--- title: "12 Writing Takes Quotes by 12 authors" description: "Browse 12 Writing Takes quotes by 12 authors. Discover the best Writing Takes sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef9/francoise-sagan-3194_writer_writing-takes-a-pen-a-sheet-of-paper-and_853339.png" --- > [“Writing takes a pen, a sheet of paper and, to start with, just the shadow of an idea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francoise-sagan/writing-takes-a-pen-a-sheet-of-paper-and-to-start-with-just-the/) [Françoise Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francoise-sagan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef9/francoise-sagan-3194_writer_writing-takes-a-pen-a-sheet-of-paper-and_853339.png) > [“Like reading, writing takes me to places I would otherwise never be able to go.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bea-cannon/like-reading-writing-takes-me-to-places-i-would-otherwise-never-be/) [Bea Cannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bea-cannon/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d8/bea-cannon-40065_reading_like-reading-writing-takes-me-to-places_101889.jpg) > [A piece of writing takes exactly as long as it needs to be done right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norma-fox-mazer/a-piece-of-writing-takes-exactly-as-long-as-it-needs-to-be-done-right/) [Norma Fox Mazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norma-fox-mazer/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08f/norma-fox-mazer-45575_done_a-piece-of-writing-takes-exactly-as-long_3086916.jpg) > [You know, I can't imagine 9 to 5 writing. That takes some stamina.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brit-marling/you-know-i-can-t-imagine-9-to-5-writing-that-takes-some-stamina/) [Brit Marling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brit-marling/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41e/brit-marling-7629_imagine_you-know-i-can-t-imagine-9-to-5-writing_2263378.png) > [A lot of writing takes place in the subconscious, and it's bound to have an effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/a-lot-of-writing-takes-place-in-the-subconscious-and-it-s-bound-to/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e0/george-r-r-martin-2-926_lot_a-lot-of-writing-takes-place-in-the-subc_3163532.jpg) > [Whether it's fiction or nonfiction, writing takes me to another world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/whether-it-s-fiction-or-nonfiction-writing-takes-me-to-another-world/) [Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e54/leonard-mlodinow-7753_another_whether-it-s-fiction-or-nonfiction-writi_480050.jpg) > [Writing takes too much patience and it takes too much out of you for me to want to attempt it too often.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikramaditya-motwane/writing-takes-too-much-patience-and-it-takes-too-much-out-of-you-for/) [Vikramaditya Motwane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikramaditya-motwane/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/vikramaditya-motwane-6285_me_writing-takes-too-much-patience-and-it-t_1841347.jpg) > [“Writing takes place in an open playing field with limitless possibilities, most of them terrible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-gates/writing-takes-place-in-an-open-playing-field-with-limitless/) [Scott Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-gates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/305/scott-gates-276708_limitless-possibilit_writing-takes-place-in-an-open-playing-f_3170098.jpg) > [Eventually the writing takes time. What I want to do is get the story down and I want to know what happens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/eventually-the-writing-takes-time-what-i-want-to-do-is-get-the-story/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cd/philip-roth-681_my-way_eventually-the-writing-takes-time-what-i_464212.jpg) > [“The best writing takes you places you don't want to go. It drags you by the hair against your will and leaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penfist/the-best-writing-takes-you-places-you-don-t-want-to-go-it-drags-you/) [Penfist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penfist/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a0/penfist-75939_bad-taste_the-best-writing-takes-you-places-you-do_1289272.jpg) > [I'm trying to take more nothing time - and that means sacrificing doing. It's partly to do with age, partly to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-m-trying-to-take-more-nothing-time-and-that-means-sacrificing-doing/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/kate-atkinson-1265_actually_i-m-trying-to-take-more-nothing-time-and_2043683.jpg) > [Writing takes gall. I like to think that's true even for writers with several books under their belt, writers who have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumaan-alam/writing-takes-gall-i-like-to-think-that-s-true-even-for-writers-with/) [Rumaan Alam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumaan-alam/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/rumaan-alam-5326_books_writing-takes-gall-i-like-to-think-that_310709.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-takes/#itemlist", "name": "Writing Takes Quotes", "numberOfItems": 12, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Writing takes a pen, a sheet of paper and, to start with, just the shadow of an idea.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Françoise Sagan" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francoise-sagan/writing-takes-a-pen-a-sheet-of-paper-and-to-start-with-just-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef9/francoise-sagan-3194_writer_writing-takes-a-pen-a-sheet-of-paper-and_853339.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef9/francoise-sagan-3194_writer_writing-takes-a-pen-a-sheet-of-paper-and_853339.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef9/francoise-sagan-3194_writer_writing-takes-a-pen-a-sheet-of-paper-and_853339.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Writing takes a pen, a sheet of paper and, to start with, just the shadow of an idea.” — Françoise Sagan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Like reading, writing takes me to places I would otherwise never be able to go.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bea Cannon" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bea-cannon/like-reading-writing-takes-me-to-places-i-would-otherwise-never-be/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d8/bea-cannon-40065_reading_like-reading-writing-takes-me-to-places_101889.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d8/bea-cannon-40065_reading_like-reading-writing-takes-me-to-places_101889.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d8/bea-cannon-40065_reading_like-reading-writing-takes-me-to-places_101889.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Like reading, writing takes me to places I would otherwise never be able to go.” — Bea Cannon", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A piece of writing takes exactly as long as it needs to be done right.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Norma Fox Mazer" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norma-fox-mazer/a-piece-of-writing-takes-exactly-as-long-as-it-needs-to-be-done-right/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08f/norma-fox-mazer-45575_done_a-piece-of-writing-takes-exactly-as-long_3086916.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08f/norma-fox-mazer-45575_done_a-piece-of-writing-takes-exactly-as-long_3086916.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08f/norma-fox-mazer-45575_done_a-piece-of-writing-takes-exactly-as-long_3086916.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A piece of writing takes exactly as long as it needs to be done right.” — Norma Fox Mazer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You know, I can't imagine 9 to 5 writing. 