885 Quotes About Writing-advice

When I think of the wisest people I know, they share one defining trait: curiosity. They turn away from the minutiae of their lives-and focus on the world around them. They are motivated by the desire to explore the unfamiliar. They are drawn toward what they don't understand.

Upon the one thing every writer absolutely must have, and that is intellectual curiosity.

One does not travel, any more than one falls in love, to collect material. It is simply part of one's life...

The power of writing supernaturally set things into motion.

When people shine a little light on their monster, we find out how similar most of our monsters are.

If a writer starts worring about what he or she has left out or forgotten, they might not be able to write even a single line.

I have an idea and a first line -- and that suggests the rest of it. I have little concept of what I’m going to say, or where it’s going. I have some idea of how long it’s going to be -- but not what will happen or what the themes will be. That’s the intrigue of doing it -- it’s a process of discovery. You get to discover what you’re going to say and what it’s going to mean.

...if you want your own distinctive voice, you first have to become someone...

...authority is the unmistakeable tone in the voice of a true writer...