--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How do I start writing a book? I sit…" description: "\"How do I start writing a book? I sit there, I come up with an opening line, and then I go little by little. I'll wonder, Well, what's coming? And that ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/852/nick-tosches-17928_book_how-do-i-start-writing-a-book-i-sit-ther_2412455.jpg" --- # How do I start writing a book? I sit there, I come up with… ![“How do I start writing a book? I sit there, I come up with an opening line, and then I go little by little. I'll wonder, Well, what's coming? And that goes right through to the very end. For over a dozen years now, I've had a recurring dream where I'm reading a book and the pages are blank, but as…” quote by Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/852/nick-tosches-17928_book_how-do-i-start-writing-a-book-i-sit-ther_2412455.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/852/nick-tosches-17928_book_how-do-i-start-writing-a-book-i-sit-ther_2412455.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/852/nick-tosches-17928_book_how-do-i-start-writing-a-book-i-sit-ther_2412455.jpg) > “How do I start writing a book? I sit there, I come up with an opening line, and then I go little by little. I'll wonder, Well, what's coming? And that goes right through to the very end. For over a dozen years now, I've had a recurring dream where I'm reading a book and the pages are blank, but as I read, the words come to exist as fast as my eyes can move. Strange, strange thing.” [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing a book begins with a small step, evolving through uncertainty into a complete narrative, driven by persistent imagination. **In simple terms:** Start writing; let the story unfold. Key Takeaway Begin with a line and keep moving forward. Themes creativity process uncertainty imagination discipline Mood motivational hopeful Type inspirational practical When to use this quote - daily writing - draft revisions - author workshops - self‑reflection Key Concepts narrative development habit formation Questions to Reflect On - What small step can you take today? - How do you handle writer’s block? A Different Perspective Fear of blank pages can halt progress; momentum is key. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dream Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream-reading-1371957/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Little by little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-by-little/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading A Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-a-book/) [Start Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/start-writing/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) [Words Come](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-come/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing a book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-a-book/) [Writing Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-book/) ## Related quotes > [If there is still an American dream, reading is one of the bootstraps by which we can all pull ourselves up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/if-there-is-still-an-american-dream-reading-is-one-of-the-bootstraps/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [In these pages your imaginations, your desires, your passions are given life; Thoughts take shape that turn into dreams and our aspirations all start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/in-these-pages-your-imaginations-your-desires-your-passions-are-given/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [“What first occurs to us on remembering the dream/reading the text may be the most important thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-kushner/what-first-occurs-to-us-on-remembering-the-dream-reading-the-text-may/) [Lawrence Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-kushner/) > [“I could do things to your body that most women only dream about while reading their dirty romance novels, and I promise you’d fucking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-a-valentine/i-could-do-things-to-your-body-that-most-women-only-dream-about-while/) [Michelle A. Valentine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-a-valentine/) > [I craft everything in the beginning. I know where the characters are going before I start writing the book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-craft-everything-in-the-beginning-i-know-where-the-characters-are/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [If you really want to know yourself, start by writing a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shereen-el-feki/if-you-really-want-to-know-yourself-start-by-writing-a-book/) [Shereen El Feki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shereen-el-feki/) > [I now can be sure that, once I start writing a book, I'll be able to finish it. I've also become more assured about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-a-jance-2/i-now-can-be-sure-that-once-i-start-writing-a-book-i-ll-be-able-to/) [J. A. Jance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-a-jance-2/) > [We'd decided to write a book about two friends. I gave her some coffee and then we sat there not knowing what to do.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-mcghee/we-d-decided-to-write-a-book-about-two-friends-i-gave-her-some-coffee/) [Alison McGhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-mcghee/) > [Sarah Palin - now don't laugh - is writing a book. Not just reading a book, writing a book. Actually, in the word of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-matthews/sarah-palin-now-don-t-laugh-is-writing-a-book-not-just-reading-a-book/) [Chris Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-matthews/) > [That underscored this idea that when we're reading a book or writing a book, you're in an act of co-creation. The reader and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/that-underscored-this-idea-that-when-we-re-reading-a-book-or-writing/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [You're never gonna outwrite the movement of the white clouds and the blue sky. You're never going to. There are times when I try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/you-re-never-gonna-outwrite-the-movement-of-the-white-clouds-and-the/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [When the words come, they are merely empty shells without the music. They live as they are sung, for the words are the body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hildegard-of-bingen/when-the-words-come-they-are-merely-empty-shells-without-the-music/) [Hildegard of Bingen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hildegard-of-bingen/) > [If no words come, you can always give him the finger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-elkeles/if-no-words-come-you-can-always-give-him-the-finger/) [Simone Elkeles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-elkeles/) > [When ideas fail, words come in very handy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/when-ideas-fail-words-come-in-very-handy/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Most songwriting like poetry takes a careful selection of words. Sometimes you're just channeling something and a selection of words come out that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-joy/most-songwriting-like-poetry-takes-a-careful-selection-of-words/) [Vance Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-joy/) ## More by Nick Tosches > [Mortality applies to every aspect of life. The fear of death is the driving fear of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/mortality-applies-to-every-aspect-of-life-the-fear-of-death-is-the/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [They say nobody has the attention span to read great books early in life. If I start to read something good, I'll look and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/they-say-nobody-has-the-attention-span-to-read-great-books-early-in/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [Steiner has here transformed the vaporous conceptions of his life, the vapors of what never was and never will be, from their aeriform state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/steiner-has-here-transformed-the-vaporous-conceptions-of-his-life-the/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [The older you get, the more you live with ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/the-older-you-get-the-more-you-live-with-ghosts/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [You're never gonna outwrite the movement of the white clouds and the blue sky. You're never going to. There are times when I try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/you-re-never-gonna-outwrite-the-movement-of-the-white-clouds-and-the/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [Johnny Depp is, to me, a rare kindred spirit with like sensibilities, who has escaped the beast. He's probably one of the few people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/johnny-depp-is-to-me-a-rare-kindred-spirit-with-like-sensibilities/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [“I believe in the power of origins, a belief that, as Ecclesiastes put it, 'that wich is done is that wich shall be done:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/i-believe-in-the-power-of-origins-a-belief-that-as-ecclesiastes-put/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [The appeal for drugs has dwindled. Except for actual opium. If I could get real opium, I'd stir it in my hot coffee every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/the-appeal-for-drugs-has-dwindled-except-for-actual-opium-if-i-could/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [My father, God bless him, thought it was such an impossible desire to be able to make a living the way I do. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/my-father-god-bless-him-thought-it-was-such-an-impossible-desire-to/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [The things I wanted to be when I was a kid were an archeologist, because of dinosaur bones; a garbage man, because they got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/the-things-i-wanted-to-be-when-i-was-a-kid-were-an-archeologist/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [As a young man, I felt a need to communicate with somebody or something, but it seemed in my own particular environment that that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/as-a-young-man-i-felt-a-need-to-communicate-with-somebody-or/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [I wanted to just get a job so I could have enough money for my own apartment and be able to get drunk. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/i-wanted-to-just-get-a-job-so-i-could-have-enough-money-for-my-own/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [“And, of course, that is what all of this is - all of this: the one song, ever changing, ever reincarnated, that speaks somehow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/and-of-course-that-is-what-all-of-this-is-all-of-this-the-one-song/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [You got guys that are so old, you see them eating lunch, the drool's just coming from their mouth, and they're sending around memos…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/you-got-guys-that-are-so-old-you-see-them-eating-lunch-the-drool-s/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [I don't have a college degree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/i-don-t-have-a-college-degree/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) [Explore all 36 Nick Tosches quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "How do I start writing a book? 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