Fun and inspirational comments for and from writers
All my life I’ve had people coming up to me and saying, “I sat under the hair dryer and read one of your little stories, dear. So clever of you. Wish I had the time to do it myself.” I just say, “Yes, fine, pity you don’t.” — Rosamunde Pilcher
Writing is easy. You just sit at your typewriter until little drops of blood appear on your forehead. — Red Smith
The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes. — Agatha Christie
As far as writing is concerned, I am a complete and utter primitive. I have no formal training at all and to this very day I don’t know How To Write. – Isaac Asimov
“After the 23rd rejection, I found myself lugging the manuscript up Madison Avenue, headed for my apartment, where I was going to dump the damned thing in the incinerator. If I had been going up the EAST side of Madison Avenue, I would probably never have become a published author. But I happened to be lugging it up the WEST side of Madison Avenue when I bumped into a long-unseen college friend, Mike McClintock. Mike said, “What are you doing these days?” I said, “I’m an unsuccessful author of children’s books. What are YOU doing these days?” And Mike said, “I am an editor of children’s books. We’re standing right in front of my office. Why don’t we step inside?” Twenty minutes later I became a legitimate author with a contract, and since that day I have always made it a point to walk up the west side of Madison Avenue.” — Dr. Seuss, about And To Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street
Get your facts first and then you can distort ’em as you please. — Mark Twain
I think I’m a real writer at last. I sit down at the computer and am overcome by a burning desire to defrost the fridge. – M. C. Beaton
The greatest enemy of creativity is fear. — Anonymous
Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action. — Frank Tibolt
I just think it’s bad to talk about one’s present work, for it spoils something at the root of the creative act. It discharges the tension. — Norman Mailer
There are three rules for writing a successful novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. — W. Somerset Maugham
Procrastination is suicide on the installment plan. — Anonymous
Nobody reads a book to get to the middle. ― Mickey Spillane
I write not because it is what I do, but because it is what I am; not because it is how I make my living, but how I make my life. — Alan Jay Lerner
Fiction has to be made better than life … the only reason for something to happen in a novel is that it’s the perfect thing to have happen at that time. — John Irving
A certain amount of work for the wastebasket is part of most writers’ learning process. — Phyllis A. Whitney
A writer must never forget that being a writer is being a professional student. you must never stop learning. — Phyllis Taylor Pianka
Writing is agony. Anyone who says otherwise either lies a lot or just writes a little. — David J. Jacobs
Nothing makes me angrier than someone who comes up and says casually, “Oh, yes, I’m going to write a book someday, as soon as I have time.” — Celeste De Blasis
For any writer, no matter how talented, to try writing the kind of book she doesn’t enjoy and respect is cruel and unusual punishment — and useless, besides. — Megan Daniel
I like being a famous writer. The problem is, every once in a while you have to write something. — Ken Kesey
The first chapter sells the book; the last chapter sells the next book. ― Mickey Spillane
To make it easy for the reader isn’t easy for the writer. — Unknown
Amateurs hope; professionals work. — Garson Kanin
Make ’em laugh; make ’em cry; make ’em wait. — Charles Reade
This is the secret of good story-telling: to lie, but to keep the arithmetic sound. — Kurt Vonnegut
The gem cannot be polished without friction. — Chinese proverb
The day after winning the Pulitzer, the blank piece of paper is just as white as it was the day before… Writing … is just as hard. — Jolie Graham
Writers who wait for inspiration get mental block. One just slogs on. — M.C. Beaton