Writing Quotes

Grab for time to write instead of wait for time.

You must write as if each word is a precious drop of blood, or a tear to be saved in a glass phial.

Now the thing is no longer a vision: it is paper.

Writing is easy. Writing a publishable book is hard.

A simple word or phrase on a blank sheet of paper gathers momentum as I wonder at what it could mean, where it could take place, why, and what if? . . . And then, I write.

Successful journals break the deadlock of introspective obsession

Writing to impress others is the surest path to pretentious mediocrity.

The nerve which controls the pen winds itself about every fibre of our being, threads the heart, pierces the liver.

Sometimes in fiction you had to mute reality in order to make it seem more believable.

Writing is easy. Saying something that would make a difference is the task.

The challenge of the writer is to transform—artistically and imaginatively—a unique personal experience into a universal, meaningful story.

There's nothing more intoxicating than creating something from nothing. Creating something from yourself." Professor Piper

The writer’s life requires courage, patience, empathy, openness. It requires the ability to be alone with oneself. Gentle with oneself. To be disciplined, and at the same time, take risks.

Writing takes a pen, a sheet of paper and, to start with, just the shadow of an idea.

I've discovered that sometimes writing badly can eventually lead to something better. Not writing at all leads to nothing.

Writing is like bungee jumping for the soul...you take a deep breath, plunge into the abyss and hope the rope tethering you to the real world doesn't snap.

Writing is like painting a painting. Layer over layer over layer.

Do not worry about what words to use. Worry about why this story needs to be told and the rest will take care of itself.

The novella will be called, I think, “The Messiah of Stockholm.” It takes place in Stockholm. I’d better say no more, or the Muse will wipe it out.

In this book, much is metaphorical, not as it seems. It’s written for writing’s sake, as if I were to say, “Let me tell you I’m dying.” Well of course I am. So are you.

A shrink and a patient switching places. Who is REALLY the boss?

Start with a word. A word leads to a sentence, which leads to a paragraph, which leads to a chapter, which leads to a manuscript, which leads to a book..... just start with a word!

No matter how much enthusiasm and effort you put into writing, if you totally lack literary talent you can forget about being a novelist.

Go APE: Author a great book, Publish it quickly, and Entrepreneur your way to success. Self-publishing isn’t easy, but it’s fun and sometimes even lucrative. Plus, your book could change the world.

Starting your book is only the first five miles of a twenty-six-mile marathon that’s one-third of a triathlon (authoring, publishing, and entrepreneuring).

For me, not knowing your theme until your finished is like using a scalpel to turn a kangaroo into Miss Universe – there will be a lot of deep cuts, and there’s a high chance it won’t work.

I was afraid I wrote neither well enough nor ill enough for success.

...writing with ferocity is a gift, provided that ferocity is a monomaniacal devotion to pursuing the truth ...

... 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...

A fiction writer weaves a fabric of lies in hopes of revealing deeper human truths.

For writers, handing a manuscript off to an editor is like walking into a parole hearing. You’ve done the time but wonder if it’s going to satisfy the judge.

It takes courage to violate expectations, but sometimes the reward is a new level of success.

The writing in itself is transformative for me.

Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:"Fool!" said my muse to me, "look in thy heart, and write.

...but every person who does serious time with a keyboard is attempting to translate his version of the world into words so that he might be understood.

We will read books together inside the blanket and stay warm. And keep writing poetry in our respective journals. Time will fly but we will still remain inside the blanket forever.

The closest to my heart is not just one book - it’s the whole series of novels, Indigo Diaries. The first volume, “Gods’ Food, ” is already available in English.

Emily mostly perceived her habit to write down notes as being one of the ways she could use to preserve moments of life.

The obscure, unexplainable aspect of the writing process is about how some rhymes appear in your head. It often feels more like tuning in to some kind of channel than composing words in your mind.

Having authored numerous and pretty versatile write-ups, I can’t say that anything other than my soul, heart and life experience can be called a prominent part of every book I ever wrote

Writing fiction or nonfiction is a lonely battle wrestling with sentences in an effort to put together an intelligible thought that speaks for the author.

Writers are cannibals. They really are. They are predators, and if you are friends with them, and if you say anything funny at dinner, or if anything good happens to you, you are in big trouble.

Writing is like riding a bike. Once you gain momentum, the hills are easier. Editing, however, requires a motor and some horsepower.

Pity the cat, thinks the writer, for I live as many lives as I can imagine.

I don’t so much hope that any reader “agrees” with me, as I hope to haunt them, to trouble their sense of how things actually are.

A good story is one liked. A great story is one that challenges thought, defiant and gets mouths talking.

Your dreams don’t stop being dreams because of circumstances.

There is no value in your promises. They are as hollow as fangs and poisonous as the venom within them once I allowed them into my heart.

A poet’s words are like mortar to the bricks of society.

A Writer Must Have Text Appeal