Quotes About Writing

Reading while I'm writing ideally inspires my competitive side. When I read great writers, I want to be a better writer.

What I learned from doing 'The Graduate' was it doesn't matter what the medium is... as long as the material is inspiring and the characters are well written.

Generally, what adults want to know is my background, why I write what I write, and very personal insights that some say are inspiring.

I've always loved short stories. Even before I was a writer, I was reading short stories - there were certain writers where I just felt like they could do in a short story what so many writers needed a whole novel to do, and that was really inspiring to me.

When Chipotle asked me to take part in the Cultivating Thought program both as an author and an essay contest judge, I was excited by the idea of sharing my story through this unique channel and helping young, inspiring writers do the same.

There's always a problem when you write, something you're trying to resolve, and sometimes a view can be inspiring.

Very little other than Elmore Leonard's crime writing inspiring me on my Batman run.

I found Wattpad because I was reading a story on Instagram, actually. They're called 'Imagines,' and they are like little fanfictions that people used to write on Instagram before Wattpad was the place to go.

My post-child period resulted in one instant change: I write shorter books for kids.

We have big limitations by not having a drummer. It instantly informs a lot of our musical decisions when it comes to writing. What we end up coming out with is not very cerebral music.

Idleness does drive me crazy, but I'd rather read or write than do anything just to work. A kind of respect has been instilled in me for acting: I love it too much to ever have a bad relationship with it.

I think the novel form chose me. I was a writer before I became a criminal... my first instinct was to write.

Like most art forms, writing is part instinct and part craft. The craft part is the part that can be taught, and that can make a crucial difference to lots of writers.

You have to be true to your instinctive way of writing. You have to find your identity.

I've never tried writing at a coffeehouse. I just know instinctively it's not for me.

I write plays instinctively. I don't like writing movie scripts.

The way I did the first album... the way I wrote 'Church'... was just to trust my instincts with the music and let it kind of do what it does.

I'm not accomplished enough to over-analyze something, because I don't have the background as far as people who write and know how to break down a character or story and stuff. I mostly go by gut instincts.

It wasn't until I set out to write a novel about marriage that I realized how little I knew about the institution.

So what I do, more than play any instrument - I mean, I love to play - but more than that, I write songs. Songs that are about living, about what it's like to be going through all the things that people go through in life.

I started writing when I was around 6. I say 'writing,' but it was really just making up stuff! I started writing and doing my own thing. I didn't really know what a demo was or anything like that, so I started getting interested in studio gear and started learning about one instrument at a time. My first instrument was an accordion.

Words are a pretty blunt instrument. There's always going to be slippage between the words and the infinite complexities of a thought. As a writer, I find that frustrating, but as a social animal, I wouldn't have it any other way.

When I'm writing for certain instruments, you want to write within what you know about that instrument but also challenge the player. Something like 'Aheym' is very virtuosic - but because I have a history of performing music, I don't like unplayable music.

My records have a lot of collaborators on them, and when you're writing a book, it's a very insular process that's very confusing and dark. It's a lot of writing and rewriting in a way that I don't do so much when I'm writing songs.