My father was a writer, so I grew up writing and reading and I was really encouraged by him. I had some… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Being a writer is part of a noble tradition, as is being a musician – the last egalitarian and open associations. No… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“In general…there’s no point in writing hopeless novels. We all know we’re going to die; what’s important is the kind of men… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
I've written six novels and four pieces of nonfiction, so I don't really have a genre these days. — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“Writing like this is a little like milking a cow: the milk is so rich and delicious, and the cow is so… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“Writing: shitty first drafts. Butt in chair. Just do it. You own everything that happened to you. You are going to feel… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
You keep working on your piece over and over, trying to get the sections and paragraphs and sentences and the whole just… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“But you can't teach writing, people tell me. And I say, 'Who the hell are you, God's dean of admissions?” — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“You are going to have to give and give and give, or there's no reason for you to be writing. You have… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
The worst time in any writer's life is the two months before publication. ALL writers become mental and pathetic, even those of… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“I honestly think in order to be a writer, you have to learn to be reverent. If not, why are you writing?… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Creative expression, whether that means writing, dancing, bird-watching, or cooking, can give a person almost everything that he or she has been… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
I used to tell my writing students that they must write the books they wished they could come upon - because then… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Writing can be a pretty desperate endeavor, because it is about some of our deepest needs: our need to be visible, to… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing,… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Over and over I feel as if my characters know who they are, and what happens to them, and where they have… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Shirley Jackson said that a confused reader is an antagonistic reader, and I live by that. It's okay to start anywhere, and… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
If you always dreamed of writing a novel or a memoir, and you used to love to write, and were pretty good… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Frederick Buechner is one of my favorite writers. The Eyes of the Heart is beautiful and wise, full of insight, charm, and… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Just don't pretend you know more about your characters than they do, because you don't. Stay open to them. It's teatime and… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
It's funny where we look for salvation, and where we actually find it. — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Your problem is how you are going to spend this one odd and precious life you have been issued. Whether you're going to spend… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
And yet, I do believe there is ultimately meaning in the chaos, and also in the doldrums. What I resist is not the truth… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Raising a child, whether or not it is yours, is like Nautilus of the heart and soul. — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“I heard a preacher say recently that hope is a revolutionary patience; let me add that so is being a writer. Hope begins in… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
We are going to die, as is everyone we adore - I hate this! But the question is, how do we live as women… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
