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Blog • Perfecting your Craft

Posted on Mar 29, 2019

170 Writing Quotes by Famous Authors for Every Occasion

When you're feeling stuck on your novel, an important thing to remember is that we've all been there in the past. That's right — even the J.K Rowling's and Ernest Hemingway's of this world. Which is why it's always a great idea to turn to your most famous peers (and their writing quotes) for inspiration.

Without further ado, here are 170 writing quotes  to guide you through every stage of writing. ( Yes! We've added more since we first published this post! )

The number one piece of advice that most authors have for other authors is to read, read, read. Here’s why.

1. “If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools ) to write. Simple as that.” — Stephen King

2. “You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.” — Annie Proulx

3. “Indeed, learning to write may be part of learning to read. For all I know, writing comes out of a superior devotion to reading.” — Eudora Welty

4. “Read, read, read. Read everything  —  trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.” — William Faulkner

5. “I kept always two books in my pocket: one to read, one to write in.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

6. “The Six Golden Rules of Writing: Read, read, read, and write, write, write.” — Ernest Gaines

7. “The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over half a library to make one book.” — Samuel Johnson

8. “Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.” ― Lisa See

9. “One sure window into a person’s soul is his reading list.” — Mary B. W. Tabor

The well of inspiration, we’re afraid, often does run dry. Here are the writing quotes to replenish it and, hopefully, remind you that there might be a story idea waiting for you just around the corner of life.

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10. "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." — Toni Morrison

11. “Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.” — Orson Scott

12. “Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.” — Stephen King

13. “Most writers regard the truth as their most valuable possession, and therefore are most economical in its use.” — Mark Twain

14. “When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.” — George Orwell

15. “Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open.” — Natalie Goldberg

16. “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” — Madeleine L'Engle

17. “How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” — Henry David Thoreau

18. “Cheat your landlord if you can and must, but do not try to shortchange the Muse. It cannot be done. You can’t fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal.” — William S. Burroughs

19. “Write what should not be forgotten.” — Isabel Allende

20. “The story must strike a nerve in me. My heart should start pounding when I hear the first line in my head. I start trembling at the risk.” — Susan Sontag

21. “Sometimes the ideas just come to me. Other times I have to sweat and almost bleed to make ideas come. It’s a mysterious process, but I hope I never find out exactly how it works. I like a mystery, as you may have noticed.” — J.K. Rowling

22. “As for ‘Write what you know,’ I was regularly told this as a beginner. I think it’s a very good rule and have always obeyed it. I write about imaginary countries, alien societies on other planets, dragons, wizards, the Napa Valley in 22002. I know these things. I know them better than anybody else possibly could, so it’s my duty to testify about them.” — Ursula K. Le Guin

23. “I’m very lucky in that I don’t understand the world yet. If I understood the world, it would be harder for me to write these books.” — Mo Willems

24. “Ideas are cheap. It’s the execution that is all important.” — George R.R. Martin

25. “If you wait for inspiration to write you’re not a writer, you’re a waiter.” — Dan Poynter

Now, finding your "voice" is not as simple as entering a nationally-televised competition on NBC ( nyuk nyuk! ). Yet your voice will define you as a writer, and these famous writers have plenty of tips and writing quotes for you when it comes to finding it.

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26. “To gain your own voice, you have to forget about having it heard.” — Allen Ginsberg

27. “One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” — Jack Kerouac

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

29. “It is only by writing, not dreaming about it, that we develop our own style.” — P.D. James

30. “Voice is not just the result of a single sentence or paragraph or page. It’s not even the sum total of a whole story. It’s all your work laid out across the table like the bones and fossils of an unidentified carcass.” — Chuck Wendig

31. “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.” — Elmore Leonard

32. “Your writing voice is the deepest possible reflection of who you are. The job of your voice is not to seduce or flatter or make well-shaped sentences. In your voice, your readers should be able to hear the contents of your mind, your heart, your soul.” — Meg Rosoff

33. “I don’t want just words. If that’s all you have for me, you’d better go.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

34. “Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.” — Virginia Woolf

35. “Everywhere I go, I’m asked if the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don’t stifle enough of them.” — Flannery O’Connor

36. “There are some books that refuse to be written. They stand their ground year after year and will not be persuaded. It isn’t because the book is not there and worth being written — it is only because the right form of the story does not present itself. There is only one right form for a story and, if you fail to find that form, the story will not tell itself.” — Mark Twain

37. “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” — Louis L’Amour

38. “First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him.” — Ray Bradbury

39. “All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” — Ernest Hemingway

40. “Focus more on your desire than on your doubt, and the dream will take care of itself.” — Mark Twain

41. “Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of job: It’s always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins.” — Neil Gaiman

42. “It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.” — Ernest Hemingway

43. “It doesn’t matter how many book ideas you have if you can’t finish writing your book.” — Joe Bunting

44. “If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” — Margaret Atwood

45. “A blank piece of paper is God's way of telling us how hard it is to be God.” — Sidney Sheldon

46. “I am not at all in a humor for writing; I must write on until I am.” — Jane Austen

47. "Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good." — William Faulkner

48. “One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself that I’m going to do my five or 10 pages no matter what, and that I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I’ll have lost nothing — writing and tearing up five pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off.” — Lawrence Block

49. “Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.” — John Steinbeck

50. “You can fix anything but a blank page.” — Nora Roberts

51. “I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.” — Pearl S. Buck

52. “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed.” — Ernest Hemingway

Don’t get discouraged if you get this far and you’re thinking that your first draft is rather poor. These writing quotes are reminders that it’s just part of the process.

53. “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” — Terry Pratchett

54. “Get through a draft as quickly as possible.” — Joshua Wolf Shenk

55. “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” — Douglas Adams

56. “The first draft of everything is shit.” — Ernest Hemingway

57. “There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.” — Frank Herbert

58. “I would advise any beginning writer to write the first drafts as if no one else will ever read them — without a thought about publication — and only in the last draft to consider how the work will look from the outside.” — Anne Tyler

59. “I just give myself permission to suck. I delete about 90 percent of my first drafts, so it doesn’t really matter much if on a particular day I write beautiful and brilliant prose that will stick in the minds of my readers forever, because there’s a 90 percent chance I’m just going to delete whatever I write anyway. I find this hugely liberating.” — John Green

60. “Be willing to write really badly.” — Jennifer Egan

61. “On first drafts: It is completely raw, the sort of thing I feel free to do with the door shut — it’s the story undressed, standing up in nothing but its socks and undershorts.” — Stephen King

62. “I do not over-intellectualise the production process. I try to keep it simple: Tell the damned story.” — Tom Clancy

63. “Anyone who says writing is easy isn’t doing it right.” — Amy Joy

64. “You fail only if you stop writing.” — Ray Bradbury

65. “If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster.” — Isaac Asimov

66. “Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.” — Ray Bradbury

67. “You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.” ― Octavia E. Butler

68. “I believe myself that a good writer doesn’t really need to be told anything except to keep at it.” — Chinua Achebe

69. “The secret to being a writer is that you have to write. It’s not enough to think about writing or to study literature or plan a future life as an author. You really have to lock yourself away, alone, and get to work.” — Augusten Burroughs

70. “It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer.” — Gerald Brenan

71. “Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but most of all, endurance.” — James Baldwin

72. “You just have to go on when it is worst and most helpless — there is only one thing to do with a novel and that is go straight on through to the end of the damn thing.” — Ernest Hemingway

73. “We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” — Kurt Vonnegut

74. “The nearest I have to a rule is a Post-it on the wall in front of my desk saying ‘Faire et se taire’ from Flaubert. Which I translate for myself as ‘Shut up and get on with it.’” — Helen Simpson

75. “I’ve been writing since I was six. It is a compulsion, so I can’t really say where the desire came from; I’ve always had it. My breakthrough with the first book came through persistence, because a lot of publishers turned it down.” — J.K. Rowling

76. “Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer.” — Ray Bradbury

77. “It is worth mentioning, for future reference, that the creative power which bubbles so pleasantly in beginning a new book quiets down after a time, and one goes on more steadily. Doubts creep in. Then one becomes resigned. Determination not to give in, and the sense of an impending shape keep one at it more than anything.” — Virginia Woolf

78. “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” — Richard Bach

“Write drunk, edit sober” might be one of the most famous writing quotes about editing, but we can’t all outdrink Ernest Hemingway. Which is why these other words of wisdom and writing quotes exist!

79. “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” ― Jodi Picoult

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80. “When your story is ready for a rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.” — Stephen King

81. “The best advice on writing was given to me by my first editor, Michael Korda, of Simon and Schuster, while writing my first book. 'Finish your first draft and then we'll talk,' he said. It took me a long time to realize how good the advice was. Even if you write it wrong, write and finish your first draft. Only then, when you have a flawed whole, do you know what you have to fix.” — Dominick Dunne

82. “Editing might be a bloody trade, but knives aren’t the exclusive property of butchers. Surgeons use them too.” — Blake Morrison

83. “The main thing I try to do is write as clearly as I can. I rewrite a good deal to make it clear.” — E.B. White

84. “You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you, and we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.” — Arthur Plotnik

85. “Half my life is an act of revision.” — John Irving

86. “I'm all for the scissors. I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil.” — Truman Capote

87. “It is perfectly okay to write garbage — as long as you edit brilliantly.” — C. J. Cherryh

88. “I've found the best way to revise your own work is to pretend that somebody else wrote it and then to rip the living shit out of it.” ― Don Roff

89. “Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial 'we'.” — Mark Twain

90. “So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” ― Dr. Seuss

91. “Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.” — Henry David Thoreau

92. “I would write a book, or a short story, at least three times — once to understand it, the second time to improve the prose, and a third to compel it to say what it still must say. Somewhere I put it this way: first drafts are for learning what one's fiction wants him to say. Revision works with that knowledge to enlarge and enhance an idea, to reform it. Revision is one of the exquisite pleasures of writing.” — Bernard Malamud

93. “No author dislikes to be edited as much as he dislikes not to be published.” — Russell Lynes

94. “Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now.” — Annie Dillard

95. “No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else's draft.” — H.G. Wells

96. “A writer is a world trapped in a person.” — Victor Hugo

97. “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” — Thomas Mann

98. “People say, ‘What advice do you have for people who want to be writers?’ I say, they don’t really need advice, they know they want to be writers, and they’re gonna do it. Those people who know that they really want to do this and are cut out for it, they know it.” — R.L. Stine

99. “As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand.” ― Ernest Hemingway

100. “I am irritated by my own writing. I am like a violinist whose ear is true, but whose fingers refuse to reproduce precisely the sound he hears within.” — Gustave Flaubert

101. “Let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences.” — Sylvia Plath

102. “I go out to my little office, where I’ve got a manuscript, and the last page I was happy with is on top. I read that, and it’s like getting on a taxiway. I’m able to go through and revise it and put myself — click — back into that world.” — Stephen King

103. “I think all writing is a disease. You can’t stop it.” — William Carlos Williams

104. “Each writer is born with a repertory company in his head. Shakespeare has perhaps 20 players. I have 10 or so, and that’s a lot. As you get older, you become more skillful at casting them.” — Gore Vidal

105. “For your born writer, nothing is so healing as the realization that he has come upon the right word.” — Catherine Drinker Bowen

106. “The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.” — Thomas Mann

107. “Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers.” — T.S. Eliot

108. “Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing.” — Margaret Chittenden

109. “A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.” — Eugene Ionesco

110. “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” — Benjamin Franklin

111. “A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it.” — Roald Dahl

112. “Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.” — Gloria Steinem

From cavemen to our modern day in the 21st-century, we have written our joys and sorrows throughout history. What compels us to write? Here’s what some of the most beloved writers we know have to say.

113. “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” — Anne Frank

114. “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” — Anais Nin

115. “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ― Maya Angelou

116. “The very reason I write is so that I might not sleepwalk through my entire life.” — Zadie Smith

117. “The good writing of any age has always been the product of someone’s neurosis.” — William Styron

118. “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” — Robin Williams

119. “Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly — they'll go through anything. You read and you're pierced.” — Aldous Huxley

120. “You can make anything by writing.” — C.S. Lewis

121. “Writers live twice.” —  Natalie Goldberg

122. “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” — Winston Churchill

123. “Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it.” — Oscar Wilde

124. “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” — Ray Bradbury

125. “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass .” ― Anton Chekhov

126. “My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying.” — Anton Chekhov

127. “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” — Somerset Maugham

128. “Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.” — Stephen King

129. “Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” — Mark Twain

130. “Find your best time of the day for writing and write. Don’t let anything else interfere. Afterwards it won’t matter to you that the kitchen is a mess.” — Esther Freud

131. “Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. [...] All they do is show you've been to college.” — Kurt Vonnegut

132. “To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.” — Herman Melville

133. “Write drunk, edit sober.” — Ernest Hemingway

134. “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” — Mark Twain

135. “The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it ­honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.” — Neil Gaiman

136. “Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.” — Jane Yolen

137. “Style means the right word. The rest matters little.” — Jules Renard

138. “My aim in constructing sentences is to make the sentence utterly easy to understand, writing what I call transparent prose. I’ve failed dreadfully if you have to read a sentence twice to figure out what I meant.” — Ken Follett

139. “And one of [the things you learn as you get older] is, you really need less… My model for this is late Beethoven. He moves so strangely and quite suddenly sometimes from place to place in his music, in the late quartets. He knows where he’s going and he just doesn’t want to waste all that time getting there… One is aware of this as one gets older. You can’t waste time.” — Ursula K. Le Guin

140. “ Part 1. I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English — it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in . Part 2. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them – then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. Part 3. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.” — Mark Twain

“You miss 100% of the shots that you never take — Wayne Gretsky,” as Michael Scott once said. In tribute to this sentiment, these writing quotes help show why it’s important not to let failure or rejection get you down.

141. “You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.” — John Wooden

142. “Rejection slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil — but there is no way around them.” — Isaac Asimov

143. “Was I bitter? Absolutely. Hurt? You bet your sweet ass I was hurt. Who doesn’t feel a part of their heart break at rejection. You ask yourself every question you can think of, what, why, how come, and then your sadness turns to anger. That’s my favorite part. It drives me, feeds me, and makes one hell of a story.” — Jennifer Salaiz

144. “I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.” — Sylvia Plath

145. “I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent, he would be wise to develop a thick hide.” — Harper Lee

147. “I used to save all my rejection slips because I told myself, one day I’m going to autograph these and auction them. And then I lost the box.” — James Lee Burke

148. “This manuscript of yours that has just come back from another editor is a precious package. Don’t consider it rejected. Consider that you’ve addressed it ‘to the editor who can appreciate my work’ and it has simply come back stamped ‘Not at this address’. Just keep looking for the right address.” — Barbara Kingsolver

149. “To ward off a feeling of failure, she joked that she could wallpaper her bathroom with rejection slips, which she chose not to see as messages to stop, but rather as tickets to the game.” — Anita Shreve

150. “Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.” — Neil Gaiman

151. “The artist doesn’t have time to listen to the critics. The ones who want to be writers read the reviews, the ones who want to write don’t have the time to read reviews.” — William Faulkner

152. “I think that you have to believe in your destiny; that you will succeed, you will meet a lot of rejection and it is not always a straight path, there will be detours — so enjoy the view.” — Michael York

153. “I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged.” — Erica Jong

154. “I tell writers to keep reading, reading, reading. Read widely and deeply. And I tell them not to give up even after getting rejection letters. And only write what you love.” — Anita Diamant

155. “I could write an entertaining novel about rejection slips, but I fear it would be overly long.” — Louise Brown

156. “I had immediate success in the sense that I sold something right off the bat. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake and it really wasn’t. I have drawers full of — or I did have — drawers full of rejection slips.” — Fred Saberhagen

157. “An absolutely necessary part of a writer’s equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment the world hands out and the punishment he inflicts upon himself.” — Irwin Shaw

158. “Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.” — C. S. Lewis

Why does writing matter? If there’s anyone who might know the answer, it’s the people who write — and continue to write, despite adverse circumstances. Here are a few pennies for their thoughts.

159. “Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.” — Virginia Woolf

160. “If the book is true, it will find an audience that is meant to read it.” — Wally Lamb

161. “A word after a word after a word is power.” — Margaret Atwood

162. “If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.” — Martin Luther

163. “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” — Albert Camus

164. “Good fiction’s job is to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” — David Foster Wallace

165. “After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” — Philip Pullman

166. “All stories have to at least try to explain some small portion of the meaning of life.” — Gene Weingarten

167. “If a nation loses its storytellers, it loses its childhood.” — Peter Handke

168. “The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.” — Tom Clancy

169. “If I had to give young writers advice, I would say don’t listen to writers talking about writing or themselves.” — Lillian Hellman

170. “Don’t take anyone’s writing advice too seriously.” — Lev Grossman

Of course, writing quotes by themselves won't write the book for you — you alone have that power. However, we hope that this post has helped inspire you in some way! If you're looking for more in-depth resources, you can check out these guides:

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Have a favorite quote that we missed? If you know of more cool quotes by writers, write them in the comments!

2 responses

Brian Welte says:

08/05/2019 – 12:28

Here's a quote I absolutely adore: "The author, in his work, must be like God in the Universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere" [Quote from Gustave Flaubert]

Comments are currently closed.

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Inspirational Quotes from Writers  

Trying to get psyched up to sit down and write? It can be reassuring to hear the words of literary greats celebrating a few of the very best parts of being a writer. 

1. “And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” — Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

2. “Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly—they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.” — Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

3. “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.” — Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

4. “What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you.” — Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing

5. “Stories aren't made of language: they're made of something else... perhaps they're made of life.” — Philip Pullman, Daemon Voices: On Stories and Storytelling

6. “There is no greater power on this earth than story.” — Libba Bray, The Diviners

7. “You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows that they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.” — Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

8. “We turn to stories and pictures and music because they show us who and what and why we are, and what our relationship is to life and death, what is essential, and what, despite the arbitrariness of falling beams, will not burn.” — Madeleine L’Engle, A Circle of Quiet

9. “Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here.” — Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

10. “Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” — Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

11. “First, you write for yourself... always, to make sense of experience and the world around you. It’s one of the ways I stay sane. Our stories, our books, our films are how we cope with the random trauma-inducing chaos of life as it plays.” — Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run

Encouraging Quotes for Writers  

Some of the most famous quotes from writers are about how ridiculously hard writing can be—and why you should rise to the challenge and do it anyway. 

12. “The scariest moment is always just before you start.” — Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

13. “And what, you ask, does writing teach us? First and foremost, it reminds us that we are alive and that it is a gift and a privilege, not a right.” — Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

14. “If you are not afraid of the voices inside you, you will not fear the critics outside you.” — Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones

15. “The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.” — Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

16. “The mind has plenty of ways of preventing you from writing, and paralysing self-consciousness is a good one. The only thing to do is ignore it, and remember what Vincent van Gogh said in one of his letters about the painter's fear of the blank canvas—the canvas, he said, is far more afraid of the painter.” — Philip Pullman, Daemon Voices: On Stories and Storytelling

17. “There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” — Sol Stein, Stein on Writing: A Master Editor Shares His Craft, Techniques, and Strategies

18. “Because this business of becoming conscious, of being a writer, is ultimately about asking yourself, How alive am I willing to be?” — Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing

19. “Writing is supposed to be difficult, agonizing, a dreadful exercise, a terrible occupation.” — Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

Quotes About the Writing Process

From writers who know the drill, these quotes offer valuable insights and practical advice on the craft of writing, and the discipline and rigor it requires. 

