All-Time Favorite Quotes About Writing
“READING AND WRITING, LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE, IMPROVE WITH PRACTICE. AND, OF COURSE, IF THERE ARE NO YOUNG READERS AND WRITERS, THERE WILL SHORTLY BE NO OLDER ONES. LITERACY WILL BE DEAD, AND DEMOCRACY–WHICH MANY BELIEVE GOES HAND IN HAND WITH IT–WILL BE DEAD AS WELL.”
-MARGARET ATWOOD
“THE ART OF WRITING IS THE ART OF DISCOVERING WHAT YOU BELIEVE.”
-GUSTAVE FLAUBERT
“WRITING IS AN EXPLORATION. YOU START FROM NOTHING AND LEARN AS YOU GO.”
-E.L. DOCTOROW
“TO ME, THE GREATEST PLEASURE OF WRITING IS NOT WHAT IT’S ABOUT, BUT THE INNER MUSIC THAT WORDS MAKE.”
-TRUMAN CAPOTE
“TWO HOURS OF WRITING FICTION LEAVES THIS WRITER COMPLETELY DRAINED. FOR THESE TWO HOURS HE HAS BEEN IN A DIFFERENT PLACE WITH TOTALLY DIFFERENT PEOPLE.”
-ROALD DAHL
“WRITING, TO ME, IS SIMPLY THINKING THROUGH MY FINGERS.”
-ISAAC ASIMOV
“WRITING IS AN EXTREME PRIVILEGE BUT IT’S ALSO A GIFT. IT’S A GIFT TO YOURSELF AND IT’S A GIFT OF GIVING A STORY TO SOMEONE.”
-AMY TAN
“THE MOST DIFFICULT AND COMPLICATED PART OF THE WRITING PROCESS IS THE BEGINNING.”
-A.B. YEHOSHUA
“I BELIEVE THAT WRITING IS DERIVATIVE. I THINK GOOD WRITING COMES FROM GOOD READING.”
-CHARLES KURALT
“WHETHER YOU’RE KEEPING A JOURNAL OR WRITING AS A MEDITATION, IT’S THE SAME THING. WHAT’S IMPORTANT IS THAT YOU’RE HAVING A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR MIND.”
-NATALIE GOLDBERG
“YOUR WRITING VOICE IS THE DEEPEST POSSIBLE REFLECTION OF WHO YOU ARE. THE JOB OF YOUR VOICE IS NOT TO SEDUCE OR FLATTER OR MAKE WELL-SHAPED SENTENCES. IN YOUR VOICE, YOUR READERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO HEAR THE CONTENTS OF YOUR MIND, YOUR HEART, YOUR SOUL.”
-MEG ROSOFF