Writer's Club
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Writing Quotes
The ablest writer is only a gardener first, and then a cook: his tasks
are, carefully select and cultivate his strongest and most nutritive
thoughts; and when they are ripe, to dress them, wholesomely, and yet so
that they may have a relish.
~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827
Be obscure clearly.
~E.B. White
You have to resign yourself to the fact that you waste a lot of trees before you write anything you really like, and that's just the way it is. It's like learning an instrument, you've got to be prepared for hitting wrong notes occasionally, or quite a lot, because I wrote an awful lot before I wrote anything I was really happy with. And read a lot. Reading really helps. Read anything you can get your hands on.
~J.K. Rowling
"Don't tear up the page and start over again when you write a bad line- try to write your way out of it. Make mistakes and plunge on. Writing is a means of discovery, always."
-Garrison Keller
"Writing is the socially acceptable form of schizophrenia."
-E.L. Doctoron
"Writers write about what obsesses them...go where the pain is."
-Anne Rice
"The only cure for writer's block is insomnia."
-Merit Antares
"Engrave this in your brain: every writer gets rejected. You will be no different."
-John Scalzi
"The wastebasket [and eraser] is a writer's best friend."
-Isaac Bashevis Singer
"The road to ignorance is paved with good editors."
-George Bernard Shaw
"Worry grows lushly in the soil of indecision."
-Unknown
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
-Albert Einstein
"Reading and weeping opens the doors to one's heart, but writing and weeping opens the door to one's soul."
-M.K. Simmons
"The ablest writer is only a gardener first, and then a cook: his tasks are, carefully select and cultivate his strongest and most nutritive thoughts; and when they are ripe, to dress them, wholesomely, and yet so that they may have a relish."
-Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare
"If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a 100, you have the odds in your favor."
-Edgar Rice Burroughs
"Words are a lens to focus one's mind."
-Ayn Rand
"Books aren't written, they're rewritten..."
-Michael Crichton
"Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short."
-Henry David Thoreau
"A man's work is a portrait of himself."
-E.C. McKenzie
"If you can tell stories, create characters...and have sincerity and passion, it doesn't matter a damn how you write."
-Somerset Maugham
"There are only three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are."
-Somerset Maugham
"Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, and intoxicating. 'Imaginative literature,' therefore, is either boring or immoral or a mixture of both.
-Simone Well
-Garrison Keller
"Writing is the socially acceptable form of schizophrenia."
-E.L. Doctoron
"Writers write about what obsesses them...go where the pain is."
-Anne Rice
"The only cure for writer's block is insomnia."
-Merit Antares
"Engrave this in your brain: every writer gets rejected. You will be no different."
-John Scalzi
"The wastebasket [and eraser] is a writer's best friend."
-Isaac Bashevis Singer
"The road to ignorance is paved with good editors."
-George Bernard Shaw
"Worry grows lushly in the soil of indecision."
-Unknown
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
-Albert Einstein
"Reading and weeping opens the doors to one's heart, but writing and weeping opens the door to one's soul."
-M.K. Simmons
"The ablest writer is only a gardener first, and then a cook: his tasks are, carefully select and cultivate his strongest and most nutritive thoughts; and when they are ripe, to dress them, wholesomely, and yet so that they may have a relish."
-Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare
"If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a 100, you have the odds in your favor."
-Edgar Rice Burroughs
"Words are a lens to focus one's mind."
-Ayn Rand
"Books aren't written, they're rewritten..."
-Michael Crichton
"Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short."
-Henry David Thoreau
"A man's work is a portrait of himself."
-E.C. McKenzie
"If you can tell stories, create characters...and have sincerity and passion, it doesn't matter a damn how you write."
-Somerset Maugham
"There are only three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are."
-Somerset Maugham
"Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, and intoxicating. 'Imaginative literature,' therefore, is either boring or immoral or a mixture of both.
-Simone Well
"So often is the virgin sheet of paper more real than what one has to say, and so often one regrets having married it."
-Harold Action
"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say."
-Anais Nin
"Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good."
-William Faulkner
"The work never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with."
-William Faulkner
"Be obscure clearly."
-E.B. White
"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do."
-Thomas Jefferson
"There's no such thing as writer's block. That was invented by people in California who couldn't write."
-Terry Pratchett
"Close the door...don't try to figure out what others want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say."
-Barbara Kingsolver
"People...cannot discover new oceans...unless...they have the courage to lose sight of the shore."
-Andre Gide
"Use your imagination. Trust me, your lives are not interesting. Don't write them down."
-W.B. Kinsella
"As for the adjective, when in doubt, leave it out."
-Mark Twain
"Words are the most powerful drug used by mankind."
-Rudyard Kipling
"Poets are mostly interested in death and commas."
-Carolyn Kizer
"Fiction is about stuff that's screwed up."
-Nancy Kress
"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader."
-George Moore
"Make it new."
-Ezra Pound
"Characterization is an accident that flows out of action and dialogue."
-Jack Woodford
"I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers done."
-Stephen Wright
"The First Chapter Law is 'Don't spend to much time on it. You're going to have to rewrite it.'"
-Tony Hillerman
"Ever tried? Every failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
-Samuel Beckett
-Harold Action
"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say."
-Anais Nin
"Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good."
-William Faulkner
"The work never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with."
-William Faulkner
"Be obscure clearly."
-E.B. White
"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do."
-Thomas Jefferson
"There's no such thing as writer's block. That was invented by people in California who couldn't write."
-Terry Pratchett
"Close the door...don't try to figure out what others want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say."
-Barbara Kingsolver
"People...cannot discover new oceans...unless...they have the courage to lose sight of the shore."
-Andre Gide
"Use your imagination. Trust me, your lives are not interesting. Don't write them down."
-W.B. Kinsella
"As for the adjective, when in doubt, leave it out."
-Mark Twain
"Words are the most powerful drug used by mankind."
-Rudyard Kipling
"Poets are mostly interested in death and commas."
-Carolyn Kizer
"Fiction is about stuff that's screwed up."
-Nancy Kress
"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader."
-George Moore
"Make it new."
-Ezra Pound
"Characterization is an accident that flows out of action and dialogue."
-Jack Woodford
"I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers done."
-Stephen Wright
"The First Chapter Law is 'Don't spend to much time on it. You're going to have to rewrite it.'"
-Tony Hillerman
"Ever tried? Every failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
-Samuel Beckett