20. “Examine every word you put on paper. You'll find a surprising number that don't serve any purpose.” — William Zinsser, On Writing Well: The Audio Collection

21. “Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.” — William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style

22. “The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself. I suppose that it begins or does not begin in the cradle.” — Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem

23. “People who think that grammar is just a collection of rules and restrictions are wrong. If you get to like it, grammar reveals the hidden meaning of history, hides disorder and abandonment, links things and brings opposites together. Grammar is a wonderful way of organising the world how you'd like it to be.” — Delphine de Vigan, No and Me

24. “Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts.” — Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

25. “Whenever I'm asked what advice I have for young writers, I always say that the first thing is to read, and to read a lot. The second thing is to write. And the third thing, which I think is absolutely vital, is to tell stories and listen closely to the stories you're being told.” — John Green, An Abundance of Katherines

26. “A great novel, rather than discouraging me, simply makes me want to write.” — Madeleine L’Engle, A

27. “I read and feel that same compulsion; the desire to possess what he has written, which can only be subdued by writing something myself.” — Patti Smith, M Train

28. “Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.” — Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

29. “If you read good books, when you write, good books will come out of you.” — Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones

30. “The only way to learn to write is to force yourself to produce a certain number of words on a regular basis.” — William Zinsser, On Writing Well: The Audio Collection

31. “Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.” — Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon

32. “One writes out of one thing only—one's own experience. Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this experience the last drop, sweet or bitter, it can possibly give. This is the only real concern of the artist, to recreate out of the disorder of life that order which is art.” — James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son

33. “We cannot choose where to start and stop. Our stories are the tellers of us.” — Chris Cleave, Little Bee

34. “A man who tells secrets or stories must think of who is hearing or reading, for a story has as many versions as it has readers. Everyone takes what he wants or can from it and thus changes it to his measure. Some pick out parts and reject the rest, some strain the story through their mesh of prejudice, some paint it with their own delight. A story must have some points of contact with the reader to make him feel at home in it. Only then can he accept wonders.” — John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent

Funny Quotes About Writing

Sometimes, when you’re in the thick of a third, fourth, or fifth edit and ready to throw in the towel, what you need most is a good laugh, courtesy of someone who understands your plight. 

35. “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” — Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

36. “Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons… All they do is show you've been to college.” — Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

37. “Tellers of stories with ink on paper, not that they matter anymore, have been either swoopers or bashers. Swoopers write a story quickly, higgledy-piggledy, crinkum-crankum, any which way. Then they go over it again painstakingly, fixing everything that is just plain awful or doesn't work. Bashers go one sentence at a time, getting it exactly right just before they go on to the next one. When they're done, they're done." — Kurt Vonnegut, Timequake

38. “I’m sure I could write endlessly about nothing. If only I had nothing to say.” — Patti Smith, M Train

39. “You want to tell a story? Grow a heart. Grow two. Now, with the second heart, smash the first one into bits. Gross, right? A bloody pulpy liquid mess. Look at it, try to make sense of it. Realize you can't. Because there is no sense.” — Charles Yu, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

40. “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” — Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Quotes About Writers

Many artists draw much of their inspiration from introspection, and writers are no different. These quotes feature sayings about writers from the ultimate authority: writers themselves.  

41. “If you want life-long friendship and selfless camaraderie, join the army and learn to kill. If you want a lifetime of temporary alliances with peers who will glory in your every failure, write novels.” — Robert Galbraith, The Silkworm

42. “Writers aren’t people exactly. Or, if they’re any good, they’re a whole lot of people trying so hard to be one person.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Love of the Last Tycoon

43. “A storyteller makes up things to help other people; a liar makes up things to help himself.” — Daniel Wallace, The Kings and Queens of Roam

44. “The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.” — Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings

45. “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.” — E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web

46. “A writer’s life and work are not a gift to mankind; they are its necessity.” — Toni Morrison, The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations

47. “We never sit anything out. We are cups, quietly and constantly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” — Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

Becoming a writer is especially difficult if you don’t know where to start. To help, we’ve rounded up advice from several authors on starting out as a writer. Take a look at our infographic below to learn what these wordsmiths think you should do to kick off your writing career.

Click to view a full sized writing quotes graphic .

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75 Inspiring Writing Quotes From The World’s Best & Greatest Writers

• March 7, 2022

Whether you are a beginner writer or have been working on your craft for years already, reading some words of inspiration and wisdom is always helpful. Writing can be both incredibly satisfying and, at the same time, frustrating when you experience writer’s block. However, if you love to write, you know that creative blocks are simply a part of the process. If you are a professional writer, you know how heavy the process can be, but the satisfaction of getting your thoughts and ideas on the page with clarity and impact is such a joy.

In this article, we have included some inspiring, motivating, thoughtful, and creative ideas to overcome that writers block and get your creative juices flowing, from some of the world’s most renowned novelists such as Stephen King and Haruki Murakami to classic writers such as Mark Twain and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Below we have included writing quotes for inspiration and motivation, quotes for students and beginner writers, quotes about bad writing, and quotes about nonfiction writing. So, no matter your niche, you will find something below to get your mind working and your heart ready for the page.

Quotes About Writing

“You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

“Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of job: It’s always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins.” – Neil Gaiman

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” – Somerset Maugham

“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. So medicine, law, business, engineering… these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love… these are what we stay alive for.” – Walt Whitman

Writing and Reading Quotes

“Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.” – Annie Proulx

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time to write. Simple as that.” – Stephen King

“For all I know, writing comes out of a superior devotion to reading.” – Eudora Welty

“The Six Golden Rules of Writing: Read, read, read, and write, write, write.” – Ernest Gaines

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” – Stephen King

Writing Quotes for Students

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” – Henry David Thoreau

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

“It is only by writing, not dreaming about it, that we develop our own style.” – P.D. James

“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative .” – Elmore Leonard

“I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.” – Harper Lee

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” – Terry Pratchett

“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.” – Frank Herbert

“I just give myself permission to suck. I delete about 90 percent of my first drafts, so it doesn’t really matter much if on a particular day I write beautiful and brilliant prose that will stick in the minds of my readers forever because there’s a 90 percent chance I’m just going to delete whatever I write anyway. I find this hugely liberating.” – John Green

 “I would advise any beginning writer to write the first drafts as if no one else will ever read them — without a thought about publication — and only in the last draft to consider how the work will look from the outside.” – Anne Tyler

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” – Mark Twain

“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually, you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.” – Octavia E. Butler

“ Start writing, no matter what . The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” – Louis L’Amour

“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” – Franz Kafka

“Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.” – Ray Bradbury

“ Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.” – Jane Yolen

Writing Motivation Quotes

 “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison

 “Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.” – Stephen King

“Most writers regard the truth as their most valuable possession, and therefore are most economical in its use.” – Mark Twain

“When I start to write, I don’t have any plan at all. I just wait for the story to come. I don’t choose what kind of story it is or what’s going to happen.” – Haruki Murakami

“I believe myself that a good writer doesn’t really need to be told anything except to keep at it.” – Chinua Achebe

“When I sit down to write a book , I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.” – George Orwell

“Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open.” – Natalie Goldberg

“The story must strike a nerve in me. My heart should start pounding when I hear the first line in my head. I start trembling at the risk.” – Susan Sontag

“If you wait for inspiration to write, you’re not a writer, you’re a waiter.” – Dan Poynter

“Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but most of all, endurance.” – James Baldwin

 “You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page.” – Annie Proulx

“All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. . . . For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. . . . But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you.” – Ira Glass

“[Be] willing to write really badly.” – Jennifer Egan

“Go inside where silence is. Stay there. Let words bubble up.” – Maxime Lagacé

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” – Jack Kerouac

“My short stories are like soft shadows I have set out in the world, faint footprints I have left. I remember exactly where I set down each and every one of them and how I felt when I did. Short stories are like guideposts to my heart.” – Haruki Murakami

“Find your best time of the day for writing. Don’t let anything else interfere. Afterward, it won’t matter to you that the kitchen is a mess.” – Esther Freud

“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

“Write while the heat is in you… The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with.” – Henry David Thoreau

“A writer has the duty to be good, not lousy; true, not false; lively, not dull; accurate, not full of error. He should tend to lift people up, not lower them down. Writers do not merely reflect and interpret life, they inform and shape life.” – E.B. White

“A short story I have written long ago would barge into my house in the middle of the night, shake me awake and shout, ‘Hey, this is no time for sleeping! You can’t forget me, and there’s still more to write!’ Impelled by that voice, I would find myself writing a novel. In this sense, too, my short stories and novels connect inside me in a very natural, organic way.” – Haruki Murakami

“You have to dream intentionally. Most people dream a dream when they are asleep. But to be a writer, you have to dream while you are awake, intentionally.” – Haruki Murakami

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” – Maya Angelou

“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.” – Orson Scott Card

“I am irritated by my own writing. I am like a violinist whose ear is true, but whose fingers refuse to reproduce precisely the sound he hears within.” – Gustave Flaubert

“I hate writing, I love having written.” – Dorothy Parker

“You can only write regularly if you’re willing to write badly… Accept bad writing as a way of priming the pump, a warm-up exercise that allows you to write well.” – Jennifer Egan

“I’ve always said, ‘I have nothing to say, only to add.’ And it’s with each addition that the writing gets done. The first draft of anything is really just a track.” – Gore Vidal

“I know how fiction matters to me because if I want to express myself, I have to make up a story. Some people call it imagination. To me, it’s not imagination. It’s just a way of watching.” – Haruki Murakami

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” – Stephen King

“Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and the only thing you have to offer.” – Barbara Kingsolver

“Nonfiction speaks to the head. Fiction speaks to the heart. Poetry speaks to the soul. It’s the essence of beauty. The essence of pain. It pleases the eye and the ear.” – Ellen Hopkins

“Every writer I know has trouble writing.” – Joseph Heller

“Write at a pace that doesn’t surpass your creative flow. Don’t be hasty; don’t be sloppy. Don’t forfeit impressive writing for an impressive word count. Because eventually it will all have to be edited, and you’ll find that it is harder to make bad writing good than to make good writing better.” – Richelle E. Goodrich

“Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.” – Kurt Vonnegut

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” – Anais Nin

Quotes About Bad Writing

“Bad writing usually arises from a stubborn refusal to tell stories about what people actually do― to face the fact, let us say, that murderers sometimes help old ladies cross the street.” – Stephen King

“True mysticism should not be confused with incompetence in writing which seeks to mystify where there is no mystery but is really only the necessity to fake to cover lack of knowledge or the inability to state clearly. Mysticism implies a mystery, and there are many mysteries, but incompetence is not one of them, nor is overwritten journalism made literature by the injection of a false epic quality. Remember this too: all bad writers are in love with the epic.” – Ernest Hemingway

“A person who wrote badly did better than a person who does not write at all. A bad writing can be corrected. An empty page remains an empty page.” – Israelmore Ayivor

“If you open a book and find that the writer is trying to impress you with his knowledge of long, unusual words or by his use of foreign phrases, close the book quickly with no sense of loss or of deficiency or of having missed anything; for the author has not learned how to write and perhaps never will, and there is no need for you to offer yourself as a sounding board for his incompetence.” – Burton Rascoe

Quotes About Nonfiction Writing

“Nonfiction means that our stories are as true and accurate as possible. Readers expect – demand – diligence.” – Lee Gutkind

“I think the goal with any writing, but especially narrative nonfiction is to put the blockade of putting your thoughts in this unnatural medium of print and then to try to reach through that and actually convey what’s going on, what you think, and make people laugh and recognize themselves while doing it. Definitely the laughing thing.” – Sloane Crosley

“The challenge for a nonfiction writer is to achieve a poetic precision using the documents of truth but somehow to make people and places spring to life as if the reader was in their presence.” – Simon Schama

“Truth is stranger than nonfiction. And life is too interesting to be left to journalists. People have stories, but journalists have ‘takes,’ and it’s their takes that usually win out when the stories are too complicated or, as happens, not complicated enough.” – Walter Kirn

“I wanted to write about looking at the world, so it’s more about helping people, or persuading people, to see what is around us; both the marvelous and the terrible.” – John Berger

Quotes About Writer’s Block

“Writer’s block is a misnomer and can be compared with turning off a faucet. Like the ability to write, faucets can develop problems when they’re seldom used. You get all this rust in the pipes. When you turn on the faucet, a lot of rust comes out.” – Susan Neville

“Don’t stop because you’ve hit a block. Finish the page, even if you write nothing but your own name. The block will break if you don’t give in to it. Remember, writing is a physical habit as well as whatever you want to think it is—calling, avocation, talent, genius, art.” – Isabelle Holland

“Writer’s block is the biggest myth out there. The idea that you’re just lost for any possible words isn’t some vague illness that strikes people when they’re trying to be creative. You’re not missing the words; you’re missing the research. All ideas are a combination of preexisting ideas. So if you’re “out” of new ideas it’s probably because you don’t have enough old ideas to combine. Go back and read more. Or spend more time mapping out the book. Don’t show up to the keyboard without a plan, and then tell the world you have writer’s block. You’re lying to us, and to yourself.” – David Burkus

“When I have writer’s block, it is because I have not done enough research or I have not thought hard enough about the subject about which I’m writing. That’s a signal for me to go back to the archives or to go back into my thoughts and think through what it is I am supposed to be doing.” – Annette Gordon-Reed

“Do you ever go into the bathroom and sit on the toilet when you don’t need to take a shit? Do you ever just sit there completely empty and sit there and push? No, you don’t. You go eat something, and then you live your life and what happens, happens. It’s the same thing with writing. If I don’t have an idea that I’m not absolutely terrified of losing, then I don’t bother to write.” – Chuck Palahniuk

“You can’t think yourself out of a writing block; you have to write yourself out of a thinking block.” – John Rogers

Hopefully, the long list of writing quotes above will help you take a step back and approach the page with a fresh perspective. Feel free to revisit the page and find a new quote to inspire you if you are ever stuck. On a final note, keep writing. Some days you will flow like a waterfall, and some days, you will not. Still, do not let the ebb and flow of creativity discourage you from pursuing your craft.

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115 Inspirational Writing Quotes by Famous Authors

Writing can change lives. Many authors have found peace in writing and have been quoted conveying the magic they have found in writing. We wanted to share some of the most famous writing quotes with you. Thank you to Goodreads for the quotes.

“I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.” ― James Michener

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” ― Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

“let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences” ― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” ― Kurt Vonnegut, If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young

“I haven’t any right to criticize books, and I don’t do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticize Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can’t conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Every time I read Pride and Prejudice I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.” ― Mark Twain

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” ― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

“The true alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words.” ― William H. Gass, A Temple of Texts

“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” ― Winston S. Churchill

“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.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

“Make up a story… For our sake and yours forget your name in the street; tell us what the world has been to you in the dark places and in the light. Don’t tell us what to believe, what to fear. Show us belief’s wide skirt and the stitch that unravels fear’s caul.” ― Toni Morrison, The Nobel Lecture In Literature, 1993

“A well-composed book is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter in any other way.” ― Caroline Gordon

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” ― Stephen King

“Tears are words that need to be written.” ― Paulo Coelho

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

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” ― John Steinbeck

“Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” ― Ernest Hemingway

“A word after a word after a word is power.” ― Margaret Atwood

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” ― Stephen King

“Fiction is the truth inside the lie.” ― Stephen King

“”Tomorrow may be hell, but today was a good writing day , and on the good writing days nothing else matters.”” ― Neil Gaiman

“A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.” ― G.K. Chesterton, Heretics

“You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.” ― Saul Bellow

“I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I’m afraid of. ” ― Joss Whedon

“The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” ― Albert Camus

“So what? All writers are lunatics!” ― Cornelia Funke, Inkspell

“Stories may well be lies, but they are good lies that say true things, and which can sometimes pay the rent.” ― Neil Gaiman

“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” ― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

“Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly — they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.” ― Frank Herbert

“I write differently from what I speak, I speak differently from what I think, I think differently from the way I ought to think, and so it all proceeds into deepest darkness.” ― Franz Kafka

“The role of a writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say.” ― Anais Nin

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

“A short story is a different thing altogether – a short story is like a quick kiss in the dark from a stranger.” ― Stephen King, Skeleton Crew

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” ― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

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

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” ― Louis L’Amour

“A short story is a love affair, a novel is a marriage. A short story is a photograph; a novel is a film.” ― Lorrie Moore

“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” ― Anne Frank

“If you can’t annoy somebody, there is little point in writing.” ― Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim

“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it.Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.” ― William Faulkner

“Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.” ― Lloyd Alexander

“If you want to really hurt you parents, and you don’t have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possible can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.” ― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

“Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” ― Anais Nin

“you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

“One always has a better book in one’s mind than one can manage to get onto paper.” ― Michael Cunningham

“Everybody does have a book in them, but in most cases that’s where it should stay.” ― Christopher Hitchens

“I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which ‘Escape’ is now so often used. Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

“Which of us has not felt that the character we are reading in the printed page is more real than the person standing beside us?” ― Cornelia Funke

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” ― Henry David Thoreau

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” ― Toni Morrison

“Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish.” ― Hermann Hesse

“This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until its done. It’s that easy, and that hard.” ― Neil Gaiman

“You know, it’s hard work to write a book. I can’t tell you how many times I really get going on an idea, then my quill breaks. Or I spill ink all over my writing tunic.” ― Ellen DeGeneres, The Funny Thing Is…

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” ― Pablo Picasso

“”You must write every single day of your life… You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads… may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.” ― Ray Bradbury

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” ― Mark Twain, The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain

“We live and breathe words. …. It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone. They could be honest with me, and I with them. Reading your words, what you wrote, how you were lonely sometimes and afraid, but always brave; the way you saw the world, its colors and textures and sounds, I felt–I felt the way you thought, hoped, felt, dreamt. I felt I was dreaming and thinking and feeling with you. I dreamed what you dreamed, wanted what you wanted–and then I realized that truly I just wanted you.” ― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince

“Always be a poet, even in prose.” ― Charles Baudelaire

“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” ― Madeleine L’Engle

“Imagination is like a muscle. I found out that the more I wrote, the bigger it got.” ― Philip José Farmer

“A little talent is a good thing to have if you want to be a writer. But the only real requirement is the ability to remember every scar.” ― Stephen King

“There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.” ― Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

“Write what should not be forgotten.” ― Isabel Allende

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.” ― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

“Cut out all these exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald

“Write what you know. That should leave you with a lot of free time.” ― Howard Nemerov

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” ― Philip Pullman

“Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.” ― Harvey Pekar

“This is what love does: It makes you want to rewrite the world. It makes you want to choose the characters, build the scenery, guide the plot. The person you love sits across from you, and you want to do everything in your power to make it possible, endlessly possible. And when it’s just the two of you, alone in a room, you can pretend that this is how it is, this is how it will be.” ― David Levithan, Every Day

“The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

“The first draft of anything is shit.” ― Ernest Hemingway

“If you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. I wish you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories — science fiction or otherwise. Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.” ― Ray Bradbury

“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.” ― Beatrix Potter

“Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.” ― Stephen King

“The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them — words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you’ve said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That’s the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear.” ― Stephen King

“Fiction is art and art is the triumph over chaos… to celebrate a world that lies spread out around us like a bewildering and stupendous dream.” ― John Cheever

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” ― Anton Chekhov

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” ― Ernest Hemingway

“You can make anything by writing.” ― C.S. Lewis

“Writing is like sex. First you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money.” ― Virginia Woolf

“A woman knows very well that, though a wit sends her his poems, praises her judgment, solicits her criticism, and drinks her tea, this by no means signifies that he respects her opinions, admires her understanding, or will refuse, though the rapier is denied him, to run through the body with his pen.” ― Virginia Woolf, Orlando

“”You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page . Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.” ― Annie Proulx

“When you make music or write or create, it’s really your job to have mind-blowing, irresponsible, condomless sex with whatever idea it is you’re writing about at the time. ” ― Lady Gaga

“By now, it is probably very late at night, and you have stayed up to read this book when you should have gone to sleep. If this is the case, then I commend you for falling into my trap. It is a writer’s greatest pleasure to hear that someone was kept up until the unholy hours of the morning reading one of his books. It goes back to authors being terrible people who delight in the suffering of others. Plus, we get a kickback from the caffeine industry…” ― Brandon Sanderson, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

“If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write, because our culture has no use for it.” ― Anais Nin

“People love a happy ending. So every episode, I will explain once again that I don’t like people. And then Mal will shoot someone. Someone we like. And their puppy.” ― Joss Whedon

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” ― William Wordsworth

“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” ― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.” ― George Orwell

“Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.” ― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

“”There are three rules for writing a novel . Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” ― W. Somerset Maugham

“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” ― Mark Twain

“If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.” ― Isaac Asimov

“Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.” ― E.L. Doctorow

“That’s what fiction is for. It’s for getting at the truth when the truth isn’t sufficient for the truth.” ― Tim O’Brien

“A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” ― Thomas Mann, Essays of Three Decades

“Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it’s always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins.” ― Neil Gaiman

“Write the kind of story you would like to read. People will give you all sorts of advice about writing, but if you are not writing something you like, no one else will like it either.” ― Meg Cabot

“Everywhere I go I’m asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don’t stifle enough of them. There’s many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.” ― Flannery O’Connor

“A book is made from a tree. It is an assemblage of flat, flexible parts (still called “leaves”) imprinted with dark pigmented squiggles. One glance at it and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, the author is speaking, clearly and silently, inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time proof that humans can work magic.” ― Carl Sagan

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” ― Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

“You don’t write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid’s burnt socks lying in the road.” ― Richard Price

“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” ― Franz Kafka

“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” ― Nathaniel Hawthorne

“You always get more respect when you don’t have a happy ending.” ― Julia Quinn

“A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

“Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depth of your heart; confess to yourself you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke

“I was a late bloomer. But anyone who blooms at all, ever, is very lucky. ” ― Sharon Olds

“Women want love to be a novel. Men, a short story.” ― Daphne du Maurier

“I hate writing, I love having written.” ― Dorothy Parker

Miscellaneous Writing Quotes

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Inspirational Writing Quotes From Famous Authors

Ever been told your writing belongs in the toilet? 

