Writing Quotes

18562 Writing quotes by 6643 unique authors

The pen is the tongue of the soul; as are the thoughts engendered there, so will be the things written. — Miguel de Cervantes
To a chemist, nothing on earth is unclean. A writer must be as objective as a chemist; he must abandon the subjective line; he must… — Anton Chekhov
In descriptions of Nature one must seize on small details, grouping them so that when the reader closes his eyes he gets a picture. For… — Anton Chekhov
There are three difficulties in authorship;-to write any thing worth the publishing-to find honest men to publish it -and to get sensible men to read… — Charles Caleb Colton
We should have a glorious conflagration, if all who cannot put fire into their works would only consent to put their works into the fire. — Charles Caleb Colton
With books, as with companions, it is of more consequence to know which to avoid, than which to choose, for good books are as scarce… — Charles Caleb Colton
A writer should say to himself, not, How can I get more money?, but How can I reach more readers (without lowering standards)? — Brian Aldiss
When a man publishes a book, there are so many stupid things said that he declares he'll never do it again. The praise is almost… — Sherwood Anderson
No one suggests that writing about science will turn the entire world into a model of judgment and creative thought. It will be enough if… — Isaac Asimov
To most readers the word 'fiction' is an utter fraud. They are entirely convinced that each character has an exact counterpart in real life and… — Louis Auchincloss
Unless a writer is extremely old when he dies, in which case he has probably become a neglected institution, his death must always be seen… — James A. Baldwin
He was such a bad writer, they revoked his poetic license. — Milton Berle
A malefactor who atones for making your writing nonsense by permitting the compositor to make it unintelligible. — Ambrose Bierce
And as to experience-well, think how little some good poets have had, or how much some bad ones have. — Elizabeth Bishop
In science there is a dictum: don't add an experiment to an experiment. Don't make things unnecessarily complicated. In writing fiction, the more fantastic the… — Ben Bova
There is probably no hell for authors in the next world - they suffer so much from critics and publishers in this. — Christian Nestell Bovee
Bring all your intelligence to bear on your beginning. — Elizabeth Bowen
If you believe you can make a living as a writer, you already have enough ego. — David Brin
The writer is important only by dint of the territory he colonizes. — Van Wyck Brooks
Either a writer doesn't want to talk about his work, or he talks about it more than you want. — Anatole Broyard
Style has always been in my mind the author's Self, the creative expression of that Self. — Unknown Author
The reason 99% of all stories written are not bought by editors is very simple. Editors never buy manuscripts that are left on the closet… — John Y. Campbell
Short stories are designed to deliver their impact in as few pages as possible. A tremendous amount is left out, and a good short story… — Orson Scott Card
If you look at anything long enough, say just that wall in front of you - it will come out of that wall. — Anton Chekhov
When men ask me how I know so much about men, they get a simple answer: everything I know about men, I learned from me. — Anton Chekhov

Who Wrote These Writing Quotes

6,643 authors contributed a total of 18,562 Writing Quotes, led by these top contributors: