Writing Quotes · Page 1,165

I consider 'White Collar' my home base. I'm so lucky to get to play a character that's very multifaceted and the writers…

— Matt Bomer

Greg Trooper writes great songs, including one of my very favorite songs in the world, Little Sister. On top of all that,…

— Steve Earle

Today we speak, but first we spoke; faucets leak, but never loke. Today we write, but first we wrote; we bite our…

— Richard Lederer

Writing songs is about trying to connect with people on a deeper spiritual level - but I'm not a fan of contemporary…

— Ryan Tedder

Creation is a knack which is empowered by practice, and like almost any skill, it is lost if you don't practice it.

— Wallace Stegner

A master of tone and texture and an authority on the bizarre, Karen Russell writes with great flair and fearlessness.

— Carlo Wolff

A real writer learns from earlier writers the way a boy learns from an apple orchard -- by stealing what he has…

— Archibald MacLeish

I think ethnic and regional labels are insulting to writers and really put restrictions on them. People don't think your work is…

— James Welch

I think it's a very old and deep-seated double standard that holds that when a man writes about family and feelings, it's…

— Jennifer Weiner

At this point, a lot of people have made their mind up about me one way or another. I'm sure there's a…

— Joan Jett

I still have a struggle reading (dyslexia, fh) and so I don't read much.. ..Probably the only reason I'm painter is because…

— Robert Rauschenberg

I don't ever really think about the genre I'm writing in, I just look at the project that I'm going to be…

— Bear McCreary

I can always tell when I'm about to start writing. I go through cycles in reading. When I'm beginning to start to…

— Patricia MacLachlan

The flaw is the business plan - digging up and burning way more carbon than physics says we can deal with. So,…

— Bill McKibben

I change many things, discard others, and try again and again until I am satisfied; then, in my head, I being to…

— Ludwig van Beethoven

I mean, just like every other prominent songwriter or producer, you have the shot. You send in records and if they make…

— Bryce Wilson

it is all very well for you to write simply and the simpler the better. But do not start to think so…

— Ernest Hemingway

“...writing with ferocity is a gift, provided that ferocity is a monomaniacal devotion to pursuing the truth ...”

— John Geddes

I feel like when I'm writing for other people, when I'm doing rap hooks, it's kinda like playing dress up for me...

— PJ Harvey

I really wanted to write a song like Eric Clapton's 'Wonderful Tonight.' It's just such a sweet sentiment. It's so simple but…

— Andy Grammer

I am a great believer that all the primary research has to be done before principle writing begins. I'm a huge advocate…

— Michael Scott

Any time I sit down and write music, the first part of that is always centering myself and thinking about who I…

— Trent Reznor

Loneliness is just a thing that I'm not personally interested in. So far, it hasn't been on my docket of things to…

— Dave Eggers

Every joke is an experiment. When you sit, alone, and write a script, or just a joke, you really have no idea…

— Judd Apatow

Uncommon things must be said in common words, if you would have them to be received in less than a century.

— Coventry Patmore

I wanted to write about Afghanistan before the Soviet war because that is largely a forgotten period in modern Afghan history.

— Khaled Hosseini

I can't talk about anything or write about anything if I don't understand it. So a lot of the stuff that I…

— Alton Brown

The band projects just took natural priority. I didn't really have a solo career, just wanted to share the music in another…

— Ken Hensley

I feel so fortunate to get paid to be an actor. I pinch myself. I get it from writing, I get it…

— Lauren Bowles

“Why, why in the blue-green world write this sort of thing? Funny written culture, I guess; we pass things on.”

— Annie Dillard

“ A true writer should be able to write about any color. It's the story they tell that should affect people, not…

— Dee Dee M Scott

I don't know if people realize how much I tour and how much time I spend writing, but I really enjoy it.

— Avril Lavigne

I worked probably 25 years by myself, just writing and working, not trying to publish much, not giving readings.

— Mary Oliver

I never set out to write books for children. I don't have a feeling that I'm gonna save children or my life…

— Maurice Sendak

Editors seek out the first novels with the seductiveness of Don Juans; the pleasure of discovery is one of the obvious reasons.

— William Targ

Initially, I wanted to be a writer for other people. 'Hereditary,' I was writing it from a woman's perspective.

— J.I.D

“...what is art to the dilettante but the initiation of the sacred few to the exclusion of the profane crowd?...”

— John Geddes

I think writer's block is simply the dread that you are going to write something horrible. But as a writer, I believe…

— Roy Blount, Jr

If you can get sexual attention and then (or therefore) succeed as a writer - or [fill in career blank] - that…

— Cris Mazza

Well, I think writing is basically about time and rhythm. Like with jazz. You have your basic melody and then you just…

— Kathy Acker