As a 19-year-old sportswriter for a daily newspaper, I wanted more than anything to place an article in the Features section. I submitted one, complete with photos, to the editor. 

He responded quickly in red at the top of the first page: “Great pictures. Bad story.”

Crushed, I mustered the courage to approach his desk. 

“Sir, could you tell me what’s wrong with this so I can fix it?”

“Sure, Jenkins,” he said. “It’s sh–.”

If you’ve ever taken a hit like that, you know what comes to mind: 

• I’m not cut out for this.
• It’s too hard.
• I should quit.

I staggered back to my desk where my boss—the sports editor—offered powerful advice . 

“Did you have any misgivings about it?”

I suggested several things I could’ve done differently. 

“There you go. Anything you should have done is what you ought to do.”

The next day, I submitted the rewritten piece, and the editor immediately accepted it. 

I’m sure glad I didn’t quit. That’s never the answer . 

My mistake? Turning in writing I should have known was less than my best—which I vowed never to do again. 

We writers all face roadblocks , but sound advice can help us smash through them. 

I’ve compiled inspirational writing quotes from some of the world’s most successful authors —the kind we all need at times. 

• Quotes On Writing 
• If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write. — Martin Luther
• It takes a heap of sense to write good nonsense. — Mark Twain
• We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit. — Aristotle
• By God’s design, I believe our hearts and minds are shaped by story. It’s how we learn. It’s how we make sense of the world. ― Liz Curtis Higgs
• We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. — Ernest Hemingway
• I do not write with ease, nor am I ever pleased with anything I write. And so I rewrite.   — Margaret Mitchell
• There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed. — Ernest Hemingway 
• We do not need magic to change the world; we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already. We have the power to imagine better. ― J.K. Rowling

• You can make anything by writing. ― C.S. Lewis
• Play around. Dive into absurdity and write. Take chances. You will succeed if you are fearless of failure. ― Natalie Goldberg
• Exercise the writing muscle every day , even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up. ― Jane Yolen
• You don’t write because you want to say something; you write because you have something to say. ― F. Scott Fitzgerald
• I’m a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world. ― Mother Teresa
• Words are a lens to focus one’s mind. — Ayn Rand
• Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good. — William Faulkner
• The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense. — Tom Clancy

• I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn. ― Anne Frank
• If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that. ― Stephen King
• Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on. — Louis L’Amour
• A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit. — Richard Bach 
• If you have other things in your life—family, friends, good productive day work—these can interact with your writing and the sum will be all the richer. — David Brin
• I am not at all in a humor for writing; I must write on until I am. — Jane Austen
• When I sit down to write, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing. — George Orwell
• Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. — William Wordsworth
• Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. — Natalie Goldberg 

• The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do. — Thomas Jefferson
• No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader. — Robert Frost
• People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story. But it isn’t like that. You work, and that’s all there is to it. — Harlan Ellison
• All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.  — Ernest Hemingway
• I would advise any beginning writer to write the first drafts as if no one else will ever read them — without a thought about publication — and only in the last draft to consider how the work will look from the outside. — Anne Tyler
• Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
• Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. — E. L. Doctorow
• I write to discover what I know. — Flannery O’Conner 

• A writer has the duty to be good, not lousy; true, not false; lively, not dull; accurate, not full of error; He should tend to lift people up, not lower them down. Writers do not merely reflect and interpret life, they inform and shape life. — E.B. White
• Writing is the painting of the voice. — Voltaire
• If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. — Elmore Leonard
• Read, read, read. Read everything  —  trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window. — William Faulkner
• Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented from the successful is a lot of hard work. — Steven King

• Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.  — Orson Scott Card
• We read five words on the first page of a really good novel and we begin to forget we are reading printed words on a page; we begin to see images. — John Champion Gardner
• A true piece of writing is a dangerous thing; it can change your life. — Tobias Wolff

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85 Writing Quotes By Famous Authors For Your Writing Inspiration

The writing process starts with a writer’s inspiration. Read these writing quotes by famous authors to help your motivation.

You can close your eyes and wait for the thoughts and feelings to arrive to get your good writing ideas flowing . But sometimes, the waiting can seem like forever.

You can try to listen to music or watch television to find sources of inspiration. You might go for a walk to do a little people-watching .

Or, seeing as you are here, you can read some author quotes about writing.

In This Article

Finding your writing inspiration

All good writers know how the process works or doesn’t work when they sit down to write a story or even blog posts.

Some might call it a writer block, writer’s block , laziness, or procrastination.

But it doesn’t matter what you call it. It is part and parcel of creative writing.

From the time you started writing, you must have experienced this idea void many times.

If you’re struggling to come up with ideas for your writing, you might take inspiration from Ray Bradbury.

He famously said, “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row.”

This quote encourages writers to make a habit of writing and to trust in the process of generating ideas.

Stephen King, the author of bestselling novels like The Shining and It, said, “The scariest moment is always just before you start.”

Perhaps the next time it happens, the inspirational words of famous authors and writers on writing may help.

I have to start my list of great writing quotes by famous authors with my all-time favorite author.

85 Writing quotes by famous authors and writers

Douglas adams.

• “At the end of all this being-determined-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades, I think I’m better off just sitting down and putting a hundred thousand words in a cunning order.” – Douglas Adams

2. “It’s an odd feeling, actually typing ‘qwerty’ as a word; try it, and you’ll see what I mean.” – Douglas Adams

3. “I get very worried about this idea of art. Having been an English literary graduate, I’ve been trying to avoid the idea of doing art ever since. I think the idea of art kills creativity.” – Douglas Adams

4. “Capital letters were always the best way of dealing with things you didn’t have a good answer to.” – Douglas Adams

5. “I find that writing is a constant battle with exactly the same problems you’ve always had.” – Douglas Adams

6. “It takes an awful lot of time to not write a book.” – Douglas Adams

7. “You cannot see what I see because you see what you see. You cannot know what I know because you know what you know.

What I see and what I know cannot be added to what you see and what you know because they are not of the same kind. Neither can it replace what you see and what you know, because that would be to replace you yourself.”

“Hang on, can I write this down?” said Arthur, excitedly fumbling in his pocket for a pencil.” – Douglas Adams

8. “When the idea comes, I often can’t remember where it came from. I remember very little about writing the first series of Hitchhikers. It’s almost as if someone else wrote it.” – Douglas Adams

9. “There’s nothing worse than sitting down to write a novel and saying, “Well, okay, I’m going to do something of high artistic worth.” It’s funny.” – Douglas Adams

10. “The books people are writing today, they’re too long. You get a little bit of plot, and then pages and pages of Creative Writing. They teach classes in how to do this. They should teach classes in how to stop!” – Douglas Adams

Ray Bradbury

11. “Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.” – Ray Bradbury

12. “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” – Ray Bradbury

13. “Let the world burn through you. Throw the prism light, white-hot, on paper.” -Ray Bradbury

14. “I don’t need an alarm clock. My ideas wake me.” – Ray Bradbury

15. “Remember: Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.” – Ray Bradbury

Madeleine L’Engle

16. “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” – Madeleine L’Engle

17. “Just because we don’t understand doesn’t mean that the explanation doesn’t exist.” – Madeleine L’Engle

18. “Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.” – Madeleine L’Engle

19. “We can’t take any credit for our talents. It’s how we use them that counts.” – Madeleine L’Engle

20. “Artistic temperament sometimes seems a battleground, a dark angel of destruction and a bright angel of creativity wrestling.” – Madeleine L’Engle

21. “That’s the way things come clear. All of a sudden. And then you realize how obvious they’ve been all along.” – Madeleine L’Engle

22. “Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.” – Madeleine L’Engle

Stephen King

23. “The road to hell is paved with adverbs .” – Stephen King

24. “If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.” – Stephen King

25. “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.” – Stephen King

26. “Books are a uniquely portable magic.” – Stephen King

27. “The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them.” – Stephen King

28. “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” – Stephen King

29. “Fiction is the truth inside the lie.” – Stephen King

30. “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” – Stephen King

31. “Write what you know.” – Mark Twain

32. “Don’t say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.”- Mark Twain

33. “A successful book is not made of what is in it, but what is left out of it.”- Mark Twain

34. “It takes a heap of sense to write good nonsense”- Mark Twain

35. “One should never use exclamation points in writing. It is like laughing at your own joke.”- Mark Twain

36. “ Writing is easy . All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.”- Mark Twain

37. “The test of any good fiction is that you should care something for the characters; the good to succeed, the bad to fail. The trouble with most fiction is that you want them all to land in hell together, as quickly as possible.”- Mark Twain

38. “To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence, is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself…

Anybody can have ideas–the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph.” – Mark Twain

39. “I conceive that the right way to write a story for boys is to write so that it will not only interest boys but strongly interest any man who has ever been a boy. That immensely enlarges the audience.”- Mark Twain

40. “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”- Mark Twain

41. “Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”- Mark Twain

Ernest Hemingway

42. “My working habits are simple: long periods of thinking, short periods of writing.” – Ernest Hemingway

43. “In order to write about life first you must live it.” – Ernest Hemingway

44. “Writing is something that you can never do as well as it can be done. It is a perpetual challenge and it is more difficult than anything else that I have ever done–so I do it. And it makes me happy when I do it well.” – Ernest Hemingway

45. “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” – Ernest Hemingway

46. “Writing, at its best, is a lonely life.” – Ernest Hemingway

47. “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” – Ernest Hemingway

48. “As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand.” – Ernest Hemingway

49. “A man’s got to take a lot of punishment to write a really funny book.” – Ernest Hemingway

50. “I have to write to be happy whether I get paid for it or not. But it is a hell of a disease to be born with. I like to do it. Which is even worse.  That makes it from a disease into a vice.

Then I want to do it better than anybody has ever done it which makes it into an obsession. An obsession is terrible. Hope you haven’t gotten any . That’s the only one I’ve got left.” – Ernest Hemingway

51. “My attitude toward punctuation is that it ought to be as conventional as possible. The game of golf would lose a good deal if croquet mallets and billiard cues were allowed on the putting green.

You ought to be able to show that you can do it a good deal better than anyone else with the regular tools before you have a license to bring in your own improvements.” – Ernest Hemingway

Isaac Asimov

52. “Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.” – Isaac Asimov

53. “Writing is a lonely job. Even if a writer socializes regularly, when he gets down to the real business of his life, it is he and his typewriter or word processor. No one else is or can be involved in the matter.” – Isaac Asimov

54. “It’s the writing that teaches you.” – Isaac Asimov

55. “It is the writer who might catch the imagination of young people, and plant a seed that will flower and come to fruition.” – Isaac Asimov

56. “Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not.” – Isaac Asimov

57. “I write for the same reason I breathe … because if I didn’t, I would die.” – Isaac Asimov

58. “If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.” – Isaac Asimov

Sylvia Plath

59. “Let me live, love and say it well in good sentences.” – Sylvia Plath

60. “I write only because There is a voice within me That will not be still.” – Sylvia Plath

61. “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” – Sylvia Plath

62. “Nothing stinks like a pile of unpublished writing.” – Sylvia Plath

63. “Some things are hard to write about. After something happens to you, you go to write it down, and either you over dramatize it, or underplay it, exaggerate the wrong parts or ignore the important ones.

At any rate, you never write it quite the way you want to.” – Sylvia Plath

64. “I could never be a complete scholar or a complete housewife or a complete writer: I must combine a little of all, and thereby be imperfect in all.” – Sylvia Plath

65. “I must be lean and write and make worlds beside this to live in.” – Sylvia Plath

66. “And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” – Sylvia Plath

R. L. Stine

67. “I’ve had a very sheltered life. What can happen to you if you stay home writing all day?” – R. L. Stine

68. “If you want to be a writer, don’t worry so much about writing. Read as much as you can. Read as many different writers as you can. Soak up the styles.” – R. L. Stine

69. “People say, ‘What advice do you have for people who want to be writers?’ I say, they don’t really need advice, they know they want to be writers, and they’re gonna do it.

Those people who know that they really want to do this and are cut out for it, they know it.” – R. L. Stine

70. “I started writing when I was 9 years old. I was like this weird kid who would just stay in my room, typing little funny magazines and drawing comic strips.” – R. L. Stine

71. “If you do enough planning before you start to write, there’s no way you can have writer’s block. I do a complete chapter by chapter outline.” – R. L. Stine

72. “I’ve never dreamed of a story idea. I have such boring dreams.” – R. L. Stine

73. “I should be concentrating on writing pages.” – R. L. Stine

Franz Kafka

74. “I write differently from what I speak, I speak differently from what I think, I think differently from the way I ought to think, and so it all proceeds into deepest darkness.” – Franz Kafka

75. “All language is but a poor translation.” – Franz Kafka

76. “There are some things one can only achieve by a deliberate leap in the opposite direction.” – Franz Kafka

77. “I do not see the world at all; I invent it.” – Franz Kafka

78. “The purpose of a story is to be an axe that breaks up the ice within us.” – Franz Kafka

79. “Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one’s own self.” – Franz Kafka

80. “A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity.” – Franz Kafka

William Faulkner

81. “Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master.

Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.” ― William Faulkner

Some fun writing quotes to finish

82. “When I was a little boy, they called me a liar, but now that I am a grown-up they call me a writer.” – Isaac Bashevis Singer

83. “Writing is a socially acceptable form of getting naked in public.” – Paulo Coelho

84. “About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment.” – Josh Billings

85. “A bad review may spoil your breakfast, but you shouldn’t allow it to spoil your lunch.” – Kingsley Amis

Are you inspired by all these writing quotes by famous authors?

I am sure you are now more than ready to get back to writing your novel, your short stories , or perhaps your next blog post.

It will be much more productive than reading writing quotes.

Related Reading: 55 Funny English Grammar Rules To Help You Write Better

About The Author

Derek Haines

More articles.

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4 thoughts on “85 writing quotes by famous authors for your writing inspiration”.

Love this one! thanks for sharing, a few of them I still havent heard of til now… Keep up the great work, u r such a great help for me and sure so many other!

Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks! These are great.

I LOVE these quotes. My favorite authors on the craft of writing (and then their own beautiful prose) include Madeleine L’Engle and Ray Bradbury.

Comments are closed.

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Writing Quotes: 120+ Inspirational Writing Quotes For You

POSTED ON Sep 11, 2019

Written by Scott Allan

Writing quotes are good bits of inspiration to keep around when you're feeling defeated in your writing endeavors.

Every author has a bad day; it doesn’t matter how experienced you are. 

There will be days when you sit at your desk to write, and the only action that ends up happening is a flashing cursor on a blank page. It could be writer's block or, you could just be drained.

There will be good days, too. Days when you love writing, and you stare at your work-in-progress with pride. 

For both the good and bad times, we can energize our creative writing flow and motivation by perusing our favorite inspirational writing quotes by famous writers .

The daily habit of sitting for hours and typing out a manuscript is challenging for the best of authors most days. This is why we all need to have writing tools and writing prompts for motivation when your writing isn’t flowing.

To help you with your writing speed and keep your fingers moving through the flow of your manuscript, here are 120 inspirational writing quotes by famous authors.

This list of inspirational writing quotes contains:

How to use these inspirational writing quotes

• Keep a journal of writing quotes
• Share these quotes with authors
• Post the quotes around your writing space

List of inspirational writing quotes

There is a plethora of great quotes here by authors who need inspiration just like we do. Whether you’re learning how to become an author or whether you’ve self-published 30 books already, having your favorite writing quotes around will only help your practice.

These are 3 tips for how to best use these quotes so you feel inspired and creative during your writing sessions.

1 – Keep a journal of writing quotes

Buy a journal or a simple notebook for writing quotes. Each day, write down several quotes from this list. Start your writing sessions by repeating several of your favorite quotes. You can choose several a day. Make this a daily practice. Get into the habit of carrying the journal with you. In addition to the best writing quotes, you can use the journal for making notes on your book.

2 – Share these quotes with authors

If you find a great quote, share it with other authors. Post it in your author mastermind community. Share it on your Facebook page. 

You can create a community of inspired authors by sharing the wisdom and advice of a good writing quote.

3 – Post the quotes around your writing space

Do you have a personal writing space? If yes, write down your favorite quotes on post-it-notes and tack them around your space. 

Choose a quote per day from this list and recite it several times while you are writing.

If you care about aesthetics and want to get fancy, have your favorite quote printed in a nice font, and frame it for your writing space. 

We have included the best from authors such as Stephen King, JK Rowling, Ray Bradbury, George Orwell, William Zinsser, Roald Dahl, Margaret Atwood, Carl Sagan, Carrie Fisher, Mark Twain, and Ernest Hemingway…and a lot more!

Print this of writing quotes list or bookmark the page, read through it daily, and keep on writing that bestseller!

1. “A book is made from a tree. It is an assemblage of flat, flexible parts (still called “leaves”) imprinted with dark pigmented squiggles. One glance at it and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, the author is speaking, clearly and silently, inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time–proof that humans can work magic.”

― Carl Sagan

2. “Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”

— George Orwell

3. “It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.”

— Robert Benchley

4. “I was set free because my greatest fear had been realized, and I still had a daughter who I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

  — J.K. Rowling

5. “If you're holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time.”

— J.K. Rowling

6. “Why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.”

7. “One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself that I’m going to do my five or 10 pages no matter what, and that I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I’ll have lost nothing—writing and tearing up five pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off.”

