Writer Quotes by Anne Lamott

“He is a writer. He makes the rest of them nervous.”

— Anne Lamott

“The way I dance is by writing.”

— Anne Lamott

Becoming a writer is about becoming conscious.

— Anne Lamott

“in order to be a writer, you have to learn to be reverent.”

— Anne Lamott

Write as if your parents are dead.

— Anne Lamott

Write regularly, whether you feel like writing or not, and whether you think what you're writing is any good or not.

— Anne Lamott

I don't think you have time to waste not writing because you are afraid you won't be good at it.

— Anne Lamott

For some of us, good books and beautiful writing are our ultimate solace, even more comforting than exquisite food.

— Anne Lamott

“Becoming a better writer is going to help you become a better reader, and that is the real payoff.”

— Anne Lamott

“Writing like this is a little like milking a cow: the milk is so rich and delicious, and the cow is so…

— Anne Lamott

I like to read away as much of the afternoon as possible, until real life rears its ugly head.

— Anne Lamott

You just have to keep getting out of your own way so that whatever it is that wants to be written can…

— Anne Lamott

Everything takes me forever. It's all lurch, flail. I hope that is good news to you writers.

— Anne Lamott

Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something—anything—down on paper. What I’ve…

— Anne Lamott

Writing is how I communicate my deepest beliefs, and what I hope are helpful observations about our dual citizenship, as children of…

— Anne Lamott

I'd wanted to be a writer my whole life. But when I finally made it, I felt like a greyhound catching the…

— Anne Lamott

“There was going to be a spot for me in this joint, the earth, after all. It was never going to be…

— Anne Lamott

Writing is about hypnotizing yourself into believing in yourself, getting some work done, then unhypnotizing yourself and going over the material coldly.

— Anne Lamott

I get to tell my truth. I get to seek meaning and realization. I get to live fully, wildly, imperfectly. That's why…

— Anne Lamott

Tell the truth as you understand it. If you're a writer, you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is…

— Anne Lamott

Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. Don't worry about appearing sentimental. Worry about being unavailable; worry about…

— Anne Lamott

To be a good writer, you not only have to write a great deal but you have to care. You do not…

— Anne Lamott

We write to expose the unexposed. Most human beings are dedicated to keeping that one door shut. But the writer's job is…

— Anne Lamott

“writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. that thing you had to force yourself to do--the…

— Anne Lamott

“No one has expressed it better than a great novelist I heard once on a talk show who said something like "You…

— Anne Lamott

“I try to write the books I would love to come upon, that are honest, concerned with real lives, human hearts, spiritual…

— Anne Lamott

E.L. Doctorow said once said that 'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far…

— Anne Lamott

Try to write in a directly emotional way, instead of being too subtle or oblique. Don't be afraid of your material or…

— Anne Lamott

You don't want to spend your time around people who make you hold your breath. You can't fill up when you're holding…

— Anne Lamott

“This is our goal as writers, I think; to help others have this sense of--please forgive me--wonder, of seeing things anew, things…

— Anne Lamott

“Because for some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out…

— Anne Lamott

My father was a writer, so I grew up writing and reading and I was really encouraged by him. I had some…

— Anne Lamott

“What I've learned to do when I sit down to work on a shitty first draft is to quiet the voices in…

— Anne Lamott

“All good writers write [terrible first drafts.] This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts. .…

— Anne Lamott

“My parents, and librarians along the way, taught me about the space between words; about the margins, where so many juicy moments…

— Anne Lamott

“Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean/ they…

— Anne Lamott

“So why does our writing matter, again?" they ask. Because of the spirit, I say. Because of the heart. Writing and reading…

— Anne Lamott

My experience as a writer is that you really do write seven and eight pages to find the paragraph you were after…

— Anne Lamott

Very few writers really know what they are doing until they have done it.

— Anne Lamott

“The writer's job is to turn the unspeakable into words - not just any words, but, if you can, into rhythm and…

— Anne Lamott