Writing Advice Quotes

Browse through our collection of quotes tagged with Writing Advice.

Writing is like a lump of coal. Put it under enough pressure

Writing is like a lump of coal. Put it under enough pressure and polish it enough and you might just end up with a diamond. Otherwise, you can burn it to keep warm.

Funny Writing Advice Inspirational Humour

Writing a book is a blood sport. If it doesn't hurt when you

Writing a book is a blood sport. If it doesn't hurt when you're done, you're probably doing something wrong.

Kevis Hendrickson

Writing Advice Inspirational Writing

...people quote proverbs without realizing they're really in

...people quote proverbs without realizing they're really in awe of the authority of their truth and the power of their expression...

Truth Writing Advice Authority Writers Proverbs

Fiction---good fiction, anyway---is dream made flesh, given

Fiction---good fiction, anyway---is dream made flesh, given purpose and drive, and set on a quest to show us the best in us and to give us the power and the tools to dream beyond reality's 'merely good enough' to a vision of what is truly great......and then to give us the stories of men and women of character who in turn inspire those of us who dare to reach for the truly great within ourselves.THAT is why you write fiction.

Writing Advice Inspirational Fiction Writing

Don't say it was delightful; make us say delightful when we'

Don't say it was delightful; make us say delightful when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers Please will you do the job for me.

Words Writing Advice

You can always edit a bad page. You can't edit a blank page.

You can always edit a bad page. You can't edit a blank page.

Writing Advice Writing Process Writing

The true writer, the born writer, will scribble words on scr

The true writer, the born writer, will scribble words on scraps of litter, the back of a bus tickets, on the wall of a cell.

Writing Advice Inspirational Motivating

Don't let yourself slip and get any perfect characters... ke

Don't let yourself slip and get any perfect characters... keep them people, people, people, and don't let them get to be symbols.

Ernest Hemingway

Sometimes you have to go on when you don't feel like it, and

Sometimes you have to go on when you don't feel like it, and sometimes you're doing good work when if feels like all you're managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position.

Writing Advice Writing

Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting da

Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy. ...this book...is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.

Writing Advice Inspirational Writers On Writing Writing From The Heart Writing Philosophy

It's hard for me to believe that people who read very little

It's hard for me to believe that people who read very little - or not at all in some cases - should presume to write and expect people to like what they have written. Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time - or the tools - to write. Simple as that.

As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand.

As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand.

Ernest Hemingway

Writing Advice Writers

Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.

Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.

Ernest Hemingway

I'm writing. The pages are starting to stack up. My morale i

I'm writing. The pages are starting to stack up. My morale is improving the more I feel like a writer.

Writing Advice Writing Process Writing Writing Craft Writing Life

But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at ex

But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure to go wrong.

Writing Advice Be Terse

All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the tru

All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.

Ernest Hemingway

Truth Writing Advice Writing

Write without pay until somebody offers to pay.

Write without pay until somebody offers to pay.

Writing Advice On Writing

Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal

Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.

Tell your story. Don't try and tell the stories that other p

Tell your story. Don't try and tell the stories that other people can tell. Any starting writer starts out with other people's voices. But as quickly as you can start telling the stories that only you can tell, because there will always be better writers than you and there will always be smarter writers than you, but you are the only you.

Writing Advice Inspirational

Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't

Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what's wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.