Quotes About Authenticity

The stuff I'm passionate about is what I write; it isn't multi-million-dollar franchise movies.

I still take a lot of pride in being able to write my own songs. My story's coming from me.

I have my dark side like anybody, you know, depression, anxiety... and I write about gritty, real-life stuff.

There's no such thing as a perfect person, so it makes no sense to write a perfect person. I don't know any author who'd try. And we write characters, not representations of groups.

I'm just going to sing my music; I'm going to write my songs, and I think that people get to know me in that sense.

Be careful that you do not write or paint anything that is not your own, that you don't know in your own soul.

I sing songs that I have lived or I write them because I have lived them. I think the believability factor is key.

And if you don't live, you have nothing to write about.

I don't write for a particular audience. I work as an artist, and I think the audience of one, which is the self, and I have to satisfy myself as an artist. So I always say that I write for the same people that Picasso painted for. I think he painted for himself.

I write about what I'm going through.

Especially when I write, I want to get out of people's heads and have them speak and have them get dressed and have them go to work.

I'm not like a champion of profanity. I write what I hear, and the characters that I write, that's how they talk. That's how I talk a lot of the time. So I'm not trying to advance a social cause.

Don't ever write just for a trend or fad, because it's a moving target, and by the time you get your work out there, the trend or fad is gone. Dig deep; don't be afraid to write fiercely. Expose your heart.

Whenever I write, I write what I find to be the way people are. I never use any symbolism at all, but if you write as true to life as you possibly can, people will see symbolism. They'll all see different symbolism, but they're apt to because you can see it in life.

I'm still trying to figure out how to write about cancer and my family's experience with it. If I had been able to write 'The Pura Principle' back in those days, I'm positive it would have had no humor in it. Which means the story would have been false.

Attempting to write vocal oriented songs to me felt like going through the motions and if you are going to go through the motions you might as well just do any gig that caused you to do repetitive motions like banging a hammer or serving fries.

No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.

A writer should have this little voice inside of you saying, Tell the truth. Reveal a few secrets here.

In my work, as a writer, I only photograph, in words, what I see.

A writer is not a confectioner, a cosmetic dealer, or an entertainer.

Inside of all the makeup and the character and makeup, it's you, and I think that's what the audience is really interested in... you, how you're going to cope with the situation, the obstacles, the troubles that the writer put in front of you.

The day when I am no more than a writer I shall cease to be a writer.

I'm not intelligent. I'm not arrogant. I'm just like the people who read my books. I used to have a jazz club, and I made the cocktails and I made the sandwiches. I didn't want to become a writer - it just happened.

I'm not a writer.