— Lawrence Block

8. “I've always believed in writing without a collaborator, because where two people are writing the same book, each believes he gets all the worry and only half the royalties.”

— Agatha Christie

9. “Some days I'm lucky to squeeze out a page of copy that pleases me, but I get as many as six or seven pages on a very good day; the average is probably three pages.”

— Dean Koontz

10. “When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.”

—Stephen King

11. “If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

— Stephen King

12. “I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.”

13. “Making people believe the unbelievable is no trick; it’s work . … Belief and reader absorption come in the details: An overturned tricycle in the gutter of an abandoned neighborhood can stand for everything.”

—Stephen King , WD [this quote is from an interview with King in Writer’s Digest ] 

14. “Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.”

— Isaac Asimov

15. “In my later years, I have looked in the mirror each day and found a happy person staring back. Occasionally I wonder why I can be so happy. The answer is that every day of my life I've worked only for myself and for the joy that comes from writing and creating. The image in my mirror is not optimistic, but the result of optimal behavior.”

— Ray Bradbury

16. “Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.”

17. “Remember: Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.”

18. “You fail only if you stop writing.”

19. “I always wrote. I wrote from when I was 12. That was therapeutic for me in those days. I wrote things to get them out of feeling them, and onto paper. So writing in a way saved me, kept me company. I did the traditional thing with falling in love with words, reading books and underlining lines I liked and words I didn't know.”

— Carrie Fisher

20. “Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with.”

— Henry David Thoreau

21. “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”

22. “It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.”

— Ernest Hemingway

23. “As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand.”

― Ernest Hemingway

24. “Write something that’s worth fighting over. Because that’s how you change things. That’s how you create art.”

— Jeff Goins, author of Real Artists Don’t Starve

25. “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”

— Toni Morrison

26. “This is how you do it: You sit down at the keyboard and and you put one word after another until it's done. It's that easy, and that hard.”

— Neil Gaiman

27. “I can shake off everything as I write. My sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.”

— Anne Frank

28. “I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent, he would be wise to develop a thick hyde.”

— Harper Lee

29. “There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.”

— Desiderius Eramus

30. “Writing is like a ‘lust,' or like ‘scratching when you itch.' Writing comes as a result of a very strong impulse, and when it does come, I, for one, must get it out.”

— C.S. Lewis

31. “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.”

— Robert Frost

32. “You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.”

— Saul Bellow

33. “Read, read, read. Read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.”

— William Faulkner

34. “Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good.”

35. “Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly – they'll go through anything. You read and you're pierced.”

— Aldous Huxley , Brave New World

36. “Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.”

— Franz Kafka

37. “I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in.”

— Robert Louis Stevenson

38. “A word after a word after a word is power.”

— Margaret Atwood

39. “You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.”

— Annie Proulx

40. “You reach deep down and bring up what feels absolutely authentic to you as you move along with the book, but you don't know everything about it. You can't.”

— Anne Rice , Interview With the Vampire

41. “If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster.”

42. “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.”

— Albert Camus

43. “I write to discover what I know.”

— Flannery O'Connor

44. “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.”

— John Steinbeck

45. “Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish.”

― Hermann Hesse

46. “Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depth of your heart; confess to yourself you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.”

― Rainer Maria Rilke

47. “I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don’t know what I did before that. Just loafed, I suppose.”

— P.G. Wodehouse

48. “If you want to be a writer, you have to write everyday. You don’t go to a well just once in awhile but daily.”

— Walter Mosley

49. “To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.”

— Herman Melville

50. “Words are a lens to focus one's mind.”

51. “I am irritated by my own writing. I am like a violinist whose ear is true, but whose fingers refuse to reproduce precisely the sound he hears within.”

— Gustave Flaubert

52. “A blank piece of paper is God's way of telling us how hard it is to be God.”

— Sidney Sheldon

53. “I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged.”

— Erica Jong

54. “Who wants to become a writer? And why? Because it’s the answer to everything. … It’s the streaming reason for living. To note, to pin down, to build up, to create, to be astonished at nothing, to cherish the oddities, to let nothing go down the drain, to make something, to make a great flower out of life, even if it’s a cactus.”

— Enid Bagnold

55. “To gain your own voice, you have to forget about having it heard.”

— Allen Ginsberg, WD

56. “All readers come to fiction as willing accomplices to your lies. Such is the basic goodwill contract made the moment we pick up a work of fiction.”

— Steve Almond, WD

57. “Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”

58. “When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.”

—George Orwell

59. “I’m not sure a bad person can write a good book. If art doesn’t make us better, then what on earth is it for.”

— Alice Walker

60. “I don’t care if a reader hates one of my stories, just as long as he finishes the book.”

—Roald Dahl

61. Writing is sweat and drudgery most of the time. And you have to love it in order to endure the solitude and the discipline.

— Peter Benchley, author of Jaws

62. “I read very widely, both non-fiction and fiction, so I don't think there's a single writer who influences me.”

— Peter Benchley

63. “Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.”

— Virginia Woolf

64. “Each writer is born with a repertory company in his head. Shakespeare has perhaps 20 players. … I have 10 or so, and that’s a lot. As you get older, you become more skillful at casting them.”

— Gore Vidal

65. “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

— W. Somerset Maugham

66. “The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write; a writer will turn over half a library to make one book.”

— Samuel Johnson

67. “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.”

— Elmore Leonard

68. “Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts.”

— Larry L. King

69. “I do not over-intellectualise the production process. I try to keep it simple: Tell the damned story.”

— Tom Clancy

70. “The writing of a novel is taking life as it already exists, not to report it but to make an object, toward the end that the finished work might contain this life inside it and offer it to the reader. The essence will not be, of course, the same thing as the raw material; it is not even of the same family of things. The novel is something that never was before and will not be again.”

— Eudora Welty

71. “One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself that I’m going to do my five or 10 pages no matter what, and that I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I’ll have lost nothing—writing and tearing up five pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off.”

72. “Don’t expect the puppets of your mind to become the people of your story. If they are not realities in your own mind, there is no mysterious alchemy in ink and paper that will turn wooden figures into flesh and blood.”

— Leslie Gordon Barnard

73. “Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they strike against each other until finally there’s an explosion—that’s Plot.”

— Leigh Brackett

74. “Genius gives birth, talent delivers. What Rembrandt or Van Gogh saw in the night can never be seen again. Born writers of the future are amazed already at what they’re seeing now, what we’ll all see in time for the first time, and then see imitated many times by made writers.”

— Jack Kerouac

75. “Long patience and application saturated with your heart’s blood—you will either write or you will not—and the only way to find out whether you will or not is to try.”

— Jim Tully

76. “People say, ‘What advice do you have for people who want to be writers?’ I say, they don’t really need advice, they know they want to be writers, and they’re gonna do it. Those people who know that they really want to do this and are cut out for it, they know it.”

—R.L. Stine

77. “Anyone who is going to be a writer knows enough at 15 to write several novels.”

— May Sarton

78. “The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes.”

—Andre Gide

79. “You do not have to explain every single drop of water contained in a rain barrel. You have to explain one drop—H 2 O. The reader will get it.”

—George Singleton

80. “When I say work I only mean writing. Everything else is just odd jobs.”

— Margaret Laurence

81. “Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now.”

— Annie Dillard

82. “A book is simply the container of an idea—like a bottle; what is inside the book is what matters.”

—Angela Carter

83. “You don’t actually have to write anything until you’ve thought it out. This is an enormous relief, and you can sit there searching for the point at which the story becomes a toboggan and starts to slide.”

—Marie de Nervaud

84. “Whether a character in your novel is full of choler, bile, phlegm, blood or plain old buffalo chips, the fire of life is in there, too, as long as that character lives.”

—James Alexander Thom

85. “It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly.”

— C. J. Cherryh

86. “Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as writer.”

87. “I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly.”

— Edgar Rice Burroughs

88. “Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen.”

— Willa Cather

89. “The only thing I was fit for was to be a writer, and this notion rested solely on my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that writing didn’t require any.”

— Russell Baker

90. “People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it.”

— Harlan Ellison

91. “People do not deserve to have good writing, they are so pleased with bad.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

92. “Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.”

— Barbara Kingsolver

93. “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

94. “The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.”

— Ursula K. Le Guin

95. “Only in a person’s imagination does every truth find an effective and undeniable existence. Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art as of life.”

— Joseph Conrad

96. “You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money’s in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.”

— Larry Niven

97. “Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

98. “The more closely the author thinks of why he wrote, the more he comes to regard his imagination as a kind of self-generating cement which glued his facts together, and his emotions as a kind of dark and obscure designer of those facts. Reluctantly, he comes to the conclusion that to account for his book is to account for his life.”

— Richard Wright

99. “Rejection slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil—but there is no way around them.”

100. “In general…there’s no point in writing hopeless novels. We all know we’re going to die; what’s important is the kind of men and women we are in the face of this.”

— Anne Lamott

101. “All the words I use in my stories can be found in the dictionary—it’s just a matter of arranging them into the right sentences.”

— Somerset Maugham

102. “Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.”

— Jane Yolen

103. “If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.”

104. “…And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

— Anaïs Nin

105. “Know that the Creator lives and moves and breathes within you. So those dreams? Risk them. Those words? Write them. Those hopes? Believe them.”

— Elora Nicole Ramirez

106. “Art is not about thinking something up. It is the opposite — getting something down.

— Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way

107. The writer is an explorer. Every step is an advance into a new land. 

108. “The great work must inevitably be obscure, except to the very few, to those who like the author himself are initiated into the mysteries. Communication then is secondary: it is perpetuation which is important. For this only one good reader is necessary.”

— Henry Miller

109. “I am like a little pencil in God’s hand. He does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do with it.”

— Mother Teresa

110. “Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.”

— Orson Scott

111. “Writing a book is like telling a joke and having to wait 2 years to know whether or not it was funny.”

— Alain de Botton

112. “No person who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”

113. “Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.”

— Les Brown

114. “If something isn’t working, if you have a story that you’ve built and it’s blocked and you can’t figure it out, take your favorite scene, or your very best idea or set-piece, and cut it. It’s brutal, but sometimes inevitable.”

— Joss Whedon

115. “You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald

116. “There’s no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.”

— Maya Angelou

117. “We’re past the age of heroes and hero kings. … Most of our lives are basically mundane and dull, and it’s up to the writer to find ways to make them interesting.”

— John Updike

118. “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”

— Thomas Mann , Essays of Three Decades

119. “Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do…Try to be better than yourself.”

120. “You may not always write well, but you can edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page .”

— Jodi Picoult

Now you have a comprehensive list of inspirational writing quotes to keep you pushing forward. 

And by reading through those quotes, hopefully you don't feel so alone knowing that famous authors experience the same love/hate relationship with writing.

The most important thing is that you take action each day to move closer towards publishing your book . Then, you'll be creating your own writing quotes for other aspiring authors to get inspired by!

What are your favorite inspirational writing quotes?

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50 Inspirational Quotes on Writing

By barnes & noble press /, january 4, 2021 at 3:00 pm.

It’s a new year and, therefore, we want to help kick it off right with a collection of our favorite inspirational quotes on writing! We always start a new year with resolutions, but often it’s hard to stick with our goals. Certainly, that’s where we can come in 🙂

Above all, we hope these 50 Inspirational Quotes on Writing will keep you motivated and energized throughout 2021.

Inspirational Quotes on Writing: Imagination

2. “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” –  William Wordsworth

3. “The writer is an explorer. Every step is an advance into a new land.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see, and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” –  Joan Didion

5. “They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream by night.” – Edgar Allan Poe

6. “The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.” –  Gustav Flaubert

7. “I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and look at it, until it shines.” –  Emily Dickinson

8. “That’s what you’re looking for as a writer when you’re working. You’re looking for your own freedom.” –  Philip Roth

9. “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” –  George Bernard Shaw

10. “Creativity is a combination of discipline and childlike spirit.” –  Robert Greene

11. “Writing is the painting of the voice.” –  Voltaire

12. “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” –  Paulo Coelho

13. “I have fallen in love with the imagination. And if you fall in love with the imagination, you understand that it is a free spirit. It will go anywhere and it can do anything.” –  Alice Walker

Inspirational Quotes on Writing: Motivation

14. “Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself… it’s a self-exploratory operation that is endless.” – Harper Lee

15. “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.” –  Henry David Thoreau

16. “There are significant moments in everyone’s day that can make literature. That’s what you ought to write about.” –  Raymond Carver

17. “Keep asking questions because people will always want to know the answer. Open with a question and don’t answer it until the end.” –  Lee Child

18. “But when people say, did you always want to be a writer? I have to say no! I always was a write.” –  Ursula K. Le Guin

19. “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” –  Maya Angelou

20. “If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” –  Margaret Atwood

21. “You should write stories because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page.” –  Annie Proulx

23. “If you do not hear music in your words, you have put too much thought into your writing and not enough heart.” –  Terry Brooks

24. “If you are in difficulties with a book, try the element of surprise: attack it at an hour when it isn’t expecting it.” –  H.G. Wells

25. “Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” –  Tom Stoppard

26. “The secret of it all is to write… without waiting for a fit time or place.” –  Walt Whitman

27. “No one else sees the world the way you do, so no one else can tell the stories that you have to tell.” –  Charles de Lint

28. “Successful writing is one part inspiration and two parts sheer stubbornness.” –  Gillian Flynn

30. “As a writer, you should not judge. You should understand.” –  Ernest Hemingway

31. “If you don’t see the book you want on the shelf, write it.” – Beverly Cleary

32. “When all else fails, write what your heart tells you. You can’t depend on your eyes, when your imagination is out of focus.”  Mark Twain

33. “Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Make some light.” –  Kate DiCamillo

Inspirational Quotes on Writing: Process

34. “A writer is a writer not because she writes well and easily, because she has amazing talent, because everything she does is golden. In my view a writer is a writer because even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway.” –  Junot Diaz

35. “The first draft is you just telling yourself the story.” –  Terry Pratchett

36. “Write a page a day. Only 300 words and in a year you have written a novel.” –  Stephen King

37. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” –  Agatha Christie

38. “The job of the novelist is to invent: to embroider, to color, to embellish, to make things up.” –  Donna Tart

39. “Writing is an act of faith, not a grammar trick.” –  E.B. White

40. “Good stories are not written. They are rewritten.” –  Phyllis Whitney

41. “The first draft is a skeleton. Just bare bones. The rest of the story comes later with revising.” –  Judy Bloom

42. “When you are describing a shape, or sound, or tint, don’t state the matter plainly, but put it in a hint. And learn to look at all things with a sort of mental squint.” –  Lewis Carroll

43. “You may not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” – Jodi Picoult

44. “Perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.” –  Antoine de Saint-Exupery

45. “The secret to editing your work is simple: You need to become its reader instead of its writer.” –  Zadie Smith

46. “I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” –  Shannon Hale

47. “Don’t labor over a little cameo work in which every word is to be perfect. Technique holds a reader from sentence to sentence, but only content will stay in his mind.” –  Joyce Carol Oates

48. “If you fall in love with the vision and not your words, the rewriting will become easier.” –  Nora DeLoach

49. “Be willing and unafraid to write badly, because often the bad stuff clears the way for good, or forms a base on which to build something better.” –  Jennifer Egan

50. “Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.” –  Ray Bradbury

To sum up, write it all down this year. After that, visit BNPress.com to become a published author! Importantly, we have plenty of tools to help new authors. From trusted partners to assist with editing, formatting, or design, to marketing and promotions. Each step of the way, we will be there to help.

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30 Best Quotes for Essay Writing

December 10, 2023 by Sandeep

The essay is an independent, educational, and scientific student research. In writing this paper, students master the methods and gain the ability to conduct research. In addition, essay writing helps form the student’s creative thinking, test the skills of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting literature, and formulate conclusions and suggestions.

Successful essay writing depends on strict adherence to the basic requirements. These requirements relate primarily to the scientific level of the work, its content, structure, form of presentation of the material, and design. The teacher may not accept works in violation of state standards and established requirements. Inconsistencies in the design can significantly affect the final evaluation of the work. The student’s compliance with all the requirements for writing and design of the essay instills certain skills in conducting research, which will be useful in creating other types of papers.

All of the above points are important to gain the ability to complete an essay. However, this is not an as simple type of student paper as it may seem at first glance. Students often have difficulty in both essay writing and designing. Fortunately, today everyone can find someone to write a paper online. It is only necessary to pay the set price. The best writers work for an online company DoMyEssay. To get their help, you should visit the site and request, “Please, do an essay for me.” The high quality and reliability of writing services are guaranteed for everyone.

Requirements for Quotes & References in Essay Writing

A compulsory component of any scientific work is a scientific citation. It is essential to cite the source from which the materials or individual results are borrowed or the ideas and conclusions based on which the problems, tasks, issues to which the work is devoted are developed. Such links make it possible to find relevant sources, check the accuracy of citations, obtain the necessary information about these sources.

The use of references in essays is mandatory and is used in the following cases:

• When quoting fragments of text, formulas, tables, illustrations;
• When paraphrasing, non-verbal reproduction of a fragment of another’s text;
• When analyzing the content of other publications in the text;
• When referring to other publications where the material to be discussed is more complete.

The absence of a link is a copyright infringement, and an incorrect link is considered a serious error. All sources cited in the list of references must be indicated in the text of the paper.

Importance of Correct Citation in Student Papers

The importance of citation is in the need to demonstrate the breadth of research and interest in the publications of other authors, to confirm own arguments with statements from other sources. Text borrowed from other sources is used for this purpose.

Here are three main functions that quotes perform in essay writing :

• Places your work in context, creates dialogue;
• Pay tribute to the previous work that formed the basis of your research;
• Maintains the authenticity and accuracy of scientific literature.

List of Helpful Quotes You Can Use in Your Essay Writing

Below is a list of 30 quotes you can use in your essay writing:

• The simplest example is more convincing than the most eloquent sermon (Lucius Annec Seneca);
• It is not people who need rules, but rules need people (S. Dube);
• The one who is no longer able to serve as anything serves as a good example (Andre Siegfried);
• Take an example from your elders, while they behave approximately (Jerzy Leszczynski);
• The need to set a good example for your children robs middle-aged people of all pleasure (William Feder);
• Remember: sooner or later, your son will follow your example and not your advice (Pierre Corneille);
• An example is stronger than a threat (Pierre Corneille);
• Bad examples are stronger than good rules (Joey Locke);
• You only have one life. You have to live it as fully as possible (Jojo Moyes);
• When life is good, there is no need to argue about it (Ray Bradbury);
• There are moments in life that change us once and for all (Jeffrey Deaver);
• The reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The person who never reads experiences only one (George Martin);
• On our path in life, we will meet everyone who is destined to meet us (Charles Dickens);
• What is the sense of life? Serve others and do good (Aristotle);
• Those who illuminate the lives of others will not be left without light themselves (James Matthew Barry);
• In general, I live without hesitation, so I always have fun (Francis Scott Fitzgerald);
• An example is always more powerful than a sermon (Samuel Johnson);
• When it comes to budget, everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die (Jean Chrétien);
• Violating our duty, thereby we violate our rights (Jean-Jacques Rousseau);
• You cannot talk about the budget without knowing approximately the figures of its income and expenses (Theodor Herzl);
• Civilization road paved with tax receipts (Andrew McKenzie);
• If you know how to spend less than you get, then you have the Philosopher’s Stone (Benjamin Franklin);
• Only two incentives make people work: the thirst for wages and the fear of losing them (Henry Ford);
• There is no perfection in the world (Antoine de Saint-Exupery);
• You are forever responsible for the one you tamed (Antoine de Saint-Exupery);
• It’s good where we are not (Antoine de Saint-Exupery);
• All adults were children at first, only a few of them remember this (Antoine de Saint-Exupery);
• Live and learn (Lucius Annec Seneca);
• The end justifies the means (Ignatius de Loyola);
• Truth is in wine (Pliny the Elder).

