Quotes About Writing

Do not copy my style! The first rule of writing is write about what you know, not what you think you know. So, think about what you've done in your life and write about that.

When you start writing the magic comes when the characters seem to take on a life of their own and write the words for themselves.

Writing is not life, but I think that sometimes it can be a way back to life.

All those who actually live the mysteries of life haven't the time to write, and all those who have the time don't live them! D'you see?

I like writing because you can make things happen and turn out the way they never do in real life.

I have come to understand that life is too complex and much too short to let amateurs direct the story. I would rather let the Master Storyteller do the writing.

Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works.

Since I stopped writing, I read more than ever. Other people's words, not my own—my words are gone.

às vezes precisamos escrever nossos sentimentos, mas não necessariamente precisamos compartilhá-los

Jessamyn West said, 'Writing is so difficult that writers, having had their hell on earth, will escape all punishment hereafter.

Podemos empezar partiendo de algo muy pequeño. Abre un documento nuevo o coge una hoja de papel en blanco. Será nuestro lienzo. Recuerda lo que Miguel Ángel dijo sobre que la escultura estaba en el interior de la piedra, que estaba allí desde un buen principio, y que su trabajo consistía en extraerla. Tus palabras también están ahí.

I curl up on my bed, propped against my pillows, books spread across the comforter. Since I stopped writing, I read more than ever. Other people's words, not my own—my words are gone. Right now, I'm into the Brontë sisters.

It was funny about writing. It was like flying or driving or playing an instrument. When you were doing it like you were supposed to be doing it, you knew it right inside of you. You could feel that this was the way it should be. But when you wrote a word that you didn't believe in, that didn't fit, it stuck out just like a bumpy landing or a bad turn or a false note.

We should write about our wanderings so we have something to show for them besides pictures. Actually, you should do the writing. I'll just smile and look pretty.

Thanks most of all to my beautiful mother and fellow author, Penelope Niven, who made the world lovelier just by being in it.

books spread across the comforter. Since I stopped writing, I read more than ever. Other people's words, not my own—my words are gone.

Then there's Russell and Lillian Hoban's Frances series, which is almost unbearably wistful, and no wonder: written just before the Hobans' marriage ended, the books seem to document a happy family that was dissolving as they wrote.

The difference between people who believe they have books inside of them and those who actually write books is sheer cussed persistence - the ability to make yourself work at your craft, every day - the belief, even in the face of obstacles, that you've got something worth saying.

People say I'm not good at writing about men. My dad left when I was 16. Give me a break. I'm doing the best I can.

I have a huge respect for writers and realise that this is not an area that I find easy. I doubt that I would have the patience in front of a blank sheet of paper to become a writer.

In order to be a better writer and better reader, I need to believe in my own death and in the death of others.

My best advice is to first write for yourself and stay in your story and just pour all of your good stuff and bad stuff into it. By 'stuff,' I mean all the experiences and pleasures and little hurts that make up a life. Because even (and especially) the really hard experiences are worth having, if you can channel those emotions into something beautiful.

When I´m done, I put the letter in my diary instead of in my hat box. I have a feeling I´m not done-done yet, that there´s still more I need to say, I just haven´t thought of it yet.

To picture him, sitting at his desk at home, scribbling away with a pen and paper, endears him to me so completely. It gives me shivers. Currents of electricity from my scalp down to my toes.