QUOTES ABOUT WRITING

I wanted to amuse myself today, but perhaps I’ll have amused you too. Or given you a reason to keep writing.

1. The road to hell is paved with “Works in Progress.” Philip Roth

2. We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. Ernest Hemingway

3. If it sounds like writing, rewrite it. Elmore Leonard

4. I try to cut out the parts people skip. Elmore Leonard (Read all ten of Leonard’s rules.)

5. Work is writing. Everything else is odd jobs. (Many authors)

6. Writers live twice. (Many authors)

7. A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit. Richard Bach

8. There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit at a typewriter and open a vein. (Various authors, various suggestions)

9. The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and the lighting bug. Mark Twain

10. Substitute “damn” for every ”very” in your work. The editor will delete it and then it will be perfect. Mark Twain

11. Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. E. L. Doctorow

12. I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter. James Mitchener

13. I love writing. I hate the paperwork. Peter De Vries

14. The best time for planning a book is while doing the dishes. Agatha Christie


15. Heinlein’s Five Rules for writing: (Dean Wesley Smith suggests following these.)
Rule #1. You must write.
Rule #2. You must finish what you start.
Rule #3. You must not rewrite, except to editorial order.
Rule #4. You must put on the market what you write.
Rule #5. You must keep it on the market until it sells.

Time for me to follow this good advice and actually write.