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Martin" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/a-lot-of-writing-takes-place-in-the-subconscious-and-it-s-bound-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e0/george-r-r-martin-2-926_lot_a-lot-of-writing-takes-place-in-the-subc_3163532.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e0/george-r-r-martin-2-926_lot_a-lot-of-writing-takes-place-in-the-subc_3163532.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e0/george-r-r-martin-2-926_lot_a-lot-of-writing-takes-place-in-the-subc_3163532.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A lot of writing takes place in the subconscious, and it's bound to have an effect.” — George R. R. Martin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Whether it's fiction or nonfiction, writing takes me to another world.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leonard Mlodinow" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/whether-it-s-fiction-or-nonfiction-writing-takes-me-to-another-world/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e54/leonard-mlodinow-7753_another_whether-it-s-fiction-or-nonfiction-writi_480050.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e54/leonard-mlodinow-7753_another_whether-it-s-fiction-or-nonfiction-writi_480050.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e54/leonard-mlodinow-7753_another_whether-it-s-fiction-or-nonfiction-writi_480050.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Whether it's fiction or nonfiction, writing takes me to another world.” — Leonard Mlodinow", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Writing takes too much patience and it takes too much out of you for me to want to attempt it too often.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Vikramaditya Motwane" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikramaditya-motwane/writing-takes-too-much-patience-and-it-takes-too-much-out-of-you-for/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/vikramaditya-motwane-6285_me_writing-takes-too-much-patience-and-it-t_1841347.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/vikramaditya-motwane-6285_me_writing-takes-too-much-patience-and-it-t_1841347.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/vikramaditya-motwane-6285_me_writing-takes-too-much-patience-and-it-t_1841347.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Writing takes too much patience and it takes too much out of you for me to want to attempt it too often.” — Vikramaditya Motwane", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Writing takes place in an open playing field with limitless possibilities, most of them terrible.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Scott Gates" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-gates/writing-takes-place-in-an-open-playing-field-with-limitless/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/305/scott-gates-276708_limitless-possibilit_writing-takes-place-in-an-open-playing-f_3170098.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/305/scott-gates-276708_limitless-possibilit_writing-takes-place-in-an-open-playing-f_3170098.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/305/scott-gates-276708_limitless-possibilit_writing-takes-place-in-an-open-playing-f_3170098.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Writing takes place in an open playing field with limitless possibilities, most of them terrible.” — Scott Gates", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Eventually the writing takes time. What I want to do is get the story down and I want to know what happens as I write my way into the knowledge of the story.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Philip Roth" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/eventually-the-writing-takes-time-what-i-want-to-do-is-get-the-story/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cd/philip-roth-681_my-way_eventually-the-writing-takes-time-what-i_464212.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cd/philip-roth-681_my-way_eventually-the-writing-takes-time-what-i_464212.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cd/philip-roth-681_my-way_eventually-the-writing-takes-time-what-i_464212.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Eventually the writing takes time. What I want to do is get the story down and I want to know what happens…” — Philip Roth", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The best writing takes you places you don't want to go. It drags you by the hair against your will and leaves you drained, shaky, spent. Sometimes with a bad taste in your mouth.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Penfist" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penfist/the-best-writing-takes-you-places-you-don-t-want-to-go-it-drags-you/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a0/penfist-75939_bad-taste_the-best-writing-takes-you-places-you-do_1289272.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a0/penfist-75939_bad-taste_the-best-writing-takes-you-places-you-do_1289272.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a0/penfist-75939_bad-taste_the-best-writing-takes-you-places-you-do_1289272.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The best writing takes you places you don't want to go. It drags you by the hair against your will and…” — Penfist", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm trying to take more nothing time - and that means sacrificing doing. It's partly to do with age, partly to do with the fact that writing takes up a lot of space in your head. My ideal is to go back to when I was a child. My life is quieter than it used to be. More and more I don't really want to talk to people. I'd make a good nun, actually.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kate Atkinson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-m-trying-to-take-more-nothing-time-and-that-means-sacrificing-doing/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/kate-atkinson-1265_actually_i-m-trying-to-take-more-nothing-time-and_2043683.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/kate-atkinson-1265_actually_i-m-trying-to-take-more-nothing-time-and_2043683.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/kate-atkinson-1265_actually_i-m-trying-to-take-more-nothing-time-and_2043683.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm trying to take more nothing time - and that means sacrificing doing. It's partly to do with age, partly…” — Kate Atkinson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Writing takes gall. I like to think that's true even for writers with several books under their belt, writers who have been doing it for years. It takes something - guts, gumption, self-delusion - to ask for a reader's time when we all know there's nothing new under the sun; that it's all been said, or written, before.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rumaan Alam" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumaan-alam/writing-takes-gall-i-like-to-think-that-s-true-even-for-writers-with/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/rumaan-alam-5326_books_writing-takes-gall-i-like-to-think-that_310709.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/rumaan-alam-5326_books_writing-takes-gall-i-like-to-think-that_310709.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/rumaan-alam-5326_books_writing-takes-gall-i-like-to-think-that_310709.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Writing takes gall. I like to think that's true even for writers with several books under their belt…” — Rumaan Alam", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-takes/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-takes/", "name": "Writing Takes Quotes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-takes/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef9/francoise-sagan-3194_writer_writing-takes-a-pen-a-sheet-of-paper-and_853339.png" }, "description": "Browse 12 Writing Takes quotes by 12 authors. 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