Writing Quotes · Page 327

Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.

— E. L. Doctorow

Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

— Kurt Vonnegut

If you write for the critics, only the critics will read you.

— Jonah Goldberg

Dig until you hit rock. Then take out that jackhammer and go a little deeper.

— Allison Brennan

People don't stress enough that when they're writing lyrics, they are writing.

— Aesop Rock

“When writing, I always find that you should write through an obstacle instead of editing it out.”

— Joseph Eastwood

You must write for children the same way you write for adults, only better.

— Maxim Gorky

I got sober at 27 and started writing around 30 and started playing music in public around 32, 33.

— Mary Gauthier

I think most writers' houses are disappointing. What's much more atmospheric and interesting are the places they wrote about.

— Joseph Kanon

I don't care who writes a nation's laws-or crafts its advanced treaties-if I can write its economics textbooks

— Paul Samuelson

I have some friends, most of them are writers or editors, whose recommendations I trust blindly. There are some critics, too, whom…

— Karl Ove Knausgard

I thought, maybe the difference between white folks and colored is just this matter of reading and writing. I made up my…

— Mary McLeod Bethune

We had to cope with the media writing things which were not true, which were insulting. At around 13 I decided I…

— Judit Polgar

Despite erasure by the media and other patriarchal institutions, there was, by 1975, a substantial body of feminist writings as well as…

— Mary Daly

First rule of writing: When still a child, make sure you read a lot of books. Spend more time doing this than…

— Zadie Smith

“I before E except after C. Weird? By rebelling against the rules the word itself denotes its very meaning: of strange or…

— Day Parker

I wrote the first book, Harvest of Stars, and as I was writing it, I saw that certain implications had barely been…

— Poul Anderson

I have people in my life, of course. Some write; some don't. Some read; some don't. Some stare vacantly into space when…

— Rob Thurman

[Final diary entry:] Occupation is essential. And now with some pleasure I find that it's seven; and must cook dinner. Haddock and…

— Virginia Woolf

When you got source material, whether it's a play or a book - a great writer often appreciates being adapted and developed.…

— Jude Law

Among those whose reputation is exhausted in a short time by its own luxuriance are the writers who take advantage of present…

— Samuel Johnson

The planet is populated by human beings, of which there are only two sexes, and the role of the writer is to…

— Yann Martel

Whenever I wrote fiction, people always seemed to think that what I wrote was true, that it was entirely autobiographical. And when…

— Jonathan Ames

Music is very, very important in my movies. In some ways the most important stage, whether it ends up being in the…

— Quentin Tarantino

Rise early. Write. Disappoint your sons. Read the newspaper. Go to bed early. Success.

— Arthur Miller

All I can really do is work hard because I love working hard and I love writing songs.

— Matthew Koma

It is almost impossible for an Anglo-Saxon to write of sex without being dirty.

— H. L. Mencken

Writing is hard work; its also the best job Ive ever had.

— Raymond E. Feist

I thought I'd definitely be a writer, whatever I did.

— Thomas Keneally

A famous writer who wants to continue writing has to be constantly defending himself against fame.

— Gabriel Garcia Marquez

When I stopped hiding who I am, I started writing hits.

— Shane McAnally

Even the most productive writers are expert dawdlers.

— Donald Murray

Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.

— Tom Van Vleck

Say a thing well and it will be remembered-and so too will you.

— Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet

Just because I'm playing Jazz I don't forget about me. I play or write me the way I feel through Jazz.

— Charles Mingus

In writing and politicking, it's best not to think about it, just do it.

— Gore Vidal

When you're rich, you don't write checks. Straight cash, homey.

— Randy Moss

The human brain can soften as a result of incessant listening to music with an intent to commit prose.

— Donal Henahan

Every play I write is about love and distance. And time. And from that we can get things like history.

— Suzan-Lori Parks

The first good reason to write a book is to add value to people’s lives.

— Guy Kawasaki