Writing by writers Quotes · Page 2

Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret.

— Matthew Arnold

Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in…

— Anne McCaffrey

Writing is the hardest work in the world not involving heavy lifting.

— Pete Hamill

Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down.

— John Steinbeck

When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is…

— Stephen King

The road to Hell is paved with unbought stuffed dogs.

— Ernest Hemingway

All the information you need can be given in dialogue.

— Elmore Leonard

Read, read read. Read everything.

— William Faulkner

I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it…

— Mark Twain

All writers are vain, selfish and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives lies a mystery.

— George Orwell

Details make stories human, and the more human a story can be, the better.

— Ernest Hemingway

Those who write clearly have readers.

— Albert Camus

Write while the heat is in you.

— Henry David Thoreau

Fiction is about stuff that's screwed up.

— Nancy Kress

Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing…

— John Steinbeck

Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day.

— Orson Scott Card

Writing a novel is like heading out over the open sea in a small boat. It helps, if you have a plan…

— John Gardner

Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.

— Gene Fowler

I have never thought of myself as a good writer. Anyone who wants reassurance of that should read one of my first…

— James A. Michener

You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you.

— Arthur Plotnik

The reader has certain rights. He bought your story. Think of this as an implicit contract. He's entitled to be entertained, instructed,…

— Larry Niven

Only ambitious nonentities and hearty mediocrities exhibit their rough drafts. It's like passing around samples of sputum.

— Vladimir Nabokov

The free-lance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.

— Robert Benchley

Begin with an individual, and before you know it you find that you have created a type; begin with a type, and…

— F. Scott Fitzgerald