Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow
And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~Sylvia Plath
If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison
What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers. ~Logan
Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very;" your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~Mark Twain
The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible. ~Vladimir Nabakov
Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne
I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork. ~Peter De Vries
Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don't start sentences with a conjunction.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.
~William Safire, "Great Rules of Writing"
And don't start sentences with a conjunction.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.
~William Safire, "Great Rules of Writing"
Be obscure clearly. ~E.B. White
Every writer I know has trouble writing. ~Joseph Heller
When you are describing,
A shape, or sound, or tint;
Don't state the matter plainly,
But put it in a hint;
And learn to look at all things,
With a sort of mental squint.
~Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll)
A shape, or sound, or tint;
Don't state the matter plainly,
But put it in a hint;
And learn to look at all things,
With a sort of mental squint.
~Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll)
If I'm trying to sleep, the ideas won't stop. If I'm trying to write, there appears a barren nothingness. ~Carrie Latet
How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live. ~Henry David Thoreau, Journal, 19 August 1851
Write your first draft with your heart. Re-write with your head. ~From the movie Finding Forrester
It is impossible to discourage the real writers - they don't give a damn what you say, they're going to write. ~Sinclair Lewis
A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end... but not necessarily in that order. ~Jean Luc Godard
A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. ~Thomas Mann, Essays of Three Decades, 1947
Being an author is having angels whisper in your ear - and devils, too. ~Graycie Harmon
The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes. ~André Gide, Journals, 1894
The good writing of any age has always been the product of someone's neurosis, and we'd have a mighty dull literature if all the writers that came along were a bunch of happy chuckleheads. ~William Styron, interview, Writers at Work, 1958
I do not like to write - I like to have written. ~Gloria Steinem
Writers are just people who have a whole lot on the inside that they need to get to the outside, with pen and paper as their preferred method of transport. Same with dancers, artists, and singers - all the same urges with differing transportation. ~Graycie Harmon
The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new. ~Samuel Johnson
Every author in some way portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will. ~Goethe
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. ~ Ben Franklin
Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~ William Wordsworth
If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write. ~ Stephen King
For me, writing is exploration; and most of the time, I'm surprised where the journey takes me. ~ Jack Dann
Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else. ~ Gloria Steinem
Writing is only boring to the people who are boring themselves. ~ Anonymous
May I never grow too old to treasure 'once upon a time'. ~ Anonymous
