing, futile, empty trades, the worst, I suppose, is writing about writing."

Hilaire Belloc, English Poet

13

"In a poem the excitement has to maintain itself. I am governed by the pull of the sentence as the pull of a fabric is governed by gravity."

"In a poem the excitement has to maintain itself. I am governed by the pull of the sentence as the pull of a fabric is governed by gravity."

Marianne Moore, American Poet

Writing, Excitement, Gravity

13

"A literary critic is someone who can't write, but who loves to show he would have been a wonderful writer if only he could!"

"A literary critic is someone who can't write, but who loves to show he would have been a wonderful writer if only he could!"

Brian Lumley, English Writer

Writing, Literary

13

"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

13

"These critics who crucify me do not guess the littlest part of my sincerity. They must be burned in a blaze. I cannot learn from them."

"These critics who crucify me do not guess the littlest part of my sincerity. They must be burned in a blaze. I cannot learn from them."

Zane Grey, American Author

Writing, Sincerity

13

"Writing the book was itself a process of concealing and revealing."

"Writing the book was itself a process of concealing and revealing."

Rick Moody, American Novelist

13

"The classics are only primitive literature. They belong to the same class as primitive machinery and primitive music and primitive medicine."

"The classics are only primitive literature. They belong to the same class as primitive machinery and primitive music and primitive medicine."

Stephen Leacock, Canadian Economist

Writing, Music, Class, Literature, Medicine

13

"Until you know who you are you can't write."

"Until you know who you are you can't write."

Salman Rushdie, Indian Novelist

Writing, Identity, Creativity, Self

13

"As far as modern writing is concerned, it is rarely rewarding to translate it, although it might be easy. Translation is very much like copying paintings."

"As far as modern writing is concerned, it is rarely rewarding to translate it, although it might be easy. Translation is very much like copying paintings."

Boris Pasternak, Russian Novelist

13

"I think some aspects of writing can be taught. Obviously, you can't teach vision or talent. But you can help with comfort."

"I think some aspects of writing can be taught. Obviously, you can't teach vision or talent. But you can help with comfort."

Toni Morrison, American Novelist

Writing, Talent, Vision, Comfort, Help

13

"As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both before and after."

"As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both before and after."

Arthur Conan Doyle, British Writer

Writing, Contemplation, State

13

"I began teaching in New York because I needed to stay in the United States and didn't have my immigration papers in order, so working for a university was a way of resolving the issue."

"I began teaching in New York because I needed to stay in the United States and didn't have my immigration papers in order, so working for a university was a way of resolving the issue."

Manuel Puig, Argentinian Author

Writing, Order, States, Teaching, United

13

"There are few experiences as depressing as that anxious barren state known as writer's block, where you sit staring at your blank page like a cadaver, feeling your mind congeal, feeling you talent run down your leg and into your sock."

"There are few experiences as depressing as that anxious barren state known as writer's block, where you sit staring at your blank page like a cadaver, feeling your mind congeal, feeling you talent run down your leg and into your sock."

Anne Lamott, American Author

Writing, Creativity, Anxiety, Depression

13

"A lot of my writing is not terribly civilized."

"A lot of my writing is not terribly civilized."

Suzanne Vega, American Musician

13

"Journalism, to me, is just another drug " a free ride to scenes I'd probably miss if I stayed straight. But I'm neither a chemist nor an editor; all I do is take the pill or the assignment and see what happens. Now and then I get a bad trip, but experience has made me more careful about what I buy... so if you have a good pill I'm open; I'll try almost anything that hasn't bitten me in the past."

"Journalism, to me, is just another drug " a free ride to scenes I'd probably miss if I stayed straight. But I'm neither a chemist nor an editor; all I do is take the pill or the assignment and see what happens. Now and then I get a bad trip, but experience has made me more careful about what I buy... so if you have a good pill I'm open; I'll try almost anything that hasn't bitten me in the past."

Hunter S. Thompson, American Journalist

Writing, Journalism, Experience, Risk, Culture

13

"What lasts in the reader's mind is not the phrase but the effect the phrase created: laughter, tears, pain, joy. If the phrase is not affecting the reader, what's it doing there? Make it do its job or cut it without mercy or remorse."

"What lasts in the reader's mind is not the phrase but the effect the phrase created: laughter, tears, pain, joy. If the phrase is not affecting the reader, what's it doing there? Make it do its job or cut it without mercy or remorse."

Isaac Asimov, American Scientist

Writing, Expression, Emotion, Impact

13

"Some critics will write 'Maya Angelou is a natural writer' - which is right after being a natural heart surgeon."

"Some critics will write 'Maya Angelou is a natural writer' - which is right after being a natural heart surgeon."

Maya Angelou, American Poet

Writing, Heart, Being, Right, Will

13

"Writing is the beast unto itself."

"Writing is the beast unto itself."

Omar Epps, American Actor

13

"I will continue to write moral stories in rhymed couplets. But I should be thrice a fool if I did it for aught but my own entertainment."

"I will continue to write moral stories in rhymed couplets. But I should be thrice a fool if I did it for aught but my own entertainment."

W. Somerset Maugham, British Playwright

Writing, Creativity, Art, Fun

13

"I never do a full outline, and if I did, I would not feel bound to it, because the view from inside a scene can be different from the view outside it. But neither do I just start writing and see what happens; I am far more disciplined than that."

"I never do a full outline, and if I did, I would not feel bound to it, because the view from inside a scene can be different from the view outside it. But neither do I just start writing and see what happens; I am far more disciplined than that."

Piers Anthony, English Writer

13

"Even a polemic has some justification if one considers that my own first poetic experiments began during a dictatorship and mark the origin of the Hermetic movement."

