Quotes about writing

I thought it might be nice to start a thread of quotes bout writing.

I'll start: Write hard and clear about what hurts. Don’t avoid it. It has all the energy. Don’t worry, no one ever died of it. You might cry or laugh, but not die.” - Earnest Hemingway

This is a great idea, Jeff. I hope more people follow it up. I might learn something!

Here's something of Steinbeck's creation of characters: "They must be real people. And this means that every word in every line of speech must be accurate and full of some kind of meaning which stretches not only forward in the book but stems from what's happened before."

From a collection of Neil Gaiman quotes about writing.

"I think one of the great things about fiction is that it takes the chaos of life and feeds it back to one in a form that is emotionally satisfying."

"The story is an explosion. And you get to the end of it, and once it's done, then you get to walk around it and you get to look at the shrapnel and the damage it did. And you get to see who died. And you get to see how it worked."

The full collection is at https://www.writinganalytics.co/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CGrowing%20up%20is%20highly%20overrated,Just%20be%20an%20author.%E2%80%9D&text=%E2%80%9CRule%20one%2C%20you%20have%20to,write%2C%20nothing%20will%20happen.%E2%80%9D

There is a similarity between juggling and composing on the typewriter. The trick is, when you spill something, make it look like a part of the act. - Tom Robbins

In the broadest possible sense, writing well means to communicate clearly and interestingly and in a way that feels alive to the reader. Where there’s some kind of relationship between the writer and the reader there’s an electricity about it. —David Foster Wallace

“That’s not writing, that’s typing.” - Truman Capote, when asked his opinion of Jack Kerouac

"It is amazing how much work (writing) rhythm you can lose by being off even for two days.I would like to work straight through to preserve the rhythm but I know I would get too tired."

---Steinbeck again

“Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.“ - Elmore Leonard

Classic'–a book which people praise and don’t read." Mark Twain

'The scariest moment (in writing) is always just before you start.' Stephen King

“Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.” - Isaac Asimov

Steinbeck, yet again:

"Many writers talk their books out and so do not write them. I think I am guilty of this to a large extent. I really talk too much about my work and to anyone who will listen. If I would limit my talk to inventions and keep my big mouth shut about my work, there would probably be a good deal more work done."

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” - Ernest Hemingway

I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” Douglas Adams

“I hate writing, I love having written.” Dorothy Parker

"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master." Ernest Hemingway

"Start writing no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on." Louis L'Amour

THIS THREAD SHOUD BE ENCOURAGED

"Writing a novel is like building a wall, brick by brick; only amateurs believe in inspiration." Frank Yerby

“There is only one plot: things are not as they seem.” - Jim Thompson

Quote by redwriter

THIS THREAD SHOUD BE ENCOURAGED

I agree wholeheartedly!

“I hate writing, but I love having written.” - Dorothy Parker

"A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it." Roald Dahl.

It hasn't been used yet, so I'll throw in the classic Theodore Sturgeon response to the contention that most science fiction is crap. This version, from 1958, is a bit more developed than some others. Usually people only quote the first part.

"The Revelation

Ninety percent of everything is crud.

Corollary 1

The existence of immense quantities of trash in science fiction is admitted and it is regrettable; but it is no more unnatural than the existence of trash anywhere.

Corollary 2

The best science fiction is as good as the best fiction in any field."

Apparently, Rudyard Kipling and George Orwell had similar revelations.

Kipling: "Four-fifths of everybody's work must be bad. But the remnant is worth the trouble for its own sake."

Orwell: "In much more than nine cases out of ten the only objectively truthful criticism would be "This book is worthless ..."

"Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything good."

William Faulkner

The first draft is just telling yourself the story. Terry Pratchett

Mark Twain has 18 rules for writing. Here is rule #1: “A tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere.”

"Cut out all these exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke." - F. Scott Fitzgerald