Quotes

"You can always edit a bad page. You cannot edit a blank page."

— Jodi Picoult

"A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper."

— E.B. White

"Write every day, line by line, page by page, hour by hour. Do this despite fear. For above all else, beyond imagination and skill, what the world asks of you is courage."

— Richard Bausch

"The first draft of anything is shit."

— Ernest Hemingway

"You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can't edit a blank page."

— Jodi Picoult

"Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you. Figure out what you have to say."

— Barbara Kingsolver

"Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on."

— Louis L'Amour

"If you wait for inspiration to write you're not a writer, you're a waiter."

— Dan Poynter

"You have to write the book that wants to be written."

— Madeleine L'Engle

"Don't get it right, get it written."

— James Thurber

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."

— Anton Chekhov

"The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them."

— Stephen King

"All great novels are really just poetry. Listen to the sounds of your words."

— Ernest Hemingway

"Find out what your hero wants, then just follow him."

— Ray Bradbury

"The road to hell is paved with adverbs."

— Stephen King

"Use the right word, not its second cousin."

— Mark Twain

"Substitute damn every time you are inclined to write very. Your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be."

— Mark Twain

"Never use a long word where a short one will do."

— George Orwell

"If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."

— Elmore Leonard

"Write with your eyes like painters, with your ears like musicians, with your feet like dancers."

— Natalie Goldberg

"When writing a novel a writer should create living people — people, not characters. A character is a caricature."

— Ernest Hemingway

"A character is what he does, yes — but even more, a character is what he does when it costs him something."

— unknown

"The most important thing about a character is their desire. Know what they want in every scene."

— unknown

"Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water."

— Kurt Vonnegut

"You don't write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid's burning chucks, his extra pair of socks. Write about the rest of it too, but write about his socks."

— Tim O'Brien

"Character is revealed under pressure. Put your character under pressure."

— unknown

"Ask not what your character does — ask why."

— unknown

"A villain who is evil for evil's sake is boring. A villain who believes they are the hero is terrifying."

— unknown

"Your protagonist should be a mirror for your theme. What they want and what they need should be in direct conflict."

— unknown

"Give your character a wound they are still bleeding from when the story begins."

— unknown

"Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open."

— Natalie Goldberg

"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you."

— Ray Bradbury

"Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere."

— Anne Lamott

"Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life."

— Anne Lamott

"Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change."

— Brené Brown

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

— Maya Angelou

"You can't think yourself out of a writing block. You have to write yourself out of a thinking block."

— John Rogers

"The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."

— Sylvia Plath

"Write the book you want to read."

— unknown

"Be brave enough to write badly."

— unknown

"Books aren't written, they're rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn't quite done it."

— Michael Crichton

"Murder your darlings."

— Arthur Quiller-Couch

"The first draft reveals the story. The second draft is where you actually write it."

— unknown

"Editing is writing. The first draft is just you telling yourself the story."

— Terry Pratchett

"In writing, you must kill all your darlings."

— William Faulkner

"Writing is rewriting. A writer must learn to deepen characters, trim writing, intensify scenes. To fall in love with the first draft to the point where one cannot change it is to greatly enhance the prospects of never publishing."

— Richard North Patterson

"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon."

— Robert Cormier

"Cut everything that is not the story."

— unknown

"When in doubt, cut it out."

— unknown

"Your job in revision is to make the draft look like you always knew what you were doing."

— unknown

"I write to find out what I think."

— Joan Didion

"A story is a promise. The beginning promises the end."

— unknown

"Plot is character revealed by action under pressure."

— unknown

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."

— Mark Twain

"Write drunk, edit sober."

— attributed to Ernest Hemingway

"Every story has already been told. Once you accept that, you are free to start writing beautifully."

— unknown

"You learn to write by writing, and by reading and thinking about how writers have achieved their effects."

— Doris Lessing

"If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time — or the tools — to write."

— Stephen King

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."

— Mark Twain

"A story needs rhythm. Read it aloud."

— unknown