Logo - Feel The Words

Writing Quotes

The craft and habit of writing.

This set covers a filmmaker tracing an early comedic style back to college years, and advice that writing something and deciding to publish it are two separate decisions entirely. For more on the finished product, see Book.

Take any writer you want in the 19th century: they wrote with quill pens, dipping a piece of goose feather in ink and writing. And yet we read those novels today, and if we're sensitive to them, we respond to...

Quotes by Walter Murch

Whosoever, in writing a modern history, shall follow truth too near the heels, it may happily strike out his teeth.

Quotes by Walter Raleigh

A writer who isn't writing is asking for trouble.

Quotes by Walter Kirn

I never earned a dollar that was not somehow through writing.

Quotes by Walter Lord

We're writing a book together. She just finished one. Did you read it? Among the Porcupines?

Quotes by Walter Matthau

Early on, it's good to develop the ability to write. Learning to write is a useful exercise, even if what you're writing about is not that relevant.

Quotes by Walter Gilbert

I went to college, though I didn't take many writing courses.

Quotes by Walter Jon Williams

Working within the limitations of the shared world generally made the writing easier, because I didn't have to invent any of the characters or background, which is usually the hardest part.

Quotes by Walter Jon Williams

Of all the ways of acquiring books, writing them oneself is regarded as the most praiseworthy method. Writers are really people who write books not because they are poor, but because they are dissatisfied with the books which they could...

Quotes by Walter Benjamin

I was a good student, but a speech impediment was causing problems. One of my teachers decided that I couldn't pronounce certain words at all. She thought that if I wrote something, I would use words I could pronounce. I...

Quotes by Walter Dean Myers

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

Quotes by Walter Dean Myers

However far fiction writers stray from their own lives and experiences - and I stray pretty far from mine - I think, ultimately, that we may be writing what we need to write in some way, albeit unconsciously.

Quotes by Wally Lamb

I like to be surprised. The best writing is when it defies me, when it starts going a different way than I had planned.

Quotes by Wally Lamb

I like to write first-person because I like to become the character I'm writing.

Quotes by Wally Lamb

I have on my wall right now a front page of the 'Journal' from January 1991, when I co-wrote a front-page story about Iraq firing missiles at Israel. By October, I was writing about tech products.

Quotes by Walt Mossberg

For me, a play is a form of writing which isn't complete until it is interpreted by actors. But it's still a form of writing. And so most of my time is spent thinking about how to write a sentence.

Quotes by Wallace Shawn

Hard writing makes easy reading.

Quotes by Wallace Stegner

Forgive me for not writing but this man is exhausting.

Quotes by Wallis Simpson

When I started writing about art, there were no curators.

Quotes by Waldemar Januszczak

The kind of writing that matters most to me is something you don't learn about. It's constantly coming out of what I don't know rather than what I do know.

Quotes by W. S. Merwin

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a quote about the kind of comedy someone used to write?
Yes. One quote reflects on what material might have looked like if the speaker had started earlier, guessing it would have resembled 'Damsels in Distress' kinds of films, since that's the kind of comedy being written at the time.
Is there advice here about writing versus publishing?
Yes. One quote advises students that writing a poem and publishing it are two quite separate things, encouraging them to write what they have to write rather than holding back out of fear it might upset someone. It's solid, honest advice for anyone starting out. For more encouraging quotes, see Good quotes.
Is there a quote about avoiding repetitive songwriting?
Yes - one quote says: "I hate it when bands keep making the same record over and over, so we're pushing ourselves to try new things and experiment in our writing approach." It's a statement about wanting to keep creative work fresh. Browse Like quotes for more on personal taste.
Is there a quote about balancing songwriting with other band responsibilities?
Yes. One quote recalls that in the early years of Static-X, a pattern emerged where the speaker spent all free time writing songs for the band, while the other guys spent their free time working on other things. It's a glimpse into how creative labor can be divided unevenly within a group. For more quotes on consistent habits, see Always quotes.
What different sides of "writing" does this page cover?
Early comedic influences, honest advice about writing versus publishing, the drive to avoid repetitive songwriting, and the reality of who does the writing work within a band. For more on the reading side of writing, see Book quotes.

A band's account of pushing past repetition into new territory sits alongside a memory of writing songs alone while bandmates focused elsewhere. Continue with Good or Always.