Quotes About Craft

It took time to learn that the hard thing about writing is to let the story write itself, while one sits at the typewriter and does as little thinking as possible. It happened over and over again, and the beginner learned — when you start puzzling over an idea, and slowing down on the keys, the writing gets worse and worse.

Un écrivain professionnel est un amateur qui n'a pas renoncé.

A professional writer is an amateur who never gave up.

Un escritor profesional es un amateur que no se rinde

You had to be a plumber to fish that creek.

To control the deaths of others - when, where, the craft of ensuring it was a cleanly sliced ending - that was possible. And in some strange way, such killing felt like controlling whatever remained of his own life.

On writing: I don't like doing this, but it feels so good when I stop.

I like writing that's smart on the page.

Doing it all the time, whether or not we are in the mood, gives us ownership of our writing ability. It takes it out of the realm of conjuring where we stand on the rock of isolation, begging the winds for inspiration, and it makes it something as do-able as picking up a hammer and pounding a nail. Writing may be an art, but it is certainly a craft. It is a simple and workable thing that can be as steady and reliable as a chore—does that ruin the romance?

Writing may be an art, but it is certainly a craft.

Naturalness onstage is just as much an artifice as naturalism in the novel

Aaron always maintained that genre writers were formulaic, predictable and had no respect for Craft. And romance was the least appealing of all the genres. Why bother reading a book when you knew what the outcome would be?

If I had to pick one form of acting, it would be live theater. That's where I started; that's where I became a man, I think I'm still finishing up that job.

I have enough rhythm to blend at this point. I have enough rhythm to blend one song into another. But man, I have such respect for the art of deejaying. I hesitate to even call myself a deejay.

Let every man find pleasure in practising the profession he has learnt.

I always say when you write a book, you're a 'one-man band.' Whereas, when you finish a screenplay, it's just a sketch.

The singing man keepes his shop in his throate.

Let every man practise the trade which he best understands.

Let a man practise the profession he best knows. [Lat., Quam quisque novit artem, in hac se exerceat.]

A man is a writer if all his words are strung in definite sentence sounds.

Some athletes are super fashionable and not good. It's like c'mon man focus on your craft, be who you're supposed to be and then go put on the clothes.

The acting is more of a secondary thing for me now. I will be in it, if I'm the best man for the job, but it really is about creating characters and shows.

You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.

What is a screenplay? 120 pages of begging for money and attention.