10 Great Quotes from Writers about Writing

Here are ten of our favourite quotes about writing, from those who should probably know the most about it – writers themselves. Some of them are witty quotes, others profound, some a mixture. We hope you enjoy them.

‘Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it’s always you versus a blank sheet of paper and quite often the blank piece of paper wins.’

– Neil Gaiman

‘God may reduce you on Judgment Day to tears of shame, reciting by heart the poems you would have written, had your life been good.’

– W. H. Auden

‘A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.’

– Thomas Mann

‘Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.’

– Cyril Connolly

‘The dubious privilege of a freelance writer is that he’s given the freedom to starve wherever he likes.’

– S. J. Perelman

‘The original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate.’

– François-René de Chateaubriand

‘I think the hardest thing about writing is writing.’

– Nora Ephron

‘A writer – and, I believe, generally all persons – must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource.’

– Jorge Luis Borges

‘And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it.’

– Sylvia Plath

‘How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.’

– Henry David Thoreau

Image: Neil Gaiman, signing books after a reading from ‘Anansi Boys’ in Berkeley, 2005 © 2005 Jutta , share-alike licence.

141 thoughts on “10 Great Quotes from Writers about Writing”

I love these quotes!!!

Glad you liked them!

Wonderful, thank you for sharing these!

Heather xxx

My pleasure – glad you liked them, Heather!

This quote — ‘Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.’ — is the hardest one to live up to.

I agree. The Scylla and Charybdis of popularity/recognition and personal integrity is brilliantly explored by writers, e.g. George Gissing in New Grub Street.

PS Thanks for reblogging!

Reblogged this on 1WriteWay and commented: Some interesting quotes from writers about writing. My favorite (and one that I may have to paint on my walls): “Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.”

I’ll add the classic Gene Fowler line: “Writing is easy. You just stare at the blank sheet of paper (or screen) until drops of blood form on your forehead.”

Haha, brilliant :)

‘The original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate.’ I have read works by these writers and aspire to be one. Don’t know if that will ever happen, but I am going to keep trying.

Well, as another writer said (I forget who), ‘Those who write are writers. Those who wait are waiters.’ You won’t know unless you persist and keep writing (I know this myself, as I’ve had several goes at a novel) :)

That was fun:)

Thanks – glad you enjoyed them :)

Reblogged this on Sleepy Book Dragon and commented: Some inspirational quotations to keep you going whilst writing.

Thanks for reblogging!

Not a problem! ^^

Thanks for sharing these great quotes.

My pleasure :)

I love Borge’s quote because it’s so true. Even pain and suffering counts.

Indeed – and that can be comforting during hard times. You can’t be a good writer without experience, and even the horrible stuff is useful, harsh though that sounds…

Great list of a quotes. Several I haven’t heard before. :)

Glad you liked them! We aim to please :)

Reblogged this on thetrustyelizablog and commented: There are some things you either know or don’t know about yourself. Unless, of course, you’re a writer. Then you’re never sure of anything.

Thanks for reblogging :)

Loving these! :-)

Glad you enjoyed them! :)

Some great quotes here, especially the one by Cyril Connolly. Thanks for sharing!

My pleasure: glad you liked them!

Reblogged this on North Country Writers' Night Out .

Nice quotes!

Great post! Thanks for sharing :)

Thanks, Margaux – glad you enjoyed it! :)

Thanks for sharing these! They are great.

My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed them :)

Reblogged this on طبيب حر الى آخر العمر .

my pleasure,u’re welcome

Reblogged this on filledwithphotos and commented: This is probably one of my favorite blog posts I’ve ever found. It’s so hard to remember these at times. “Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.”

Wow, praise indeed! Thank you for reblogging :)

Thanks for the words of inspiration!

Reblogged this on Taylor Grace and commented: What a fantastic post. Loved these quotes! There are some awesome blogs out there. Interestingliterature.com is one of them!

Thanks for reblogging, and for the kind words! :)

Reblogged this on emmasrandomthoughts and commented: An excellent post with quotes about writing. :)

Thank you! And thanks for reblogging :)

Reblogged this on Sstyleandart .

That last quote by Henry made me laugh. All those quotes are an emotional roller coaster and I love it!!

Thanks – glad you liked them!

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Great post! Neil Gaiman always seems to be my favorite. :)

Reblogged too http://ramonatheconfused.wordpress.com/ :)

Thanks – glad you liked them! Yes, Gaiman has some great things to say about writing elsewhere on his website too :)

Reblogged this on The Broken Mirror and commented: I love Quotes. Make them about writing and I love them more!

I love these! Thanks for sharing.

Love this one from Twain: “Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” ― Mark Twain

Haha, yes, I’d forgotten that one – it’s a good’un :)

Great quotes. Thanks for sharing them.

My pleasure – glad you liked them :)

Nice to know that there are other writers out there who feel the same as I do.

Exactly! Well put :)

Reblogged this on Read It & Weep .

Today the blank sheet won. But tomorrow is another day. :)

Exactly – that’s the spirit :)

Reblogged this on Chris Weston .

Reblogged this on 3bones and commented: Being an avid collector of quotes, I was delighted when this post from one of the blogs I follow, Interesting Literature, arrived in my WordPress Reader inbox this evening. These were definitely worth sharing and re-blogging …

I write about things I do not know first hand and I am right about, as proved later, in some of of these things which I know first hand. Therefore I write to learn to know more of myself.

Well put. I think that’s true of many writers, Benny – it’s always a learning experience.

beautiful quotes…

ma pleasure…

Reblogged this on aimanss… and commented: awsome quotes……

The Thomas Mann one is brilliant.

That’s one of our favourites too :)

I can relate so much to Borges’s, Plath’s, and Thoreau’s quotes here!

Glad you liked them! :)

Neil Gaiman = Genius!

Couldn’t agree more!

Wow, lovely quotes. Thanks for sharing. Here’s one more: “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” ― Ernest Hemingway Reblogging it :)

Thanks for that one, and thanks for reblogging! Glad you liked them :)

Reblogged this on Jyoti Arora and commented: Thoughts about writing by great writers themselves…

Reblogged this on daydreaming in words and commented: Really like this post.

Reblogged this on curvyroads and commented: As a new writer, I can learn from all of these great quotes from writers, but especially like this one: ‘Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.’ – Cyril Connolly

Soooo many quotes from writers are about how the actual, physical writing is hard. The thoughts may be there, but it just doesn’t come out. How many other professions can say this?

I agree. I know many writers themselves pooh-pooh the idea of writer’s block, but I think even they would acknowledge that the act of writing itself can be difficult. Makes you wonder why people write! The pleasure it can bring outweighs the hardship…

I love these quotes…thanks for sharing! I’m actually partial to the last one from Thoreau. Living and experiencing can give you stories that most imaginations could never create.

http://www.honeylemontea.com

Reblogged this on the shadows illuminated and commented: Every writer needs to read these 10 quotations. Extremely true and inspiring.

I glimpsed your mention of New Grub Street in a previous response and I wondered if you would agree that despite the passing of one hundred and twenty some years, very little has changed in the world of writing, publishing and writers’ popularity versus writers’ integrity. I really loved that book which is why the comment caught my eye :-)

Well said, Jackie – it’s amazing how little things have changed, despite the fact that the publishing market has altered in all sorts of ways. Gissing had it all there 120 years ago :)

Almost all of these are experiences that are every writer goes through. Writing is indefinable as it will be unique for everyone.

As a young, eager writer, I write short stories and poems. Please feel free to check out my blog: http://www.writingequalspassion.wordpress.com .

I hope you enjoy the visit.

writingequalspassion

Thanks, will do!

Great Gaiman quote, but it was, “This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It’s that easy, and that hard.” that got me through NaNoWriMo last year. Also, no Vonnegut? BTW, thanks for the like!

That’s a good quotation too – and you’re right, lack of Vonnegut was an oversight. Perhaps we’ll need to do a follow-up post in the next few months! And you’re welcome :)

It’s amazing how when seeing a blank piece of paper can reinforce your belief that if you have something to say, you buckle down and get on with it, and the words flow. I keep getting surprised by what I can do.

Indeed – it’s the getting started that’s the tough bit! I think the main thing is just to start writing. Then you warm up, and it becomes easier.

Thank-you for commenting. If you wait for something to come into your mind, you could wait a long time. Sometimes you have to will yourself to write and somehow words tend to follow, even if it’s one sentence at a time. And gradually the words start to flow and you’re back with the story.

Reblogged this on Inside A Wallflower's Mind .

Great. I particularly like the Mann and the Borges, not to mention the Connolly,

Thanks – glad you liked them! They’re among my favourites too, though it’s tough to choose really (it was hard choosing the ten to go in this post, to be honest).

The last by Thoreau is particularly relevant in the digital age.

You forgot Chekhov’s advice about writers. It goes as thus:

“Don’t tell me the Moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

“…blank piece of paper wins” my heart just skipped a beat

Reblogged this on William Grit .

Reblogged this on Faatimah .

I love hearing the truth about writing from the certified profis, for the feeling of identification will probably be the only comparison one of us mere-mortals can honestly claim as a connection with them. Certainly Thomas Mann’s pronouncement is wondrous. Considering the length of his books, he suffered greatly!

Reblogged this on The Birds Inside My Head… .

That last quote really got me. I think why I find it hard to write sometimes is because I haven’t lived enough.

Reblogged this on Thriller Writing Help for Authors and commented: Some fabulous Quotations on Writing.

Excellent quotes! Thank you.

My godmother, Rosemary Sutcliff (1920-92), was an ‘impish, irreverent writer of genius’ according to The Guardian newspaper in the UK in their obituary. In the second half of the 20th century she was a major figure in children;s lierature and historical fiction. She was fascinating about the process of writing her books. I recently collated a few quotes of hers from an early 1980s article inThe Times newspaper. They are at http://rosemarysutcliff.com/2014/01/21/modern-times-are-a-hindrance , a post on the blog http://www.rosemarysutcliff.com . Other quotes from Rosemary Sutcliff can be found here at http://rosemarysutcliff.com/tag/quotes . I shall resist here trying ’10 Great Quotations from Rosemary Sutcliff’ about writing’!

But I should perhaps have left this quote, on re-reading yours from Nora Ephron (‘I think the hardest thing about writing is writing”) . Rosemary Sutcliff once said: “Writing is perhaps just one degree less frightful than not writing”.

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I like another Neil Gaiman one: where is the fun in doing something you know will work?

Reblogged this on How Do You Pronounce Eynon? and commented: I loved this post, so I just had to reblog. I particularly like the quote by Thomas Mann. Thanks interesting Literature for the original.

Great post, thanks. Just reblogged…

Neil Gaiman had such great advice on writing. Also, so does Stephen King.

I love the SJ Perelman quote, brilliant. I also like this one from Hemmingway in his typically blunt tone: ‘The good parts of a book may be only something a writer is lucky enough to overhear or it may be the wreck of his whole damn life and one is as good as the other.’

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One of my personal favorites is: “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”-Stephen King

Hehe, I like that one!

Ha ha, I know. Truth. It’s brilliant.

Thanks for liking my quote! Hmm, the Thoreau quote is very profound – how can you write if you have not lived indeed?

Wow, amazing quotes!! Thank you for sharing!

Reblogged this on Seven Steeds on a Mountain and commented: I like this.

Reblogged this on Virtual Book Tour .

Lovely collection. I think the Cyril Connolly is my favourite – hadn’t heard that. And there’s the Kingsley Amis one that’s in the same vein as some of these: “The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of one’s pants to the seat of one’s chair”,

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Thank you for sharing – one of the above quotes is now on my physical wall…:)

Reblogged this on chasingtheturtle .

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Reblogged this on lonelyboy1977 .

As a new writer, all of these quotes were relevant .. however, the Thomas Mann quote definitely made me chuckle! Cathy

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When someone writes an article he/she retains the idea of a usr in his/her brain that hhow a user can understand it. Therefore that’s why this article is outstdanding. Thanks!

I’m always moved by this quote: “the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.” ― Jack Kerouac, On the Road

It doesn’t directly apply to writing, but I find it relevant. I wrote a post about it on my blog if anyone is interested!

Many days and nights I muttered something like this to myself when I see phony smiley ladies pitching their useless shallow chic lit. ‘Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.’

Very tweetable!

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25 Inspiring Quotes about Writing

Writing may be one of the most rewarding – and most frustrating – activities in the history of mankind. Few other callings result in as much crumpled paper, snapped pencils, frayed nerves and all-nighters. Writing has also given us some of the most inspirational quotes imaginable. Here, we’ve collected 25 quotes to give you the motivation and inspiration you need to finish your project, even if it takes all night.

Getting Started

Every writer has dealt with writer’s block and new writers can find the process of simply starting to be difficult. Since beginning can be difficult for even seasoned writers, much advice has been given on how to take the plunge and begin telling your story.

• “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” (Ernest Hemingway)
• “The scariest moment is always just before you start.” (Stephen King)
• “The first draft of anything is shit.” (Ernest Hemingway)
• “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” (Mark Twain)
• “Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” (Lewis Carroll)
• “You don’t have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great.” (Les Brown)

As we can see, the best authors in the world understand that beginning to write is as simple as it is difficult – one must simply begin.

Choosing the Right Words

Another common theme in writing is the eternal struggle to find just the right words and phrases. Many times writers throw around a number of words, searching for the one that fits like a missing puzzle piece. Rough drafts were made to be reworked and this is where a writer’s vocabulary and talent really come into play. Writing a scene requires the same dexterity and skilled hand as paining a picture, creating a sculpture or any other creative endeavor.

• “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” (Mark Twain)
• “One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” (Jack Kerouac)
• “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” (Anton Chekhov)
• “Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly — they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.” (Aldous Huxley)
• “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.” (Elmore Leonard)
• “There is no great writing, only great rewriting.” (Justice Brandeis)

On Inspiration

Creative inspiration is perhaps one of the most ephemeral things in the world. Inspiration can come from anywhere and creativity is, at best, a fickle mistress. This interest in creativity and the creative process has been with man since the earliest times. The ancient Greeks had dozens of Muses dedicated to various forms of the arts and science. The Muses are goddesses representing different arts and sciences in Greek mythology. They are the daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus.

• Kalliope – the muse of epic poetry
• Euterpe – the muse of music and lyric poetry
• Erato – the muse of lyric/love poetry
• Melpomene – the muse of tragedy
• Thalia – the muse of comedy

Although established Muses of the past are rarely referred to now, their spirit lives on. Today, the creative process may be seen differently, but the inspiration and frustration remain the same.

• “You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.” (Saul Bellow)
• “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” (Scott Adams)
• “Inspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy.” (Pyotr Tchaikovsky)
• “Creativity is knowing how to hide your sources” (Albert Einstein)
• “Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time.” (Leonard Bernstein)
• “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” (William Wordsworth)
• “Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.” (Ray Bradbury)
• “I don’t know where my ideas come from, but I know where they come to. They come to my desk, and if I’m not there, they go away again.” (Philip Pullman)

On the Writing Life

It’s often said that artists are a special breed, and writers are no different. The writing life isn’t for everyone and, for those who feel the calling, taking the journey is sometimes difficult. Writers have discussed their methods, their inspirations and their styles, but here we get a glimpse into what truly drives them to follow the writer’s life.

• “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” (Ray Bradbury)
• “I know some people might think it odd – unworthy even – for me to have written a cookbook, but I make no apologies. The U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins thought I had demeaned myself by writing poetry for Hallmark Cards, but I am the people’s poet so I write for the people.” (Maya Angelou)
• “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” (Ernest Hemingway)
• “I write for the same reason I breathe – because if I didn’t, I would die.” (Isaac Asimov)
• “You fail only if you stop writing.” (Ray Bradbury)

Related posts

What this handout is about

Used effectively, quotations can provide important pieces of evidence and lend fresh voices and perspectives to your narrative. Used ineffectively, however, quotations can clutter your text and interrupt the flow of your argument. This handout will help you decide when and how to quote like a pro.

When should I quote?

Use quotations at strategically selected moments. You have probably been told by teachers to provide as much evidence as possible in support of your thesis. But packing your paper with quotations will not necessarily strengthen your argument. The majority of your paper should still be your original ideas in your own words (after all, it’s your paper). And quotations are only one type of evidence: well-balanced papers may also make use of paraphrases, data, and statistics. The types of evidence you use will depend in part on the conventions of the discipline or audience for which you are writing. For example, papers analyzing literature may rely heavily on direct quotations of the text, while papers in the social sciences may have more paraphrasing, data, and statistics than quotations.

Discussing specific arguments or ideas

Sometimes, in order to have a clear, accurate discussion of the ideas of others, you need to quote those ideas word for word. Suppose you want to challenge the following statement made by John Doe, a well-known historian:

“At the beginning of World War Two, almost all Americans assumed the war would end quickly.”

If it is especially important that you formulate a counterargument to this claim, then you might wish to quote the part of the statement that you find questionable and establish a dialogue between yourself and John Doe:

Historian John Doe has argued that in 1941 “almost all Americans assumed the war would end quickly” (Doe 223). Yet during the first six months of U.S. involvement, the wives and mothers of soldiers often noted in their diaries their fear that the war would drag on for years.

Giving added emphasis to a particularly authoritative source on your topic.

There will be times when you want to highlight the words of a particularly important and authoritative source on your topic. For example, suppose you were writing an essay about the differences between the lives of male and female slaves in the U.S. South. One of your most provocative sources is a narrative written by a former slave, Harriet Jacobs. It would then be appropriate to quote some of Jacobs’s words:

Harriet Jacobs, a former slave from North Carolina, published an autobiographical slave narrative in 1861. She exposed the hardships of both male and female slaves but ultimately concluded that “slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women.”

In this particular example, Jacobs is providing a crucial first-hand perspective on slavery. Thus, her words deserve more exposure than a paraphrase could provide.

Jacobs is quoted in Harriet A. Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, ed. Jean Fagan Yellin (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987).

Analyzing how others use language.

This scenario is probably most common in literature and linguistics courses, but you might also find yourself writing about the use of language in history and social science classes. If the use of language is your primary topic, then you will obviously need to quote users of that language.

Examples of topics that might require the frequent use of quotations include:

Southern colloquial expressions in William Faulkner’s Light in August

Ms. and the creation of a language of female empowerment

A comparison of three British poets and their use of rhyme

Spicing up your prose.

In order to lend variety to your prose, you may wish to quote a source with particularly vivid language. All quotations, however, must closely relate to your topic and arguments. Do not insert a quotation solely for its literary merits.

One example of a quotation that adds flair:

President Calvin Coolidge’s tendency to fall asleep became legendary. As H. L. Mencken commented in the American Mercury in 1933, “Nero fiddled, but Coolidge only snored.”

How do I set up and follow up a quotation?

Once you’ve carefully selected the quotations that you want to use, your next job is to weave those quotations into your text. The words that precede and follow a quotation are just as important as the quotation itself. You can think of each quote as the filling in a sandwich: it may be tasty on its own, but it’s messy to eat without some bread on either side of it. Your words can serve as the “bread” that helps readers digest each quote easily. Below are four guidelines for setting up and following up quotations.

In illustrating these four steps, we’ll use as our example, Franklin Roosevelt’s famous quotation, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

1. Provide context for each quotation.

Do not rely on quotations to tell your story for you. It is your responsibility to provide your reader with context for the quotation. The context should set the basic scene for when, possibly where, and under what circumstances the quotation was spoken or written. So, in providing context for our above example, you might write:

When Franklin Roosevelt gave his inaugural speech on March 4, 1933, he addressed a nation weakened and demoralized by economic depression.

