Writing Advice Quotes
We will need to find people who will provide a safe writing space for us, where criticism comes late and love and delight come early.—from Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing
Manuscript rejections might tempt you to quit writing or querying. Don't.
You're never as good a writer as you think you are, and you're never as bad. Just keep reading and writing, writing, writing.
The sooner you finish procrastinating, the sooner you can get back to your art.
I'm often dismayed by the sludge I see appearing on my screen if I approach writing as a task--the day's work--and not with some enjoyment.
...being "rather unique" is no more possible than being rather pregnant.
There is no such thing as an 'unemployed writer', only an unemployed mind
If you do not want to be forgotten as soon as you are dead...be read, or try coming back and pull the feet of those who are still alive instead!
When I reach for my pen, nothing is out of reach.
Replace your old books with the books you’ve always wanted to write.
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.
Love the work: the grind, the dreaming, the distracted not-sleep, all of it. It’s the one thing in the job that will always be there, and the real pleasure in the profession. Everything else is luck.
As a writer, the main skill you need is curiosity. As a reader, the main tool you need is open-mindedness.
There’s really only one good writing habit: You must write constantly.
Your writing should be filled with simple complexities and complex simplicities. Because that is life.
The skill of writing needs much patience, practicing, and time. There is no good writing from a quick effort, or a confused writer.
Write what you wish with your soul and your heart will fill the page with your unique magic.
Getting started on writing a book isn't as hard as it sounds. You don't need a plan and an outline. In fact, all you need are two things: time and one idea.
Writing as a creative art flourishes only when there are no rules. Rules stifle you from entering the silent and forbidden spaces where the core of the story is waiting to be revealed.
Deal with your readers that theyare smart, and write a language thatsuits their intelligence.- How to write the best story-
Essential characteristic of the really great novelist: a Christ-like all-embracing compassion.
The writer's silent mind is a period of intermission before orchestrating a symphony of words.
...at seventeen I tried to write poetry confining myself solely to Anglo-Saxon words - don't know if it helped, but it made me more concrete ...
The written word is the greatest sacred documentation.
The divine thoughts comes from God, we are only vessel for its transmission.
Writers will often find themselves steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion.
My advice to writers is this:Walk, talk, breathe, laugh, cry, fall, rise, fail, succeed, run, jump, love, hate, hide, seek, learn, work, play, feel, LIVE.Then write it down.
To be a successful fiction writer you have to write well, write a lot … and let ‘em know you’ve written it! Then rinse and repeat.
When people shine a little light on their monster, we find out how similar most of our monsters are.
You will have the grace of writing, when you boldly begin to write your first sentences.
Backstory is like a flavour you can’t quite pick, lurking in the layers of a curry. You know it’s there and it enhances the flavour, but it’s intangible and fleeting. Use it sparingly!
The best writers I've read possess oodles of self-doubt, yet claw their way up with each work and remain humble. Boastful ones, not so much.
My ideas are a shapeless mass that my writing molds into beauty.
...language always occurs in a context - you can speak Elizabethan words, but to speak the language you have to put on the mindset...
Keep working. Keep trying. Keep believing. You still might not make it, but at least you gave it your best shot. If you don’t have calluses on your soul, this isn’t for you. Take up knitting instead.
When writing, I uncage KAT: Keep Adding Tension. Even if I don't know where the story's going, petting the KAT keeps it purring.
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.
