HAPPY EASTER!!!! :D
Q is for Quotes about Writing
Quotes are a great way to find
inspiration, wisdom and motivation, so I wanted to share some of my favorite
quotes on writing. I hope they bring you insight as they have brought me insight.
Author quotes:
Author quotes:
"It is impossible to discourage the real writers - they don't give a damn what you say, they're going to write." -Sinclair Lewis
"Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing." -Melinda Haynes
“Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely essential.” -Jessamyn West
"I write for the same reason I breathe -- because if I didn't, I would die." -Isaac Asimov
Image by Chrys Fey.
Quotes from my blog:
"An idea for a story can be anything. The sky is not the limit, the limit is beyond it."
“No one can tell you what you can and cannot put in your book. So be brave and just write!”
“Once you open your eyes to the world, you will find writing possibilities everywhere.”
“A book is a work of fiction. You can make the unimaginable happen and you can let your characters do the unthinkable.”
QUESTION: What are your favorite
writing quotes?
A to Z Blogging Challenge:
The second on from you - I like that one best!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Alex! :D
DeleteLove these! I think quotes are just what a writer needs to get going...and stay focused on what's important.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I always read quotes when I need a boost of encouragement and inspiration. :)
DeleteAll good quotes, I like the first one from your blog that the limit is beyond the sky. I told myself a long time ago that unswerving perseverance is the key to success.
ReplyDeleteThat quote is my all-time favorite from my blog, and it was from one of my first posts too. :)
DeleteI love these quotes especially the one about being brave (your quote). I like this advice "Don't try to write a chapter, just write what you need to say." I'm not sure where i heard that one but it's good if you're feeling overwhelmed. The very idea of writing a 'novel' is kind of intimidating but the thought of just writing anything (an essay or a journal entry) isn't scary at all. :) Thanks Chrys!
ReplyDeleteBeing brave when we write is important.
DeleteI like that quote. We need to focus more on writing what we need to say than trying to reach page, chapter, and word counts.
You're welcome, Lisa! :)
Hello, Chrys
ReplyDeleteI've popped over from A-Z and am so very happy that I did. Your blog joins my small group on "Blogs I Love". All your advice is good. It's hard to keep going sometimes but affirmations like yours keep me going and on track.
Hello, Fe!
DeleteWelcome to my blog! And thank you so much for adding me to your "Blogs I Love" that's a great honor. :)
"Bird by bird" - Anne Lamott. :)
ReplyDeleteOh yes, there are many GREAT quotes in "Bird by Bird". I've shared many of them on my blog. :)
DeleteThese are all good quotes for sundry inspiration and advice. I like the condensed statement of "Just write" because that's what I need to do.
ReplyDeleteLee
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog
You can never go wrong with "Just Write!" :)
DeleteAll my favourite writing quotes are from Stephen King.
ReplyDelete“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”
“You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.”
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.”
“I have spent a good many years since―too many, I think―being ashamed about what I write. I think I was forty before I realized that almost every writer of fiction or poetry who has ever published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her God-given talent. If you write (or paint or dance or sculpt or sing, I suppose), someone will try to make you feel lousy about it, that's all.”
Stephen King does know what he's talking about. ;)
DeleteI didn't know there could be so many quotes about writing! Wow!
ReplyDeletewww.volatilespirits.com
Oh there are countless quotes about writing. :)
DeleteIt's funny. I use quotes a lot in my books, but I really don't have one in particular that speaks to me. I guess they all do.
ReplyDeleteI also use quotes in my books. :)
DeleteEvery day there is fresh inspiration on your blog Chrys! These quotes make me feel like writing right now and that's just what I'm going to do. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI love to hear that, Stephanie! :D You're very welcome!
DeleteI'm not surprised you and I used some of the same words for some of the days. Great inspirational tidbits and I'm very impressed by the ones that are yours.
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike. ;)
DeleteThanks!
I don't have a memory for quotes. It's one reason I backed away from Theater, but I absolutely loved these--especially the one about writing for the love of writing. I think that one's easy to forget, especially after publication when you're thinking "Audience, prose, plot, character..."
ReplyDeleteTrue Heroes from A to Z
It is easy to forget thanks to promoting, marketing, and rushing to get the next book out.
DeleteGreat quotes. I can't remember the exact wording, but one of my favorites is from Stephen King about just putting your butt in the chair and writing, because I always struggle with the procrastination part.
