Writing Quotations December 10, 2011

Posted by Ronica Stromberg in Uncategorized.
Tags: author, famous, quotations, writing
7 comments

For a long time, I’ve gathered quotations about writing and the writing life and thought I might use these in a presentation or an article about writing. Now I’ve decided to share the quotations here as a Christmas gift from me to you. Perhaps one will inspire you or give you a new insight. If you have a favorite writing quotation I missed, please share it in the comments section.

“Writing is easy. All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” — Gene Fowler

“Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money and fame from this state of being.” — A.A. Milne

“The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business.” — John Steinbeck

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” — Jack London

“A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it.” — Samuel Johnson

“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” — E.L. Doctorow

“How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” — E.M. Forster

“The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other cat’s mat is a story.” — John Le Carré

If you would not be forgotten,

As soon as you are dead and rotten,

Either write things worthy reading,

Or do things worth the writing.

– Benjamin Franklin

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.” — Robert Frost

“All fiction is largely autobiographical and much autobiography is, of course, fiction.” — P.D. James

“Journalism largely consists in saying, ‘Lord Jones is dead’ to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.” — G.K. Chesterton

“There is so much to be said in favor of modern journalism. By giving us the opinions of the uneducated it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community.” — Oscar Wilde

“I’m all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let’s start with typewriters.” — Frank Lloyd Wright

“What I would say to a young person trying to become a writer is ‘Don’t.’ It won’t make any difference because they’ll do it anyway, but they really shouldn’t.” — A.L. Kennedy

“Some writers take to drink, others take to audiences.” — Gore Vidal

“Most editors are failed writers–but so are most writers.” — T.S. Eliot

“Nature fits all her children with something to do, He who would write and can’t write, can surely review.” — James Russell Lowell

“Beyond talent lie all the usual words:  discipline, love, luck–but, most of all, endurance.” — James Baldwin.