Thursday’s Thirteen: Writer Quotes
1. There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein. ~Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith
2. You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ~Ray Bradbury
3. The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~Anaïs Nin
Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow
4. A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket. ~Charles Peguy
5. 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
6. I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all. ~Richard Wright,American Hunger, 1977
7. I try to leave out the parts that people skip. ~Elmore Leonard
8. If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison
9. What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers. ~Logan Pearsall Smith, “All Trivia,” Afterthoughts, 1931
10. I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter. ~James Michener
11. It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop. ~Vita Sackville-West
12. Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say. ~Sharon O’Brien
13. 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
Posted on April 28, 2011, in Uncategorized and tagged Thursdays thirteen, writer quotes. Bookmark the permalink. 25 Comments.
I like #7 about leaving out the boring parts. Mark Twain said some great things too.
Hi Shelley,
I like Mark Twain too. He’s to the point and funny.
Janice~
These are all great, but my favorite has to be # 10
Happy T13!
Hi Adelle,
Oh yes, and so true. Here’s another quote: There is no rewriting only rewriting.
Janice~
Great quotes! Thanks for posting on my blog yesterday. Sorry for my limited interaction. I’m usually on top of things, but due to storms I was unable to access the internet for almost 24 hours.
Hi Ciara,
Thank you.
I went by today and there’s more comments posted. I’m very happy with the amount of people who left comments.
Janice~
I’m so glad! Again, my apologies for not having internet. The storms have been crazy this year. We are just thankful that no one our immediate area was seriously injured. Unfortunately, one town over was not so lucky.
I like quotes like these. My favorites are #7 and 8.
Hi Tatiana,
Those two are good too, but I think seven I can really relate to since I’ve been doing a lot of critiques.
Janice~
Love those! Especially thirteen! LOL!
*hugs*
Paige
My TT is at http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/
Hi Paige,
Yeah, most editor don’t seem to like the word very and that goes back a hundred years. It’s not very descriptive.
Janice~
Great quotes…
Hi Savannah,
Thank you.
Janice~
I don’t think I can pick a favorite! These are all good. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Darla,
Thank you. I’m so glad you enjoyed them.
Janice~
#1 has been true for me on more than one occasion!
Hi Suzanna,
Oh I know, sometimes it does seem like your bleed all over the keyboard. Especially during edits.
Janice~
Great quotes–I think the only one I have not seen before is number eleven.
Hi Heather,
Well, they are from old famous writers. Most have been around for a while. Mark Twain for instance, his quotes are over a hundred years old.
Janice~
…..The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt…….
Absolutely.
Hi Jen,
I’ll have to agree with you there.
Janice~
I love posts like these – they’re so inspiring!
Happy (belated) TT!
Hi Kimberly,
I’m glad you liked them and happy belated TT.
Janice~
I think I’m gonna take that last one to heart!
Hi Yvette,
You more than welcome to copy it and print it out.
Janice~