132 Quotes by Brenda Ueland

I want to assure you with all earnestness, that no writing is a waste of time, – no creative work where the feelings, the imagination, the intelligence must work. With every sentence you write, you have learned something. It has done you good. It has stretched your understanding.

Your motto: Be Bold, be Free, be Truthful

At least I understood that writing was this: an impulse to share with other people a feeling or truth that I myself had. Not to preach to them, but to give it to them if they cared to hear it.

I found that many gifted people are so afraid of writing a poor story that they cannot summon the nerve to write a single sentence for months. The thing to say to such people is: "See how *bad* a story you can write. See how dull you can be. Go ahead. That would be fun and interesting. I will give you ten dollars if you can write something thoroughly dull from beginning to end!" And of course, no one can.

This is what I learned: that everybody is talented, original and has something important to say.

So remember these two things: you are talented and you are original. Be sure of that. I say this because self-trust is one of the very most important things in writing ...

I learned that you should feel when writing, not like Lord Byron on a mountain top, but like child stringing beads in kindergarten, - happy, absorbed and quietly putting one bead on after another.

So you see, imagination needs moodling - long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.

Families are great murderers of the creative impulse, particularly husbands.