2. Attribute each quotation to its source.

Tell your reader who is speaking. Here is a good test: try reading your text aloud. Could your reader determine without looking at your paper where your quotations begin? If not, you need to attribute the quote more noticeably.

Avoid getting into the “they said” attribution rut! There are many other ways to attribute quotes besides this construction. Here are a few alternative verbs, usually followed by “that”:

Different reporting verbs are preferred by different disciplines, so pay special attention to these in your disciplinary reading. If you’re unfamiliar with the meanings of any of these words or others you find in your reading, consult a dictionary before using them.

3. Explain the significance of the quotation.

Once you’ve inserted your quotation, along with its context and attribution, don’t stop! Your reader still needs your assessment of why the quotation holds significance for your paper. Using our Roosevelt example, if you were writing a paper on the first one-hundred days of FDR’s administration, you might follow the quotation by linking it to that topic:

With that message of hope and confidence, the new president set the stage for his next one-hundred days in office and helped restore the faith of the American people in their government.

4. Provide a citation for the quotation.

All quotations, just like all paraphrases, require a formal citation. For more details about particular citation formats, see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . In general, you should remember one rule of thumb: Place the parenthetical reference or footnote/endnote number after—not within—the closed quotation mark.

Roosevelt declared, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” (Roosevelt, Public Papers, 11).

Roosevelt declared, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”1

How do I embed a quotation into a sentence?

In general, avoid leaving quotes as sentences unto themselves. Even if you have provided some context for the quote, a quote standing alone can disrupt your flow.  Take a look at this example:

Hamlet denies Rosencrantz’s claim that thwarted ambition caused his depression. “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2).

Standing by itself, the quote’s connection to the preceding sentence is unclear. There are several ways to incorporate a quote more smoothly:

Lead into the quote with a colon.

Hamlet denies Rosencrantz’s claim that thwarted ambition caused his depression: “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2).

The colon announces that a quote will follow to provide evidence for the sentence’s claim.

Introduce or conclude the quote by attributing it to the speaker. If your attribution precedes the quote, you will need to use a comma after the verb.

Hamlet denies Rosencrantz’s claim that thwarted ambition caused his depression. He states, “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2).

When faced with a twelve-foot mountain troll, Ron gathers his courage, shouting, “Wingardium Leviosa!” (Rowling, p. 176).

The Pirate King sees an element of regality in their impoverished and dishonest life. “It is, it is a glorious thing/To be a pirate king,” he declares (Pirates of Penzance, 1983).

Interrupt the quote with an attribution to the speaker. Again, you will need to use a comma after the verb, as well as a comma leading into the attribution.

“There is nothing either good or bad,” Hamlet argues, “but thinking makes it so” (Hamlet 2.2).

“And death shall be no more,” Donne writes, “Death thou shalt die” (“Death, Be Not Proud,” l. 14).

Dividing the quote may highlight a particular nuance of the quote’s meaning. In the first example, the division calls attention to the two parts of Hamlet’s claim. The first phrase states that nothing is inherently good or bad; the second phrase suggests that our perspective causes things to become good or bad. In the second example, the isolation of “Death thou shalt die” at the end of the sentence draws a reader’s attention to that phrase in particular. As you decide whether or not you want to break up a quote, you should consider the shift in emphasis that the division might create.

Use the words of the quote grammatically within your own sentence.

When Hamlet tells Rosencrantz that he “could be bounded in a nutshell and count [him]self a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2), he implies that thwarted ambition did not cause his depression.

Ultimately, death holds no power over Donne since in the afterlife, “death shall be no more” (“Death, Be Not Proud,” l. 14).

Note that when you use “that” after the verb that introduces the quote, you no longer need a comma.

The Pirate King argues that “it is, it is a glorious thing/to be a pirate king” (Pirates of Penzance, 1983).

How much should I quote?

As few words as possible. Remember, your paper should primarily contain your own words, so quote only the most pithy and memorable parts of sources. Here are guidelines for selecting quoted material judiciously:

Excerpt fragments.

Sometimes, you should quote short fragments, rather than whole sentences. Suppose you interviewed Jane Doe about her reaction to John F. Kennedy’s assassination. She commented:

“I couldn’t believe it. It was just unreal and so sad. It was just unbelievable. I had never experienced such denial. I don’t know why I felt so strongly. Perhaps it was because JFK was more to me than a president. He represented the hopes of young people everywhere.”

You could quote all of Jane’s comments, but her first three sentences are fairly redundant. You might instead want to quote Jane when she arrives at the ultimate reason for her strong emotions:

Jane Doe grappled with grief and disbelief. She had viewed JFK, not just as a national figurehead, but as someone who “represented the hopes of young people everywhere.”

Excerpt those fragments carefully!

Quoting the words of others carries a big responsibility. Misquoting misrepresents the ideas of others. Here’s a classic example of a misquote:

John Adams has often been quoted as having said: “This would be the best of all possible worlds if there were no religion in it.”

John Adams did, in fact, write the above words. But if you see those words in context, the meaning changes entirely. Here’s the rest of the quotation:

Twenty times, in the course of my late reading, have I been on the point of breaking out, ‘this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!!!!’ But in this exclamation, I should have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in public company—I mean hell.

As you can see from this example, context matters!

This example is from Paul F. Boller, Jr. and John George, They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions (Oxford University Press, 1989).

Use block quotations sparingly.

There may be times when you need to quote long passages. However, you should use block quotations only when you fear that omitting any words will destroy the integrity of the passage. If that passage exceeds four lines (some sources say five), then set it off as a block quotation.

Be sure you are handling block quotes correctly in papers for different academic disciplines–check the index of the citation style guide you are using. Here are a few general tips for setting off your block quotations:

• Set up a block quotation with your own words followed by a colon.
• Indent. You normally indent 4-5 spaces for the start of a paragraph. When setting up a block quotation, indent the entire paragraph once from the left-hand margin.
• Single space or double space within the block quotation, depending on the style guidelines of your discipline (MLA, CSE, APA, Chicago, etc.).
• Do not use quotation marks at the beginning or end of the block quote—the indentation is what indicates that it’s a quote.
• Place parenthetical citation according to your style guide (usually after the period following the last sentence of the quote).
• Follow up a block quotation with your own words.

So, using the above example from John Adams, here’s how you might include a block quotation:

After reading several doctrinally rigid tracts, John Adams recalled the zealous ranting of his former teacher, Joseph Cleverly, and minister, Lemuel Bryant. He expressed his ambivalence toward religion in an 1817 letter to Thomas Jefferson:

Adams clearly appreciated religion, even if he often questioned its promotion.

How do I combine quotation marks with other punctuation marks?

It can be confusing when you start combining quotation marks with other punctuation marks. You should consult a style manual for complicated situations, but the following two rules apply to most cases:

Keep periods and commas within quotation marks.

So, for example:

According to Professor Poe, werewolves “represent anxiety about the separation between human and animal,” and werewolf movies often “interrogate those boundaries.”

In the above example, both the comma and period were enclosed in the quotation marks. The main exception to this rule involves the use of internal citations, which always precede the last period of the sentence. For example:

According to Professor Poe, werewolves “represent anxiety about the separation between human and animal,” and werewolf movies often “interrogate those boundaries” (Poe 167).

Note, however, that the period remains inside the quotation marks when your citation style involves superscript footnotes or endnotes. For example:

According to Professor Poe, werewolves “represent anxiety about the separation between human and animal,” and werewolf movies often “interrogate those boundaries.” 2

Place all other punctuation marks (colons, semicolons, exclamation marks, question marks) outside the quotation marks, except when they were part of the original quotation.

Take a look at the following examples:

I couldn’t believe it when my friend passed me a note in the cafe saying the management “started charging $15 per hour for parking”!

The coach yelled, “Run!”

In the first example, the author placed the exclamation point outside the quotation mark because she added it herself to emphasize the outrageous nature of the parking price change. The original note had not included an exclamation mark. In the second example, the exclamation mark remains within the quotation mark because it is indicating the excited tone in which the coach yelled the command. Thus, the exclamation mark is considered to be part of the original quotation.

How do I indicate quotations within quotations?

If you are quoting a passage that contains a quotation, then you use single quotation marks for the internal quotation. Quite rarely, you quote a passage that has a quotation within a quotation. In that rare instance, you would use double quotation marks for the second internal quotation.

Here’s an example of a quotation within a quotation:

In “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” Hans Christian Andersen wrote, “‘But the Emperor has nothing on at all!’ cried a little child.”

Remember to consult your style guide to determine how to properly cite a quote within a quote.

When do I use those three dots ( . . . )?

Whenever you want to leave out material from within a quotation, you need to use an ellipsis, which is a series of three periods, each of which should be preceded and followed by a space. So, an ellipsis in this sentence would look like . . . this. There are a few rules to follow when using ellipses:

Be sure that you don’t fundamentally change the meaning of the quotation by omitting material.

Take a look at the following example:

“The Writing Center is located on the UNC campus and serves the entire UNC community.”

“The Writing Center . . . serves the entire UNC community.”

The reader’s understanding of the Writing Center’s mission to serve the UNC community is not affected by omitting the information about its location.

Do not use ellipses at the beginning or ending of quotations, unless it’s important for the reader to know that the quotation was truncated.

For example, using the above example, you would NOT need an ellipsis in either of these situations:

“The Writing Center is located on the UNC campus . . .”

The Writing Center ” . . . serves the entire UNC community.”

Use punctuation marks in combination with ellipses when removing material from the end of sentences or clauses.

For example, if you take material from the end of a sentence, keep the period in as usual.

“The boys ran to school, forgetting their lunches and books. Even though they were out of breath, they made it on time.”

“The boys ran to school. . . . Even though they were out of breath, they made it on time.”

Likewise, if you excerpt material at the end of clause that ends in a comma, retain the comma.

“The red car came to a screeching halt that was heard by nearby pedestrians, but no one was hurt.”

“The red car came to a screeching halt . . . , but no one was hurt.”

Is it ever okay to insert my own words or change words in a quotation?

Sometimes it is necessary for clarity and flow to alter a word or words within a quotation. You should make such changes rarely. In order to alert your reader to the changes you’ve made, you should always bracket the altered words. Here are a few examples of situations when you might need brackets:

Changing verb tense or pronouns in order to be consistent with the rest of the sentence.

Suppose you were quoting a woman who, when asked about her experiences immigrating to the United States, commented “nobody understood me.” You might write:

Esther Hansen felt that when she came to the United States “nobody understood [her].”

In the above example, you’ve changed “me” to “her” in order to keep the entire passage in third person. However, you could avoid the need for this change by simply rephrasing:

“Nobody understood me,” recalled Danish immigrant Esther Hansen.

Including supplemental information that your reader needs in order to understand the quotation.

For example, if you were quoting someone’s nickname, you might want to let your reader know the full name of that person in brackets.

“The principal of the school told Billy [William Smith] that his contract would be terminated.”

Similarly, if a quotation referenced an event with which the reader might be unfamiliar, you could identify that event in brackets.

“We completely revised our political strategies after the strike [of 1934].”

Indicating the use of nonstandard grammar or spelling.

In rare situations, you may quote from a text that has nonstandard grammar, spelling, or word choice. In such cases, you may want to insert [sic], which means “thus” or “so” in Latin. Using [sic] alerts your reader to the fact that this nonstandard language is not the result of a typo on your part. Always italicize “sic” and enclose it in brackets. There is no need to put a period at the end. Here’s an example of when you might use [sic]:

Twelve-year-old Betsy Smith wrote in her diary, “Father is afraid that he will be guilty of beach [sic] of contract.”

Here [sic] indicates that the original author wrote “beach of contract,” not breach of contract, which is the accepted terminology.

Do not overuse brackets!

For example, it is not necessary to bracket capitalization changes that you make at the beginning of sentences. For example, suppose you were going to use part of this quotation:

“The colors scintillated curiously over a hard carapace, and the beetle’s tiny antennae made gentle waving motions as though saying hello.”

If you wanted to begin a sentence with an excerpt from the middle of this quotation, there would be no need to bracket your capitalization changes.

“The beetle’s tiny antennae made gentle waving motions as though saying hello,” said Dr. Grace Farley, remembering a defining moment on her journey to becoming an entomologist.

Not: “[T]he beetle’s tiny antennae made gentle waving motions as though saying hello,” said Dr. Grace Farley, remembering a defining moment on her journey to becoming an entomologist.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Barzun, Jacques, and Henry F. Graff. 2012. The Modern Researcher , 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Joseph Bizup, and William T. FitzGerald. 2016. The Craft of Research , 4th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Gibaldi, Joseph. 2009. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers , 7th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.

Turabian, Kate. 2018. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, Dissertations , 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Essays About Quotes: Top 5 Examples and 7 Prompts

Quotes are essential to relay a speaker’s exact words to avoid changing their meaning. See our essays about quotes examples, including prompts for your writing.

Quotes are phases, short passages, and sentences copied from original speeches or books. In writing, there are two primary purposes of quotations: to give information and to inspire. Usually, motivational and inspiring quotes are applied in journals, while quotations and citations are for essays. 

Some quotes can be misinterpreted because of a lack of context, so make sure you research the roots of your quote before you include them in your papers. To write an essay about quotes, you must explore their different applications and incorporate their importance.

5 Essay Examples

1. essay on quotes by anonymous on toppr.com, 2. religious quotes on poverty and their interpretations essay by anonymous on ivypanda.com, 3. words as a very powerful device: quotes and sayings by anonymous on edubirdie.com, 4. how emerson’s quote has changed my life by anonymous on eduzaurus.com, 5. ender’s game quotes by writer barney, 1. what is a quote, 2. my favorite positive quote, 3. what is a wisdom quote, 4. love quotes that strengthen my relationship, 5. inspirational quote from my favorite character, 6. does a quote change a person, 7. how i use quotes in my writing.

“People like to read well-written quotes. This is because quotes are concise sentences that have the capability to awaken motivation, wisdom, inspiration and happiness. Reading a good quote is akin to eating a slice of a delicious cake or a piece of good chocolate.”

Quotes can motivate, inspire, and encourage people to take action. In this essay, the author says quotes are meaningful because they can lift your mood and can help us to see the bright side of every bad situation. They also improve perception and self-confidence, reducing stress and anxiety during challenging times in life.

The writer also mentions that to make an impressive speech, post, or writing, you must practice writing quotations. The quotes should always convey the central message of the speaker succinctly so the audience can easily understand them. The chosen quotes should be catchy and exciting, with proper usage of metaphors, and adequately demonstrate the writer’s intelligence level. You might also be interested in our list of quotes about communication .

“This quote questions whether a life of luxury is truly worth the number of lives that could have been saved if the money had gone to them instead.”

This essay contains three passages from St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and Mother Teresa that criticize the rich. The piece highlights a specific word or phrase to adequately explain the three quotes’ meaning to the readers. 

The excerpt above is part of the author’s explanation of Mother Theresa’s quote , where they interpret “living as you wish” as a person’s expensive but unnecessary lifestyle. According to the writer, Mother Theresa wants to convey that there are other ways to spend the money that rich people have. They explain that instead of eating in fancy restaurants, traveling abroad, buying big mansions, and spending on worldly things, it is better to donate and help save other people’s lives.

“Both will want to impress their new in-laws, create a good impression with their guests, and honor their new spouse as well. There’s also the fact that weddings are an emotional occasion, especially if you’re the one who’s getting married. While putting all of these together may sound like a tall order, they can deliver it using wedding quotes and sayings.”

Throughout the essay, the writer guides the reader on creating an organized, beautiful, and meaningful wedding speech with quotes. The author notes that at a wedding, the first speaker, usually the husband, will thank all the guests and entourage for attending and helping with the wedding, the parents, and finally, their spouse.

It’s a nerve-cracking task because the speaker should impress everyone at the celebration. The essay recommends using wedding quotes available on the internet or bible verses to help deliver the speech. The writer reminds us that the speech should only have a few quotes to avoid confusing the audience.

“… A quote written by Ralph Waldo Emerson states. ‘The power which resides in him is new nature, and none but he knows what that he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.’ This quote is stating that you will not know what you like nor what you are good at until you have tried.”

Emerson’s quote talks about peoples’ hidden talent that is not yet known, even to them. This quote resonates with the author, and they explain it throughout the essay. Emerson’s penchant for writing quotes about taking risks and trying new things led the author to change schools and leave the people he grew up with.

Although the writer is afraid of the new social challenge, with the good influence of Emerson’s words, they gritted through the difficult first days until they adjusted to the new environment. Since then, the author was no longer afraid to try new things as they learned to trust themselves and be more optimistic.

“There is not teacher but the enemy. This quote from the book taught me that, you could learn from anyone, even the people you hate and consider your enemy.”

Barney picks three quotes from “ The Ender’s Game ” book and shares what he learned from each passage. He says that the lines he chose taught him many things related to real-life situations, such as lying. He explains that sometimes people don’t lie on purpose, but they unconsciously do it as they believe it is the best thing to do. Ultimately, the essay shows how quotes from fiction books still offer knowledge we can use in the natural world

7 Prompts for Essays About Quotes

A quote is the repetition of the exact words spoken and written by someone. Briefly explain its origin, meaning, and its use in different types of writing. Then use a specific form of writing to focus on, for example, essays. Discuss the common reasons writers include quotations in their essays, the dos and don’ts, and the advantages and disadvantages of adding quotes that every writer should know.

Check out our article on why to write quotes for a list of motives you can expand on in your essay.

We all have positive words that inspire us. Use this prompt to share the ultimate positive quote that significantly impacts your life. Discuss who it was from, how you first saw or read it, and why you liked it. Explain your interpretation of this quote and how you apply its message to your life choices.

Being wise means making decisions based on your knowledge and experiences. For this prompt, choose at least three well-known wisdom passages most can recognize and explain them individually. Then, discuss how effectively these quotes give someone wisdom and change their perception of life. Include the action these quotes inspire and how to put them into practice.

Whether you’re looking for a proposal idea, words to add to your love letters, or something to clear your mind during a complicated relationship, love quotes can help you. To write this essay, choose at least five love quotes from your notes and interpret them individually. Then discuss how these words guided you in managing your romantic relationships.

To help you pick your next essay topic, check out our top topics about love .

Our favorite quotes come from characters we most relate to, so in this prompt, focus on the character you connect with the most and pick a quote they said that resonates with your beliefs and personality. 

An example: Edna Mode of The Incredibles once said, “I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now.” Her forward-thinking makes her a fantastic character, and her excerpts remind me not to wallow in my past mistakes to better myself today. 

Don Yaeger from Forbes said that meaningful quotes affect his life and those around him. Share your opinion on this statement and whether a simple quote can have that much power. Back up your argument with relevant information and studies to persuade your readers to believe you.

Quotes are essential to ensure there’s no room for misinterpretation. For this prompt, share how you prefer quotes in your pieces besides their grammatical explanation. For instance, you can say you like using quotes at the beginning of your writing to pique your readers’ interest and encourage them to keep reading. Explain your process of picking a quote and other ways you incorporate it in your papers. If you are interested in learning more, check out our essay writing tips !

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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21 Killer GRE Essay Quotes You Should Be Using Right Now

By Jitta Raghavender Rao • GRE Writing

“[A] quotation is a handy thing to have about, saving one the trouble of thinking for oneself, always a laborious business.” – A.A. Milne

Chances are you too know a few famous quotes, but you probably don’t use them. I know so, because I’m guilty of neglecting quotes on the GRE.

