Advice For Writers Quotes

“If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Essays, Letters and Miscellanies

“Toni Morrison said, "The function of freedom is to free someone else," and if you are no longer wracked or in bondage to a person or a way of life, tell your story. Risk freeing someone else. Not everyone will be glad that you did. Members of your family and other critics may wish you had kept your secrets. Oh, well, what are you going to do? Get it all down. Let it pour out of you and onto the page. Write an incredibly shitty, self-indulgent, whiny, mewling first draft. Then take out as many of the excesses as you can.”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

“I ran across an excerpt today (in English translation) of some dialogue/narration from the modern popular writer, Paulo Coelho in his book: Aleph.(Note: bracketed text is mine.)... 'I spoke to three scholars,' [the character says 'at last.'] ...two of them said that, after death, the [sic (misprint, fault of the publisher)] just go to Paradise. The third one, though, told me to consult some verses from the Koran. [end quote]' ...I can see that he's excited. [narrator]' ...Now I have many positive things to say about Coelho: He is respectable, inspiring as a man, a truth-seeker, and an appealing writer; but one should hesitate to call him a 'literary' writer based on this quote. A 'literary' author knows that a character's excitement should be 'shown' in his or her dialogue and not in the narrator's commentary on it. Advice for Coelho: Remove the 'I can see that he's excited' sentence and show his excitement in the phrasing of his quote.(Now, in defense of Coelho, I am firmly of the opinion, having myself written plenty of prose that is flawed, that a novelist should be forgiven for slipping here and there.)Lastly, it appears that a belief in reincarnation is of great interest to Mr. Coelho ... Just think! He is a man who has achieved, (as Leonard Cohen would call it), 'a remote human possibility.' He has won lots of fame and tons of money. And yet, how his preoccupation with reincarnation—none other than an interest in being born again as somebody else—suggests that he is not happy!”
― Roman Payne

“How many times have an author come to me to say that I had told them so? Many. Choose to listen to or not the advice gained from experience and wisdom at your own peril. You might save yourself a lot of time and grief. - Strong by Kailin Gow on Being Strong for the Long Tail”
― Kailin Gow

“Interest is never enough. If it doesn't haunt you, you'll never write it well. What haunts and obsesses you may, with luck and labour, interest your readers. What merely interests you is sure to bore them. (from Workbook)”
― Steven Heighton

“Writers will often find themselves steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion.”
― William Strunk Jr., The Elements of Style

“People can’t read a book if they don’t know it exists. All authors need to do marketing, regardless of how they published.”
― Jo Linsdell

“The secret to good writing is to use small words for big ideas, not to use big words for small ideas.”
― Oliver Markus

“To listen to critics, pro or con, and take their words to heart is to subcontract your self-esteem to strangers. (from Workbook)”
― Steven Heighton

“Just write it!”
― Ted Bell

“once, if you told people you were self-published, they'd look at you like you were a smelly old jobless hobo just come off a dusty boxcar with soupcan shoes and a hat made from a coyote skull.”
― Chuck Wendig, 500 Ways to Write Harder

“My advice for aspiring writers is simply this: NEVER GIVE UP. Do not let anyone tell you that you cannot achieve your dreams. If you want to be a writer, do it! Study hard to show that you have a passion for it. Read as many books as you possibly can. Attend workshops. Take classes that focus on English and writing skills. Research. Write everyday; even if it's on little napkins at restaurants. Every idea starts somewhere. Never let anyone steal your aspirations. You can do this. Just breathe and write. The rest will come to follow.”
― Rachel Nicole Wagner

“Let failure be your workshop. See it for what is is: the world walking you through a tough but necessary semester, free of tuition. (from Workbook)”
― Steven Heighton

“Some writers write to forget. Some forget to write.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“When your novel first peeks its head into the world, it will look pretty much like every newborn: blotchy, hairless, and utterly confused.”
― Chris Baty, No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days

“Even the longest book is read and was written one word at a time.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“Cast a spell and the small flaws don't matter. (From Workbook)”
― Steven Heighton

“[When asked for her advice to aspiring writers] Run! Just kidding. Sort of. Really, I think the best advice I can give is to wait for the book that compels you to write it-- the one that you eat, sleep, and breathe.

If you try to force yourself to create an epic story, you will feel the ensuing drudgery quite acutely-- and worse, your readers will feel it too.

Conversely, if you wait for the book that won't leave you alone until you finish it, your readers will feel that energy and it will make it difficult for them to put the book down until they have finished it!”
― Kealohilani

“You story must be best told by you. Your experience is a sacred life.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita, Think Great: Be Great!

“The three rules to writing a novel;

1) Write
2) Write more
3) Keep writing”
― SciFurz

“Being a writer is determined more by writing than by having written.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“[G]ive nothing centrality, because writing is about continually shifting weight from one thing and moment to the other.”
― Amit Chaudhuri

“There's just one advice for an aspiring writer; write.”
― SciFurz

“Here's my author advice: There is no magic pill, so you just have to do the research and the work. Well, coffee is kind of like magic, and energy helps do the research, so maybe that’s my secret magic formula.”
― Michelle M. Pillow

“Don't be a writer; be writing.”
― William Faulkner

“The difficulty lies not in writing well but in earning that ability.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“My most important advice to writers is "butt in chair"!”
― Gray Basnight, Flight of the Fox

“Think of getting a rejection slip like being turned down for a date; they probably weren’t your type anyway.”
― Nanette L. Avery

“The power of a story is in the hands of everyone.”
― D.L. Lewis

“As long as I am confident that i did everything i should have done, without stinting, there is nothing I need to fear. I can place my future in the hands of time. If we treat time with all the respect, prudence, and courtesy it deserves, it will become our ally.”
― Haruki Murakami, Novelist as a Vocation