The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of…

I remember walking into a department store and you would hear an instrumental version of a Beatles song and it was usually kinda cheesy…

— Paul Gilbert

When I have just sat down and tried to write the lyrics of a song, usually about half of it sounds like bullshit. I…

— Matt Berninger

The funny thing is, people's perceptions of what a song is about is usually wrong a majority of the time. But they're still going…

— Vince Gill

I feel like this song [Yello, "Oh Yeah"] was probably done in a couple of minutes in a studio. There was probably no thought…

— Margaret Cho

I usually don't write songs by people calling me and saying, 'Write a song about this.' Usually I'm just going with what I want…

— Diane Warren

I very rarely sit down with a guitar and try to write a song. I usually think about it a lot and then I'll…

— Sune Rose Wagner

A lot of writing I do on tour. I do a lot on airplanes. At home, I write a lot, obviously. When I write…

— Pete Townshend

The lyrics seem to follow the music, and that's usually how I write. I write more about what comes out of my mouth while…

— Gary Louris

I learned early in my writing career that if I try to tailor a song for someone else, I'm usually off base. They're usually…

— Brenda Russell

Zen, per se, is not just an art, it's not just a religion, it's a realisation.

— Gene Clark

I hate outlines. I have a broad sense of where the story is going; I know the end, I know the end of the…

— George R. R. Martin

The actual writing time is a lot shorter than the thinking time. I don't do too many notes. I keep it mostly in my…

— Harlan Coben

Once you play with these scenes and you're outlining it, again and again, and telling each other the narrative, and telling it to people…

— Brit Marling

The actual writing is what you live for. The rest is something you have to get through in order to arrive at the point.

— Raymond Chandler

“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…

— George Orwell