"Even a polemic has some justification if one considers that my own first poetic experiments began during a dictatorship and mark the origin of the Hermetic movement."

Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian Author

Writing, Dictatorship, First, Justification

13

"I think writers need windows on a view to remind them that a whole world is out there, not the minutiae with which they might be dealing on a close scale."

"I think writers need windows on a view to remind them that a whole world is out there, not the minutiae with which they might be dealing on a close scale."

Anne McCaffrey, American Author

Writing, Windows, World, Writers

13

"This is the strange life of books that you enter along as a writer, mapping an unknown territory that arises as you travel. If you succeed in the voyage, others enter after, one at a time, also alone, but in communion with your imagination, traversing your route. Books are solitudes where we meet."

"This is the strange life of books that you enter along as a writer, mapping an unknown territory that arises as you travel. If you succeed in the voyage, others enter after, one at a time, also alone, but in communion with your imagination, traversing your route. Books are solitudes where we meet."

Rebecca Solnit, American Actress

Writing, Imagination, Art, Creativity

13

"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

13

"A sentence should be read as if its author, had he held a plough instead of a pen, could have drawn a furrow deep and straight to the end."

"A sentence should be read as if its author, had he held a plough instead of a pen, could have drawn a furrow deep and straight to the end."

Henry David Thoreau, American Author

Writing, Strength, Work, Commitment

13

"Titles are not only important, they are essential for me. I cannot write without a title."

"Titles are not only important, they are essential for me. I cannot write without a title."

Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban Novelist

Writing, Titles

13

"I try to write everyday. I do that much better over here than when I'm teaching. I always rewrite, usually fairly close-on which is to say first draft, then put it aside for 24 hours then more drafts."

"I try to write everyday. I do that much better over here than when I'm teaching. I always rewrite, usually fairly close-on which is to say first draft, then put it aside for 24 hours then more drafts."

Marilyn Hacker, American Poet

Writing, Draft, First, Teaching

13

"Writing historical fiction has many common traits with writing sci-fi or fantasy books. The past is another country - a very different world - and historical readers want to see, smell and touch what it was like living there."

"Writing historical fiction has many common traits with writing sci-fi or fantasy books. The past is another country - a very different world - and historical readers want to see, smell and touch what it was like living there."

Sara Sheridan, Scottish Author

Writing, Imagination, History, Fiction

13

"You can never know enough about your characters."

"You can never know enough about your characters."

W. Somerset Maugham, British Playwright

Writing, Knowledge, Creativity, Depth

13

"In many cases when a reader puts a story aside because it 'got boring,' the boredom arose because the writer grew enchanted with his powers of description and lost sight of his priority, which is to keep the ball rolling."

"In many cases when a reader puts a story aside because it 'got boring,' the boredom arose because the writer grew enchanted with his powers of description and lost sight of his priority, which is to keep the ball rolling."

Stephen King, American Author

Writing, Truth, Wisdom, Today

13

"A little talent is a good thing to have if you want to be a writer. But the only real requirement is the ability to remember every scar."

"A little talent is a good thing to have if you want to be a writer. But the only real requirement is the ability to remember every scar."

Stephen King, American Author

Writing, Truth, Wisdom, Happiness, Today

13

"The relationship between reader and characters is very difficult. It is even more peculiar than the relationship between the writer and his characters."

"The relationship between reader and characters is very difficult. It is even more peculiar than the relationship between the writer and his characters."

Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban Novelist

Writing, Writer

13

"Writing is always personal in some way but not always in a direct way."

"Writing is always personal in some way but not always in a direct way."

Suzanne Vega, American Musician

13

"What writing does is to reveal."

"What writing does is to reveal."

Rita Dove, American Poet

13

"Writing is the dancing of words, sometimes it is beautiful and meaningful, sometimes it is not."

"Writing is the dancing of words, sometimes it is beautiful and meaningful, sometimes it is not."

Debasish Mridha, American Author

Writing, Words, Dance, Expression

13

"But what is more to the point is my belief that the habit of writing thus for my own eye only is good practice. It loosens the ligaments. Never mind the misses and the stumbles."

"But what is more to the point is my belief that the habit of writing thus for my own eye only is good practice. It loosens the ligaments. Never mind the misses and the stumbles."

Virginia Woolf, British Author

Writing, Practice, Creativity, Improvement

12

"I don't believe in kicking away ladders. By that, I mean the ladders by which I ascended as a young writer, small magazines that didn't pay anything, and that sort of thing."

"I don't believe in kicking away ladders. By that, I mean the ladders by which I ascended as a young writer, small magazines that didn't pay anything, and that sort of thing."

George Woodcock, Canadian Writer

12

"If I really considered myself a writer, I wouldn't be writing screenplays. I'd be writing novels."

"If I really considered myself a writer, I wouldn't be writing screenplays. I'd be writing novels."

Quentin Tarantino, American Director

Writing, Writer

12

"The writer is the engineer of the human soul."

"The writer is the engineer of the human soul."

Joseph Stalin, Russian Leader

Writing, Soul, Writer

12

"Oh yeah, I was one of the first guys writing comic books, I wrote Captain America, with guys like Stan Lee, who became famous later on with Marvel Comics."

"Oh yeah, I was one of the first guys writing comic books, I wrote Captain America, with guys like Stan Lee, who became famous later on with Marvel Comics."

Mickey Spillane, American Author

Writing, America, Books, Famous, First

12

"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

12

"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

12

"So writing is a very, very difficult position to obtain... and retain."

"So writing is a very, very difficult position to obtain... and retain."

Leon Uris, American Writer

12

"So I decided to start writing plays, and went to Yale."

"So I decided to start writing plays, and went to Yale."

Richard Foreman, American Playwright

12

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