Quotes About Writing

Shocking writing is like murder: the questions the jury must decide are the questions of motive and intent.

John Stuart MillBy a mighty effort of willOvercame his natural bonhomieAnd wrote Principles of Political Economy.

The unknown characters of writing seem to be endowed with an evil of life of their own as though sentient, and fain would wrest themselves forth from the parchment and wreak mischief on whomsoever gazes upon them.

One of the things I had to learn as a writer was to trust the act of writing. To put myself in the position of writing to find out what I was writing.

There's something about seeing a guy's feelings written down, something about him taking that risk and committing that heart to paper, that means so much more than anything he could just say.

Immie put on her sunglasses. "Forrest's writing a novel." "What kind of novel?" asked Jule. "A little Samuel Beckett meets Hunter S. Thompson," said Forrest. "And I'm a big fan of Pynchon, so he's an influence.

There is no point to writing fiction without risks. I would rather anger a reader than bore her. I would rather speak my truth and be laughed at or ignored than stick to what is easy and familiar.

How do I know what I have to say wntil I see what I have said?

Okuyucunun "Genç k?z Emerson'u seviyor" diye bir sonuca varmas? için her ÅŸey aç?kça ortada. EÄŸer okuyucu Lucy'nin yerinde olsayd?, durum bu kadar aç?k olmayacakt?. Hayat? yaÅŸad?ktan sonra yazmak kolayd?r, ama bizzat yaÅŸamak sersemleticidir ve arzular?m?z? gözden gizleyecek "sinir bozukluÄŸu" veya herhangi bir baÅŸka bahaneyi sevinçle kar??lar?z.

O whitest so soft parchment where My poor divorced lips have written excellent Stanzas of kisses, and will write no more.

I am telling you what I know—words have music and if you are a musician you will write to hear them.

Finish. The difference between being a writer and being a person of talent is the discipline it takes to apply the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair and finish. Don't talk about doing it. Do it. Finish.

I have almost completed a long novel, but it is unpublishable until my death and England's.

How can I tell what I think till I see what I say?

Epilogues are for Tolstoy

Yes, oh dear, yes, the novel tells a story.

A happy ending was imperative. I shouldn't have bothered to write otherwise.

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

Ideas are elusive, slippery things. Best to keep a pad of paper and a pencil at your bedside, so you can stab them during the night before they get away.

?nsanlar?n hikayelerini yazanlar evvela ?unu bilmeli: Kaderini yaz?yorsun yaln?z olacaks?n. Hem de hep.

Mislim da u po?etku svi pisci pišu kako bi bili junaci romana. Ali kasnije pišemo kako ne bismo mogli biti junaci romana.

David Goodis didn't write novels, he wrote suicide notes.

Hemingway said that the best thing a writer can have is "a built-in shit detector.

Nell Painter spoke to the heart of the matter. "It's all about the questions we ask," she said. "The questions have changed. I mean, the questions always change. That's why we keep writing history.