ReplyDeleteHope you’re having fun with the A to Z challenge,
Jocelyn
Procrastination is a real pain in the butt, isn't it? The best thing to do is to put our butts in our chairs and just do it! :)
Delete“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” -Toni Morrison
ReplyDeleteIts so funny that you quoted this one, because I was planning on posting it on my FB page soon. ;)
DeleteHello Chrys, I like the quotes you came up with. I've been doing my own 365 day challenge of sorts by using this book called "A Year of Writing Dangerously: 365 Days of Inspiration & Encouragement" by Barbara Abercrombie. Each day is on a different topic that she writes about and then at the end of each one she has a quote from other people. Here are a couple that I really liked:
ReplyDeleteYou can’t just dance or paint or write or sculpt. Those are just verbs. You need a tangible idea to get you going. The idea, however minuscule, is what turns the verb into a noun. — TWYLA THARP
Tell one story truly and with clarity and you have done all that anyone is required to do. — ELLEN GILCHRIST
I could claim any number of high-flown reasons for writing, just as you can explain certain dog behavior as submission to the alpha or even a moral choice. But maybe it’s that they’re dogs and that’s what dogs do. — AMY HEMPEL
Even talent is rarely distinguishable, over the long run, from perseverance and lots of hard work. — DAVID BAYLES and TED ORLAND, Art & Fear
There’s nothing that sooner reveals a writer’s skill, or lack of it, than his use of the adjective. — JOHN FAIRFAX and JOHN MOAT, The Way to Write
The writer, like the murderer, needs a motive. — JANET MALCOLM
The writer of memoir makes a pact with her reader that what she writes is the truth as best she can tell it. But the original pact, the real deal, is with herself. Be honest, dig deep, or don’t bother. — ABIGAIL THOMAS
The great advantage of being a writer is that you can spy on people. You’re there, listening to every word, but part of you is observing. Everything is useful to a writer, you see — every scrap, even the longest and most boring of luncheon parties. — GRAHAM GREENE
Everything has been said; but not everything has been said superbly, and even if it had been, everything must be said freshly, over and over. — PAUL HORGAN
Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn. — GORE VIDAL
I didn’t start writing until I was forty-seven. I had always wanted to write but thought you needed a degree, or membership in a club nobody had asked me to join…. It was a long time before I realized that you don’t have to start right, you just have to start. — ABIGAIL THOMAS
I could have put several more but thought I better stop. Sorry if I put too many but they were all so hard to choose from which I should put and which I shouldn't. I hope you enjoy these.
I also wanted to thank you for stopping by both my daughter's dedication site (http://mommysangelinheaven.com) and my writer site (http://kristenatunstall.com). I've bookmarked your site and will try to do your 30 day challenge once I get through with my 365 day challenge I've been doing.
You did not add too many quotes. I love quotes and the ones you shared are all very good. I especially like the one by Janet Malcolm and the last one by Abigail Thomas . :)
DeleteYou're welcome, Kristena. I'm making my way down the list of A to Z participants and I really liked your posts. Good luck with your 365 challenge!! :)
Off the top of my head, I'm thinking not so much of a quote about writing, but about a writer's commitment to one's writing. My favorite writer, Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, once said his writing was so important to him that he was prepared to lay down his life for it if need be, either to get it out into the world or to preserve the power and dignity of his themes and ideas. Thankfully, he lived to 89 and didn't have to make the ultimate sacrifice for his words.
ReplyDeleteThat's amazing. Writing is important to me too, but I'm not sure I'd lay down my life for it. Hmm...
DeleteSome great quotes, there. :) And I agree, writing takes a lot of guts!
ReplyDeleteThanks! And yes, writing takes a TON of guts! ;)
DeleteI'm doing author quotes through the challenge-- I could have added some of these :)
ReplyDeleteDamyanti, Co-host A to Z Challenge April 2014, My Latest post
Twitter: @AprilA2Z
#atozchallenge
It's never too late to add them. :)
Delete"The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say. " - Anais Nin - I LOVE this quote.
ReplyDeleteI love that quote, too!
DeleteI love all quotes. I have never thought to use a quote as a writing prompt. Thanks for visiting my blog
ReplyDeleteSo do I, Paula. :)
DeleteLove that Jessamyn West quote! Guts and, like Stephen King said - "Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work." :)
ReplyDeleteMadeline @ The Shellshank Redemption
Minion, Capt. Alex's Ninja Minion Army
The 2014 Blogging from A-Z Challenge
That Stephen King quote is very true!
Delete“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
ReplyDelete― Maya Angelou
Can't you just feel the agony!
I just love Maya Angelou. She's so full of wisdom. And yes, I can feel the agony.
DeleteMy favorite comes from a late-night chat with author friend Lisa Brackmann. I liked what she said so much that it's now the banner on my Facebook page:
ReplyDeleteTake risks. Think deeply. Care about what you write. Have the ego and non-gendered balls to think that your work is important. Write what moves you, what entertains you and sometimes, what pains you. Dig into the places in yourself that hurt the most and see what you find. Sometimes that’s where your book is hiding. ~ Lisa Brackmann
I love it! Especially the non-gendered balls part. :)
DeleteWoah! So many comments! Great quotes. I have had a look at some of the other pages. Belated Happy Birthday, Chrys.
ReplyDeleteThe writerly ones that are in the zeitgeist at the mo are about being brave, which I like. But my fave quotes are whichever ones strike me as inspirational on a given day.
http://ragtaggiggagon.blogspot.ie/2014/04/s-is-for-socks-for-christmas-az.html
Thank you, Scribbler! :D
DeleteMy favorite quotes are about being brave too. :)
I can never get enough quotes, and some of these are new to me. Love the West quote - I'm learning more and more how writing and putting yourself out there really does take a lot of courage.
ReplyDeleteNeither can I! :D
DeleteIt does take courage. More than most people realize.
I can't remember the exactly quote, but I do remember listening to a writer and she said she wrote because she had to, it was a simple as that and I totally agree. I'm not sure I'm as dramtic as Asimov in that I'd die, but I think I'd go a little bonkers :).
ReplyDeleteTasha
Tasha's Thinkings - AtoZ (Vampires)
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I also feel like I have to write. There are too many stories circulating in my brain and it's my passion. I wouldn't give up writing for anything. :)
DeleteLove these quotes, especially the one about where our limits truly are.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Claudine!
DeleteHi admin,
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