So, why should you use essay quotes on the GRE?  To start with, the right use of quotes in essays augments the power of your arguments and makes your essays appear more convincing. Plus, essays with quotes tend to score better than essays without them, because of the initial impact the use of quotes create on the reader, and help strengthen your point.

But we need to exercise prudence. Only use quotes as is, if you are convinced that paraphrasing would lower the impact or change the meaning of the original author’s words or when the argument could not be better expressed or said more succinctly.

Here is how you make sure you are doing it right.

How do I incorporate quotes into my essay?

At times, an essay can appear painfully discorded if the quotations are out of place or if the essay is too stuffed with quotes.

So, what should you do to avoid this?

A great quote plays one or more roles from the following:

• creates the initial impact on the essay grader
• makes your essay look more promising and interesting
• establishes credibility
• concludes the essay with a point to contemplate

If the quote doesn’t serve any of the above then you are forcing it into the essay and this could do more harm than good.

You should start writing your essay with a quote that lays foundation to the main idea behind the essay. This can have a major impact on the evaluator. You can also comment on the quotation in this introductory paragraph if you wish. Either way, to get a perfect score on the GRE essay, use a relevant quote strategically but don’t force it into the essay.

Can I alter the structure of the quotation?

Using the exact words from the original source is called quoting. You should quote when you believe that the way the original author expresses an idea is the most effective way to communicate the point you wish to make. If you want to borrow an idea from the author but don’t put the idea in their exact words, then it’s called paraphrasing. (but remember that you still have to cite the original author even when you are paraphrasing)

For example, Ronald Reagan said, “Trust, but verify.” You can alter the quotation on your own according to the passage, by saying: ‘To paraphrase Ronald Reagan’s famous quote, “It is easier to trust when you can verify.”‘ By doing this, you are not only citing the original author, but also gaining extra points for using your own version of the quote.

How many quotes should I use?

If you deploy a lot of quotations in your essay, it appears as though several people are talking about the topic apart from yourself. This would downplay your own voice and leaves little room for your own ideas. It is your essay and it should be your voice that needs to be heard, not some notable/famous person’s. Quote as infrequently as possible. So, don’t cram every quote you know into the essay. As a rule of thumb, refrain from using more than 2 quotes in any essay. (One in the introductory paragraph and the other if necessary in the conclusion)

How do I introduce the quote in my own words?

The last thing you would want is get your score cancelled on account of plagiarism. It’s highly recommended that you cite the author of the quotation. If you don’t cite, you may give the impression that you claim to be the original author and that could result in plagiarism. You should place the quote in double quotation marks. Here is an example usage citing the author:

Thomas Jefferson once said “The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object.”

Categorization of GRE Essay Topics

The fascinating thing about the GRE essay topics is that they’re already published on the official ETS website. This may sound crazy because giving out the questions in advance is not normal. Now, use this to your advantage. You can find all the GRE essay topics on the official ETS website .

But there’s a catch! You were expecting a few, right?

Well, there are close to 200 topics in all – far too many to practice responses in advance. Also, practicing each of these topics is not advisable as it is going to take a lot of time and effort and there is no point in mugging them up. You could as well spend this time on learning some math. However, there’s a good news. Just scanning through these two lists will give you an excellent idea of the types of issues and arguments that show up on test day.

I just made things a bit easy for you, though. Most of the topics that show up on the GRE essay section can be broadly grouped into five categories.

• Government/Politics
• Sciences and Technology

So, next time when you practice writing an essay response, make sure you write at least one essay from each of these categories. And memorize a few quotes related to each one of these topics, as they will be handy.

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List of most useful essay quotes

I’ve compiled a list of easy-to-digest quotes that should help you write the perfect essay. Bookmark this page NOW for future reference.

The following quotes from great thinkers have been selected based on their relevance to common GRE essay topics and for their ease of usage.

• The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance – Socrates
• A people that value its privileges above its principles soon loses both – Dwight D. Eisenhower
• In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is – Yogi Berra
• A little inaccuracy can sometimes save a ton of explanation – H.H Munro
• Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction – E. F. Schumacher
• A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually – Abba Eban
• Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good – Mohandas Gandhi
• Whatever government is not a government of laws, is a despotism, let it be called what it may – Daniel Webster
• Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws – Plato
• Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing – Theodore Roosevelt
• It is dangerous to be right, when the government is wrong – Voltaire
• The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object – Thomas Jefferson
• No nation is fit to sit in judgment upon any other nation – Woodrow Wilson (28th U.S President)
• The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work – Emile Zola
• The world is full of educated derelicts – Calvin Coolidge
• A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a change to get its pants on – Winston Churchill
• It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog – Mark Twain
• Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your heart’s desire, the other is to get it – Socrates
• If women didn’t exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning – Aristotle Onasis
• Men are not disturbed by things, but the view they take of things – Epictetus
• As a rule, men worry more about what they can’t see than about what they can – Julius Caesar

Now, these are a handful of quotes. The goal is to memorize 5 or 6 of your favorite quotes so you’ll be able to contextually fit one into the essay on the test day. While practicing, you may look at the list of quotes found above however, if you can remember a specific quote apposite to your essay topic, try to use it – one quote for every essay.

For those avid writers, who believe the number of quotes above are too low, we have the right tool for you. Ellipsoid created a random quote generator tool that draws 5 famous quotes from Goodreads every time you reload the page. The good news is these 5 quotes are always theme based so you know where to use them.

Writing essays isn’t all about the substance. It’s the basics that many of us forget. If you are going to put in the time to practice writing essays, might as well maximize the score you could get by deploying a quote in your essays.

So, what’s your favorite quote?

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20 Comments to “21 Killer GRE Essay Quotes You Should Be Using Right Now”

i think it is difficult to remember even these 21 quotes in the exam. any tips to remember them will be helpful. thanks

Yes, it is rather difficult to remember all the 21 quotes, which is why we asked you to pick a few of your favorite ones from the list. Plus, the only way you can remember these quotes is by using them while you practice AWA essays.

Happy Studying! 🙂

I personally memorize the ones that can be useful in more than one topic, and as said learn the ones you like most.

Quote number 5… oh, Albert. You make my bricks fall off. As to you, Mr. Kaundinya, I might win a brand spankin’ new tablet thanks to your quotes. I’m sure my D.A.R.E essay will be awesome.

I found that they are advantageous,but i don’t think that i can get used of them in a short time.

thnx for these awesome quotes guys.i’m damn sure that the’ll help a looooooooot in improving my skills.

Super glad to know they helped you, Bhavya! Hope you’ll kill some essays with these quotes now. 🙂

It is really helpful

It Is Realy Inspiring $ Motivating I Am So Interested To It!

Thenks A Heap It Is Realy Inspiring And Motivating!

Yeah…awesome list

I must say you have high quality content here. Your content can go viral.

Thanks for your updates. I love your all status updates. Can you please update more for facebook . I am a big fan of you. I am waiting for your reply.

Wow! This is the fantastic technique to use quotes in essay, because this think bring something new in essay writing. I’m big fan of your after reading this article.

Very helpful

I liked those quotes

Those quotes are amazing….. I’m sure that it it will help in writting essays

Glad it helped, Merin! Feel free to message us if you have any questions! 🙂

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Tips for Writing an Effective Application Essay

How to Write an Effective Essay

Writing an essay for college admission gives you a chance to use your authentic voice and show your personality. It's an excellent opportunity to personalize your application beyond your academic credentials, and a well-written essay can have a positive influence come decision time.

Want to know how to draft an essay for your college application ? Here are some tips to keep in mind when writing.

Tips for Essay Writing

A typical college application essay, also known as a personal statement, is 400-600 words. Although that may seem short, writing about yourself can be challenging. It's not something you want to rush or put off at the last moment. Think of it as a critical piece of the application process. Follow these tips to write an impactful essay that can work in your favor.

1. Start Early.

Few people write well under pressure. Try to complete your first draft a few weeks before you have to turn it in. Many advisers recommend starting as early as the summer before your senior year in high school. That way, you have ample time to think about the prompt and craft the best personal statement possible.

You don't have to work on your essay every day, but you'll want to give yourself time to revise and edit. You may discover that you want to change your topic or think of a better way to frame it. Either way, the sooner you start, the better.

2. Understand the Prompt and Instructions.

Before you begin the writing process, take time to understand what the college wants from you. The worst thing you can do is skim through the instructions and submit a piece that doesn't even fit the bare minimum requirements or address the essay topic. Look at the prompt, consider the required word count, and note any unique details each school wants.

3. Create a Strong Opener.

Students seeking help for their application essays often have trouble getting things started. It's a challenging writing process. Finding the right words to start can be the hardest part.

Spending more time working on your opener is always a good idea. The opening sentence sets the stage for the rest of your piece. The introductory paragraph is what piques the interest of the reader, and it can immediately set your essay apart from the others.

4. Stay on Topic.

One of the most important things to remember is to keep to the essay topic. If you're applying to 10 or more colleges, it's easy to veer off course with so many application essays.

A common mistake many students make is trying to fit previously written essays into the mold of another college's requirements. This seems like a time-saving way to avoid writing new pieces entirely, but it often backfires. The result is usually a final piece that's generic, unfocused, or confusing. Always write a new essay for every application, no matter how long it takes.

5. Think About Your Response.

Don't try to guess what the admissions officials want to read. Your essay will be easier to write─and more exciting to read─if you’re genuinely enthusiastic about your subject. Here’s an example: If all your friends are writing application essays about covid-19, it may be a good idea to avoid that topic, unless during the pandemic you had a vivid, life-changing experience you're burning to share. Whatever topic you choose, avoid canned responses. Be creative.

6. Focus on You.

Essay prompts typically give you plenty of latitude, but panel members expect you to focus on a subject that is personal (although not overly intimate) and particular to you. Admissions counselors say the best essays help them learn something about the candidate that they would never know from reading the rest of the application.

7. Stay True to Your Voice.

Use your usual vocabulary. Avoid fancy language you wouldn't use in real life. Imagine yourself reading this essay aloud to a classroom full of people who have never met you. Keep a confident tone. Be wary of words and phrases that undercut that tone.

8. Be Specific and Factual.

Capitalize on real-life experiences. Your essay may give you the time and space to explain why a particular achievement meant so much to you. But resist the urge to exaggerate and embellish. Admissions counselors read thousands of essays each year. They can easily spot a fake.

9. Edit and Proofread.

When you finish the final draft, run it through the spell checker on your computer. Then don’t read your essay for a few days. You'll be more apt to spot typos and awkward grammar when you reread it. After that, ask a teacher, parent, or college student (preferably an English or communications major) to give it a quick read. While you're at it, double-check your word count.

Writing essays for college admission can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be. A well-crafted essay could be the deciding factor─in your favor. Keep these tips in mind, and you'll have no problem creating memorable pieces for every application.

What is the format of a college application essay?

Generally, essays for college admission follow a simple format that includes an opening paragraph, a lengthier body section, and a closing paragraph. You don't need to include a title, which will only take up extra space. Keep in mind that the exact format can vary from one college application to the next. Read the instructions and prompt for more guidance.

Most online applications will include a text box for your essay. If you're attaching it as a document, however, be sure to use a standard, 12-point font and use 1.5-spaced or double-spaced lines, unless the application specifies different font and spacing.

How do you start an essay?

The goal here is to use an attention grabber. Think of it as a way to reel the reader in and interest an admissions officer in what you have to say. There's no trick on how to start a college application essay. The best way you can approach this task is to flex your creative muscles and think outside the box.

You can start with openers such as relevant quotes, exciting anecdotes, or questions. Either way, the first sentence should be unique and intrigue the reader.

What should an essay include?

Every application essay you write should include details about yourself and past experiences. It's another opportunity to make yourself look like a fantastic applicant. Leverage your experiences. Tell a riveting story that fulfills the prompt.

What shouldn’t be included in an essay?

When writing a college application essay, it's usually best to avoid overly personal details and controversial topics. Although these topics might make for an intriguing essay, they can be tricky to express well. If you’re unsure if a topic is appropriate for your essay, check with your school counselor. An essay for college admission shouldn't include a list of achievements or academic accolades either. Your essay isn’t meant to be a rehashing of information the admissions panel can find elsewhere in your application.

How can you make your essay personal and interesting?

The best way to make your essay interesting is to write about something genuinely important to you. That could be an experience that changed your life or a valuable lesson that had an enormous impact on you. Whatever the case, speak from the heart, and be honest.

Is it OK to discuss mental health in an essay?

Mental health struggles can create challenges you must overcome during your education and could be an opportunity for you to show how you’ve handled challenges and overcome obstacles. If you’re considering writing your essay for college admission on this topic, consider talking to your school counselor or with an English teacher on how to frame the essay.

Related Articles

• Integrating Direct Quotations into Your Writing

by acburton | Mar 21, 2024 | Resources for Students , Writing Resources

If you’ve ever had a professor ask you to “use quotes” or quote other texts in your writing before, you know that it’s no easy task. It can feel awkward sometimes to determine what parts of the text are worth quoting, as well as how to directly quote in your writing without sounding too formulaic or repetitive. Keep reading for some strategies on effectively using direct quotations in your next writing project!

Why do I need to know how to directly quote?

If you’ve seen our blog post on “Quoting Directly,” you know that using direct quotations (or “quotes”) in our writing can be useful for a variety of reasons. By quoting other credible, relevant sources in our own writing projects, we can provide more convincing evidence and reasoning for our own ideas. Direct quotations are a type of support we can provide for our own arguments and claims, as it demonstrates to our readers that other writers agree with what we have to say.

What are different ways to directly quote in my writing so that I don’t sound repetitive?

A common way to integrate “quotes” in our writing is with the use of a signal phrase , which is a short phrase that indicates to readers that the writer is about to introduce another source. For example, we often use the phrase “According to” as a common signal phrase for introducing quotations. However, if we were to use “According to” for every single quotation in our essays, our writing would start to sound awfully repetitive and potentially boring or uninteresting.

So, here are some different approaches you can take for integrating direct quotations to have more variety and style in your writing!

1. Use a signal phrase to introduce the quotation

The two most commonly used signal phrases only require a couple of words, primarily a verb and the author’s name:

• The introductory phrase: “According to (author’s name and/or title of source),”. e.g., “According to Ahmed,” or “According to Ulmer in Internet Invention ,”.

After a signal phrase, you can quote from the text directly. Here are some important reminders to keep in mind whenever you directly quote another source in your own writing:

•  Use quotation marks “ “ and copy the passage exactly as it appears in the original text. If there is a grammatical or spelling error in the original source, you can use [sic] to cue to your reader that you did not make the mistake and are intentionally quoting the source material (for more on using [sic] in direct quotations, see our post on Quoting Directly ).
• Long Quotations in MLA format
• Long Quotations in APA format

Note: You can also use a signal phrase after the direct quotation for more variety in your sentence structure and style. You’d follow the same rules, except the quotation would come first, followed by your ‘says’ verb and the author.

It is usually better to lead with the author’s name and a ‘says’ verb because this introduces where the quotation is coming from (ensuring your reader is not confused) and is written in active voice, which is more direct and concise.

Example According to Melissa Dahl, “[Cringe is] the intense visceral reaction produced by an awkward moment, an unpleasant kind of self-recognition where you suddenly see yourself through someone else’s eyes. It’s a forced moment of self-awareness, and it usually makes you cognizant of the disappointing fact that you aren’t measuring up to your own self-concept” (Wynn).

While this is a direct quotation attributed to author Melissa Dahl, the in-text citation is credited to (Wynn) because the writer found this quotation in an original source published by Natalie Wynn. If you directly quote an author or writer whose work is quoted by another source, you cite the source that “houses” the passage. In other words, you cite the author who introduced you to the work. You can still credit the original author by introducing them in your signal phrase, as shown in the example above, but make sure your in-text citation credits the source you found the passage in.

2. Summarize the main ideas of the quotation to create a framework for the quotation, then use a colon to present the quotation.

For this method, you would provide a concise overview of the main ideas from the passage you wish to quote as a way of contextualizing what the source is about. This provides a helpful framework for the reader to understand the purpose and meaning of your quote better.

Example In Rebecca Solnit’s Wanderlust: A History of Walking, she raises several theoretical and philosophical viewpoints concerning both the act of walking, or flânerie, and the walker, or flâneur. On escapism, Solnit posits: “In the city, one is alone because the world is made up of strangers, and to be a stranger surrounded by strangers, to walk along silently bearing one’s secrets and imagining those of the people one passes, is among the starkest of luxuries” (23).

3. Blend a shorter quotation into your own sentence structure

This is the best method to use if you have only a short passage, some key words, or a specific phrase you want to quote in your writing. For this method, you want to build your own original sentence that leads up to the key ideas in your short quotation to blend it together as one cohesive sentence.

Example Within a participatory culture, individuals are often gathered together as a community due to shared interest networks, like video games, in which “members believe that their contributions matter” and there is “some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices” (Jenkins 7).

Practice in the Writing Center

For more support and guidance on directly quoting, make an appointment with us here at the Writing Center! We can help you integrate “quotes” into your writing projects effectively and with style so that your support is interesting and convincing to readers.

For further reading, check out these resources from the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) International Association:

• Integrate Quotations in Writing, by Carla Mannix (2017)
• List of Reporting Verbs, from University of Technology Sydney

***Adapted from TESOL International Association Handout “Integrate Quotations in Writing” by Carla Mannix, Nov. 2017

Our Newest Resources!

• Transitioning to Long-form Writing
• Developing a Research Question
• Nurturing a Growth Mindset to Overcome Writing Challenges and Develop Confidence in College Level Writing
• An Introduction to Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting

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Open Letters: Our New Opinion-Writing Contest

We invite students to write public-facing letters to people or groups about issues that matter to them. Contest dates: March 13 to May 1.

By The Learning Network

What’s bothering you? Who could do something about it? What could you say to them that would persuade them to care, or to make change?

And … what if we all read your letter? How could you make us care too?

These are some of the questions we’re asking you to ponder for our new Open Letter Contest. An open letter is a published letter of protest or appeal usually addressed to an individual, group or institution but intended for the general public. Think of the many “Dear Taylor Swift” open letters you can find online and on social media: Sure, they’re addressed to Ms. Swift, but they’re really a way for the writer to share opinions and feelings on feminism, or ticket sales, or the music industry, or … the list goes on.

As you might already know if you’ve read Martin Luther King’s famous Letter From Birmingham Jail , an open letter is a literary device. Though it seems on the surface to be intended for just one individual or group, and therefore usually reads like a personal letter (and can make readers feel they are somehow “listening in” on private thoughts), it is really a persuasive essay addressed to the public. This recent letter signed by over 1,000 tech leaders about the dangers of A.I. , this funny 2020 letter addressed to Harry and Meghan , and this video letter from young Asian Americans to their families about Black Lives Matter are all examples of the tradition.

Now we’re inviting you to try it yourself. Write your own open letter, to anyone you like on any issue you care about, as long as it is also appropriate and meaningful for a general Times audience.

Whom should you write to? What should you say? How do open letters work?

The rules and FAQ below, along with our Student Opinion forum and related how-to guide , can walk you through ways to get started.

This is a new contest and we expect questions. Please ask any you have in the comments and we’ll answer you there, or write to us at [email protected]. And, consider hanging this PDF one-page announcement on your class bulletin board.

Here’s what you need to know:

The challenge, a few rules, resources for students and teachers, frequently asked questions, submission form.

Write an open letter to a specific audience that calls attention to an issue or problem and prompts reflection or action on it.

Whether you choose to write to your parents, teachers, school board members or mayor; a member of Congress; the head of a corporation; an artist or entertainer; or a metonym like “Silicon Valley” or “The Kremlin,” ask yourself, What do I care about? Who can make changes, big or small, local or global, to address my issue or problem? What specifically do I want my audience to understand or do? And how can I write this as an “open letter,” compelling not just to me and the recipient, but to the general audience who will be reading my words?

The Times has published numerous open letters over the years, to both famous and ordinary people. You can find a long list of free examples in our related guide .

This contest invites students to express themselves and imagine that their words can lead to real change.

Your open letter MUST:

Focus on an issue you care about and with which you have some experience. You can write about almost anything you like, whether it’s a serious issue like bullying , or something more lighthearted like why bugs deserve respect , but we have found over the years that the most interesting student writing grows out of personal experience. Our related Student Opinion forum and how-to guide can help you come up with ideas.

Address a specific audience relevant to the issue. Choose an individual, group, organization or institution who is in a position to make change or promote understanding about your topic.

Call for action, whether the change you seek is something tangible , like asking Congress to enact a law or demanding a company stop a harmful practice, or something more abstract, like inviting your audience to reflect on something they may have never considered.

Be suitable and compelling for a wide general audience . An open letter simultaneously addresses an explicit recipient — whether Joe Biden or your gym teacher — as well as us, the general public, your implicit audience. Though your letter might seem to be meant just for one person, it is really trying to persuade all readers. Make sure you write it in such a way that it is relevant, understandable, appropriate and meaningful for anyone who might come across it in The New York Times. (Again, our related guide can help.)

Be written as a letter, in a voice and tone that is appropriate for both your audience and purpose. Are you simply taking an argumentative essay you’ve written for school already and slapping a “Dear X” on top of it and a “Sincerely, Y” on the bottom? No. A letter — even an open letter — is different from a formal essay, and your writing should reflect that. Can you be informal? Funny? If that makes sense for your purpose and audience, then yes, please.

Our related guide, and the many examples we link to, can help you think about this, but we hope the format of a letter will let you loosen up a bit and express yourself in your natural voice. (For example, you’ll be writing as “I” or “we,” and addressing your letter’s recipient as “you.”)

Also attempt to persuade a general audience. Though it is written in the form of a letter, it is an opinion piece, and you are trying to make a case and support it with evidence, as you would any argument. Remember that you are trying to change hearts and minds, so you’ll be drawing on the same rhetorical strategies as you might have for our long-running editorial contest . (Again, more on this in the related guide .)

Make your case in 460 words or fewer. Your title and sources are not part of the word count.

Inform with evidence from at least two sources, including one from The Times and one from outside The Times. We hope this contest encourages you to deepen your understanding of your topic by using multiple sources, ideally ones that offer a range of perspectives. Just make sure those sources are trustworthy .

Because this is a letter, not a formal essay, we are not asking you to provide in-text citations, but we will be asking you to list the sources you used — as many as you like — in a separate field that does not contribute to your word count. Keep in mind, however, that if you include evidence from those sources, our readers (and judges) should always be able to tell where it came from. Be careful to put quotations around any direct quotes you use, and cite the source of anything you paraphrase.

In addition to the guidelines above, here are a few more details:

You must be a student ages 13 to 19 in middle school or high school to participate , and all students must have parent or guardian permission to enter. Please see the F.A.Q. section for additional eligibility details.

The writing you submit should be fundamentally your own — it should not be plagiarized, created by someone else or generated by artificial intelligence.

Your open letter should be original for this contest. That means it should not already have been published at the time of submission, whether in a school newspaper, for another contest or anywhere else.

Keep in mind that the work you send in should be appropriate for a Times audience — that is, something that could be published in a family newspaper (so, please, no curse words).

You may work alone or in groups , but students should submit only one entry each.

You must also submit a short, informal “artist’s statement” as part of your submission, that describes your writing and research process. These statements, which will not be used to choose finalists, help us to design and refine our contests. See the F.A.Q. to learn more.

All entries must be submitted by May 1, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time using the electronic form at the bottom of this page.

Use these resources to help you write your open letter:

Our step-by-step guide : To be used by students or teachers, this guide walks you through the process of writing an open letter.

A list of free examples of open letters published both in and outside The New York Times, which you can find in our step-by-step guide .

A writing prompt: To Whom Would You Write an Open Letter? This prompt offers students a “rehearsal space” for thinking about to whom they’d like to write, the reason they’re writing and why they think that issue is important — not only for the recipient but also for a wider audience.

Argumentative writing prompts: We publish new argumentative writing prompts for students each week in our Student Opinion and Picture Prompt columns. You can find them all, as they publish, here , or many of them, organized by topic, in our new collection of over 300 prompts .

Argumentative writing unit: This unit includes writing prompts, lesson plans, webinars and mentor texts. While it was originally written to support our Student Editorial Contest , the resources can help students make compelling arguments, cite reliable evidence and use rhetorical strategies for their open letters as well.

Our contest rubric : This is the rubric judges will use as they read submissions to this contest.

Below are answers to your questions about writing, judging, the rules and teaching with this contest. Please read these thoroughly and, if you still can’t find what you’re looking for, post your query in the comments or write to us at [email protected].

Questions About Writing

How is this contest different from your long-running Editorial Contest? Can we still use those materials?

For a decade we ran an editorial contest , and the students who participated wrote passionately about all kinds of things — A.I. , fast fashion , race , trans rights , college admissions , parental incarceration , fan fiction , snow days , memes , being messy and so much more . You can still write about the issues and ideas that fire you up — it’s just that this time around you’ll be framing your work as a letter to a person who has the power to make change on or bring understanding to that issue.

Our related guide has more about the differences between a traditional opinion essay and an open letter, but the many materials we developed for that earlier contest are also woven into the guide, as concepts like ethos, logos and pathos are still very much relevant to this challenge.

I have no idea what to write about. Where should I start?

Our Student Opinion forum can help via its many questions that encourage you to brainstorm both the audience you might write to and the topics you’d like to address.

Can I actually send my open letter?

You can! Just wait until after you have submitted your work to us to do so. (As always for our contests, you retain the copyright to the piece you submit, and can do whatever you like with it.)

Questions About Judging

How will my open letter be judged?

Your work will be read by New York Times journalists, as well as by Learning Network staff members and educators from around the United States. We will use this rubric to judge entries.

What’s the “prize”?

Having your work published on The Learning Network and being eligible to have your work published in the print New York Times.

When will the winners be announced?

About 8-10 weeks after the contest has closed.

My piece wasn’t selected as a winner. Can you tell me why?

We typically receive thousands of entries for our contests, so unfortunately, our team does not have the capacity to provide individual feedback on each student’s work.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RULES

Who is eligible to participate in this contest?

This contest is open to students ages 13 to 19 who are in middle school or high school around the world. College students cannot submit an entry. However, high school students (including high school postgraduate students) who are taking one or more college classes can participate. Students attending their first year of a two-year CEGEP in Quebec Province can also participate. In addition, students age 19 or under who have completed high school but are taking a gap year or are otherwise not enrolled in college can participate.

The children and stepchildren of New York Times employees are not eligible to enter this contest. Nor are students who live in the same household as those employees.

Can I have someone else check my work?

We understand that students will often revise their work based on feedback from teachers and peers. That is allowed for this contest. However, be sure that the final submission reflects the ideas, voice and writing ability of the student, not someone else.

Do I need a Works Cited page?

Yes. We provide you with a separate field to list the sources you used to inform or write your open letter. You’re allowed to format your list however you want; we will not judge your entry based on formatting in this section. Internal citations in your letter are not necessary.

Why are you asking for an Artist’s Statement about our process? What will you do with it?

All of us who work on The Learning Network are former teachers. One of the many things we miss, now that we work in a newsroom rather than a classroom, is being able to see how students are reacting to our “assignments” in real time — and to offer help, or tweaks, to make those assignments better. We’re asking you to reflect on what you did and why, and what was hard or easy about it, in large part so that we can improve our contests and the curriculum we create to support them. This is especially important for new contests, like this one.

Another reason? We have heard from many teachers that writing these statements is immensely helpful to students. Stepping back from a piece and trying to put into words what you wanted to express, and why and how you made artistic choices to do that, can help you see your piece anew and figure out how to make it stronger. For our staff, they offer important context that help us understand individual students and submissions, and learn more about the conditions under which students around the world create.

Whom can I contact if I have questions about this contest or am having issues submitting my entry?

Leave a comment on this post or write to us at [email protected].

QUESTIONS ABOUT TEACHING WITH THIS CONTEST

Do my students need a New York Times subscription to access these resources?

No. All of the resources on The Learning Network are free.

If your students don’t have a subscription to The New York Times, they can also get access to Times pieces through The Learning Network . All the activities for students on our site, including mentor texts and writing prompts, plus the Times articles they link to, are free. Students can search for articles using the search tool on our home page.

How do my students prove to me that they entered this contest?

After they press “Submit” on the form below, they will see a “Thank you for your submission.” line appear. They can take a screenshot of this message. Please note: Our system does not currently send confirmation emails.

Please read the following carefully before you submit:

Students who are 13 and older in the United States or the United Kingdom, or 16 and older elsewhere in the world, can submit their own entries. Those who are 13 to 15 and live outside the United States or the United Kingdom must have an adult submit on their behalf.

All students who are under 18 must provide a parent or guardian’s permission to enter.

You will not receive email confirmation of your submission. After you submit, you will see the message “Thank you for your submission.” That means we received your entry. If you need proof of entry for your teacher, please screenshot that message.

If you have questions about your submission, please write to us at [email protected] and provide the email address you used for submission.

Some American leaders love foreign dictators. Should they look closer to home?

Jacob heilbrunn’s ‘america last’ highlights a periodic pining for strongmen; in ‘illiberal america,’ steven hahn says it runs even deeper in our history.

On March 8, Donald Trump hosted Viktor Orbán — the prime minister of Hungary, who has cracked down on LGBTQ rights, immigration and democracy — at Mar-a-Lago. “There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orbán,” the former president gushed. “He’s the boss!” After an hour-long meeting at Trump’s resort-slash-fiefdom, Orbán accompanied him to a “members only” concert featuring a Beatles cover band.

Conservative enthusiasm for Orbán is not new. Since 2022, the Hungarian leader has spoken three times at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, twice in Budapest and once in Dallas. (CPAC will be back in Hungary in April.) During his latest trip, Orbán also stopped by the Heritage Foundation, a legacy conservative think tank, but he did not visit the White House. And last month, Orbán’s political director, Balázs Orbán (no relation), was feted by the Claremont Institute, another egghead conservative redoubt, and by the Conservative Partnership Institute, a well-heeled nonprofit whose leaders include former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, and which the New York Times has described as the “ nerve center ” of the MAGA movement.

Why, you might be asking, have “America First” conservatives taken such a shine to a self-described “illiberal” autocrat from a post-Soviet state 4,500 miles away? Jacob Heilbrunn, in his new book, “ America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance With Foreign Dictators ,” provides some answers. For Heilbrunn, a journalist and editor of the National Interest, the right’s love affair with Orbán (and with Vladimir Putin) is merely the latest manifestation of a long-standing authoritarian “persuasion” in American politics: a consistent if periodically muted pining for a more vital, hierarchical and hidebound “paradise abroad” to serve as a model for bludgeoning “into submission” our own unruly, decadent and overly liberal democracy.

This tradition, Heilbrunn suggests, stretches back at least to the First World War, when writers such as H.L. Mencken and George Sylvester Viereck fawned over Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Prussia. It survived through the interwar years, manifesting in diplomat Richard Washburn Child’s worshipful paeans to Benito Mussolini; in American Legion chief Alvin Owsley’s promise “to protect our country’s institutions and ideals as the Fascisti dealt with the destructionists who menaced Italy”; in the bow-tied fascism of business tycoons Merwin K. Hart, Henry Ford and Thomas Lamont (of J.P. Morgan); and in aviator Charles Lindbergh’s pilgrimages to Adolf Hitler’s Germany, where he accepted the Service Cross of the German Eagle from Hermann Goering in 1938. (Lindbergh, obsessed by Nazi race science, warned in 1939 that America faced an “infiltration of inferior blood” from Asia, a precursor to Trump’s campaign line about migrants “poisoning the blood of our country.”)

Before Pearl Harbor, figures like Lindbergh, William Randolph Hearst, Henry Regnery (the prolific conservative publisher) and a young William F. Buckley Jr. were “America Firsters”; they opposed American involvement in World War II and further entanglement with Europe, often in antisemitic terms. After the war, they swiftly refashioned themselves as crusading anti-communists, insistent that the United States must do more, on the world stage and at home, to combat the Soviet threat. This entailed new autocratic infatuations: with Franco’s Spain, Salazar’s Portugal and Trujillo’s Dominican Republic — all praised as indispensable bulwarks against the red menace, often in the pages of Buckley’s magazine, National Review, which was founded in 1955 to provide an intellectual luster to McCarthyite conservatism.

As the Cold War deepened, conservative hearts melted for Pinochet’s Chile, for the junta in Argentina and for apartheid South Africa. By the 1980s, the American right had found an unlikely patron saint in Jeane Kirkpatrick, a Democrat turned neoconservative who provided an ironclad, “realist” justification for the right’s authoritarian longings. According to Kirkpatrick’s doctrine, which guided Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy (overt and covert), it was America’s duty to lend support, and even arms, to tyrannical regimes in the Third World, so long as they were sufficiently anti-communist. Thus, the worst brutalities of the Cold War — in Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador — were preemptively justified.

Throughout this litany of conservative self-debasement, Heilbrunn’s writing is consistently lucid and springy. He provides vivid potted biographies of unfamiliar names and displays a real talent for unearthing potent and ironic quotations from the archive. (An example: Can you guess who said this in 1999? “In the 1930s, everyone thought Hitler was a fringe element who could never come to power. History showed otherwise. We must recognize bigotry and prejudice and defeat it whenever it appears.” Answer: Donald J. Trump!)

What is missing from “America Last,” however, is much in the way of historical or analytic depth. That is perhaps not its remit. Heilbrunn has written a polemic: one intended to tar today’s Putin- and Orbán-loving right with all the worst sins of the 20th century. “At bottom,” he writes, “they are advocating ethno-nationalism in the guise of a set of principles.” In so doing, he intends to charge today’s pro-Trump conservatives with disloyalty, if not to America itself, then to its creed: that all men are created equal.

The largely unnamed heroes of Heilbrunn’s book, then, as in many Trump-era polemics, are Cold War liberals, those mid-century intellectuals who remained admirably unseduced by foreign regimes of either the socialist left or the authoritarian right, and who worked — harder than anyone — to instantiate the notion (inspiring but mythical) that America is a great nation defined by her goodness and by a set of ideas or principles , rather than ethnic or religious particularities.

And while Heilbrunn sportingly acknowledges — with reference to slavery, Jim Crow and Native dispossession — that America has its own “homegrown” authoritarian tradition, it is difficult, in a book like this, to avoid a certain self-exonerating logic. In his zeal to condemn the right, Heilbrunn risks the implication that illiberalism and fascistic violence are essentially imports, the boutique fancies of disloyal intellectuals who secretly (or openly!) despise what makes America great. In other words, if it weren’t for these particular unpatriotic, tyrant-curious conservatives, our country would have remained the liberal stronghold it was supposed to be.

A new book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Steven Hahn starts from the opposite premise: Per the horror movie cliché, the call is coming from inside the house. In “ Illiberal America ,” Hahn argues that American history — from the first colonial settlers to the Progressive Era to our febrile political present — has been significantly, if not principally, defined by the opposite of liberalism: naturalized hierarchies rather than equality; limited, in-group rights rather than inalienable and universal ones; dependence, coercion and servitude rather than wage labor and autonomy; exclusive and expulsive institutions rather than civic inclusion; and the ritualized exercise of power and violence to enforce communal norms rather than mediation by courts, parties or associations.

Hahn’s endeavor, undertaken with remarkable subtlety, breadth of historical detail and electrifying prose, is not so much to critique the failings of liberalism, as many historians (and activists) have profitably done, but to displace and diminish liberalism’s despotic status in our historical imagination; to abolish the whiggish notion — an invention of Cold War historiography — that American history is witness to the gradual unfolding, flourishing and triumph of the liberal ideas lodged in our founding documents.

To do so, Hahn takes the reader on an episodic tour of those historical moments when liberalism was supposedly steering the ship, demonstrating in each case how illiberal currents were just as decisive. Questions answered along the way: Was liberalism or capitalism really an “early arrival” to the colonies, or were the first settlers mostly entranced by neo-feudal dreams reliant on regimes of coerced labor? How important was anti-Catholic sentiment and iconography to the republican stirrings of the pre-revolutionary era? Why did emancipation go hand in hand, for many liberal reformers, with an embrace of penal solutions to the problem of Black freedom? Was eugenic social engineering an unfortunate “sidebar” of the Progressive Era or its underlying logic? And so on.

In this way, Hahn dispenses with the notion that 20th- and 21st-century American illiberalism needed foreign inspiration. In a chapter on the fascist stirrings of the 1930s, Hahn notes that American newspapers attempting to explain Mussolini’s Fascisti to their readers had a readily available analogue: the Klan. (Some even referred to the Blackshirts as “the Italian Ku Klux Klan.”) And Hahn demonstrates, as Heilbrunn also briefly notes, that Nazi officials studied “anti-miscegenation, immigration, and Jim Crow laws in the United States.” Of Progressive-era eugenics, Hitler wrote: “I have studied with interest the laws of several American states concerning prevention of reproduction by people whose progeny would, in all probability, be of no value or be injurious to the racial stock.”

It should be said that “Illiberal America” is not one of those revisionist, “what your teacher didn’t tell you” histories of the Howard Zinn variety. Hahn’s intention is not to indict the American past, only to reveal it — and to show that illiberalism has its own rich and mutable tradition, “deeply embedded in our history, not at the margins but very much at the center, infusing the soil of social and political life, and often ensnaring or entangling much else that grows there.” The vertiginous effect on the reader is that she comes away not with an altogether novel vision of what has happened in this country, but an image with different emphases and inflections: a picture of American history with new protagonists, motivated by grim but not unfamiliar ideologies — as if a bright light had been turned on in the basement of our collective myths and a crowd of grisly creatures came scurrying out of the shadows. We knew they were there, but not in such numbers. And the silhouettes we thought were one thing are another.

To be sure, Hahn’s conceptual approach is not without pitfalls. His aim is to displace “liberalism” from the driver’s seat of history, not merely to show that it is undone by internal contradictions or fails to live up to its own aspirations. Only without liberalism occluding the frame, Hahn suggests, can American illiberalism come into view as its own distinct, coherent tradition. But this strikes me as a tricky dance. What is illiberalism being defined against if not liberalism? And why can’t liberalism itself be constituted by its exceptions, failures and blind spots? Are liberalism’s oversights not constitutive of what liberalism is and always has been?

Without this possibility, one risks quarantining some elusive, untainted liberalism from critique and re-throning “true liberalism” — which, like “true socialism,” its adherents would cry, has never been tried — as our political ideal. This plainly isn’t Hahn’s intention. It is perhaps a testament to the imperial quality of liberalism, as a concept, that even an attempt to diminish its domain risks conceding too much territory. Perhaps the next task for a historian of Hahn’s caliber is to write a history of the United States that makes no recourse to the category of liberalism — or its opposite — whatsoever. I would eagerly read such a book. But maybe it wouldn’t make any sense. For the time being, we are all prisoners of the liberal imagination: a darkened basement or a house of mirrors.

Sam Adler-Bell, a Book World contributing writer, is a co-host of “Know Your Enemy,” a podcast about American conservatism.

America Last

The Right’s Century-Long Romance With Foreign Dictators

By Jacob Heilbrunn

Liveright. 249 pp. $28.99

Illiberal America

By Steven Hahn

Norton. 447 pp. $35

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