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Writing Quotes by Famous Authors

I never started from ideas but always from character

1. “I never started from ideas but always from character.”

It’s no good writing if God hasn’t given you talent

2. “It’s no good writing if God hasn’t given you talent. People will just laugh.”

My advice to the reader approaching a poem is to

3. “My advice to the reader approaching a poem is to make the mind still and blank. Let the poem speak. This charged quiet mimics the blank space ringing the printed poem, the nothing out of which something takes shape.”

I certainly derived my skills as a prose writer from

4. “I certainly derived my skills as a prose writer from my scrutiny of poetry and of the individual word. But schools don’t do things like that anymore – tracking words down to their roots.”

There is nothing more important to me than the power

5. “There is nothing more important to me than the power of words to describe, re-create, entrance, and provoke.”

Every year feminists provide more and more evidence for the

6. “Every year, feminists provide more and more evidence for the old charge that women can neither think nor write.”

If people want to be better writers they can’t just

7. “If people want to be better writers, they can’t just read the blogs! You’ve got to look at something that’s outside this rushing world of evanescent words.”

For me writing is as close to being an engineer

8. “For me writing is as close to being an engineer as possible.”

Good blurbs are short sweet and limited to six They

9. “Good blurbs are short, sweet, and limited to six. They answer the question ‘Why should I buy this book?’”

The process of expressing yourself about a problem editing your

10. “The process of expressing yourself about a problem, editing your thoughts, and writing some more can help you control issues that you face.”

I learned how difficult it is to self-publish a book

11. “I learned how difficult it is to self-publish a book. It’s complex, it’s confusing, it’s idiosyncratic.”

My recommendation for SEO is very simple It's Write Good

12. “My recommendation for SEO is very simple. It's Write Good Stuff. In my mind, Google is in the business of finding good stuff. It has thousands of the smartest people in the world, spending billions of dollars to find the good stuff. All you have to do is write the good stuff; you don't need to trick it.”

For me while writing I am an engineer so if

13. “For me, while writing, I am an engineer, so if I decide to change the format, I want to add a section, move a section, reorganize the section—anything I want to do, I just boot words, and I do what I want to do. So, I feel completely empowered when I’m a writer.”

It’s hard to build community around mediocre and mundane writing

14. “It’s hard to build community around mediocre and mundane writing.”

Writing is one way to achieve enchantment

15. “Writing is one way to achieve enchantment.”

The first good reason to write a book is to

16. “The first good reason to write a book is to add value to people’s lives.”

Writing is therapeutic It helps you cope with issues that

17. “Writing is therapeutic. It helps you cope with issues that seem gargantuan at the time. The process of expressing yourself about a problem, editing your thoughts, and writing some more can help you control issues that you face.”

A successful self-publisher must fill three roles: Author Publisher and

18. “A successful self-publisher must fill three roles: Author, Publisher, and Entrepreneur – or APE.”

There was no “decision” per se to re-position myself I

19. “There was no “decision” per se to re-position myself. I simply decided that I wanted to write a book that would help people influence others.”

Writing a book isn’t an easy process nor is it

20. “Writing a book isn’t an easy process nor is it always enjoyable, but it is one of life’s most satisfying achievements.”

The self-edited author is as foolish as the self-medicated patient

21. “The self-edited author is as foolish as the self-medicated patient.”

Do not write to impress others Authors who write to

22. “Do not write to impress others. Authors who write to impress people have difficulty remaining true to themselves. A better path is to write what pleases you and pray that there are others like you. Your first and most important reader is you. If you write a book that pleases you, at least you know one person will like it.”

Go APE: Author a great book Publish it quickly and

23. “Go APE: Author a great book, Publish it quickly, and Entrepreneur your way to success. Self-publishing isn’t easy, but it’s fun and sometimes even lucrative. Plus, your book could change the world.”

My books are always tactical bullet lists this is what

24. “My books are always tactical, bullet lists, this is what you need to do because I’m trying to appeal to people who are trying to change the world and they need checklists.”

Disorganization is the enemy of good writing

25. “Disorganization is the enemy of good writing.”

I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor

26. “I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor. What I have in my heart must come out; that is the reason why I compose. – Ludwig van Beethoven.”

An editor who is a mentor advisor and psychiatrist Don’t

27. “An editor who is a mentor, advisor, and psychiatrist. Don’t kid yourself-a good editor will make your book better.”

You’ll learn that the key to a great book is

28. “You’ll learn that the key to a great book is editing — grinding, buffing, and polishing – not writing.”

So I sit at the hotel at night and I

29. “So, I sit at the hotel at night and I think of something that’s funny. Or, If the pen is too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of wasn’t funny.”

I bought a seven-dollar pen because I always lose pens

30. “I bought a seven-dollar pen because I always lose pens and I got sick of not caring.”

I have a Sharpie I love Sharpies You know what

31. “I have a Sharpie. I love Sharpies. You know what they say on them? Not for letter writing. That sucks. Now I have to communicate with my dad using numbers.”

I wrote my friend a letter using a highlighting pen

32. “I wrote my friend a letter using a highlighting pen. But he could not read it, he thought I was trying to show him certain parts of a piece of paper.”

I’m gonna fix that last joke by taking out all

33. “I’m gonna fix that last joke by taking out all the words and adding new ones.”

I wrote a script and I gave it to a

34. “I wrote a script, and I gave it to a guy who reads scripts, and he really likes it, but he thinks I need to rewrite it. I said, “Screw that, I’ll just make a copy!””

I type a 101 words a minute But it’s in

35. “I type a 101 words a minute. But it’s in my own language.”

Do you think I am standing here making this up

36. “Do you think I am standing here, making this up as I go? I am sorry to disillusion you. I am not Robin Williams. I am the king of the pen.”

This is the magnanimity of authorship when a writer having

37. “This is the magnanimity of authorship, when a writer having a topic presented to him, fruitful of beauties for common minds, waives his privilege, and trusts to the judicious few for understanding the reason of his abstinence.”

Damn the age I’ll write for antiquity

38. “Damn the age. I’ll write for antiquity.”

Books which are no books

39. “Books which are no books.”

I can scarce bring myself to believe that I am

40. “I can scarce bring myself to believe, that I am admitted to a familiar correspondence, and all the license of friendship, with a man who writes blank verse like Milton.”

Essays entitled critical are epistles addressed to the public through

41. “Essays, entitled critical, are epistles addressed to the public, through which the mind of the recluse relieves itself of its impressions.”

Margaret Fuller

The use of criticism in periodical writing is to sift

42. “The use of criticism, in periodical writing, is to sift, not to stamp a work.”

Margaret Fuller

To one who has enjoyed the full life of any

43. “To one who has enjoyed the full life of any scene, of any hour, what thoughts can be recorded about it seem like the commas and semicolons in the paragraph—mere stops.”

Margaret Fuller

A man who means to think and write a great

44. “A man who means to think and write a great deal must, after six and twenty, learn to read with his fingers.”

Margaret Fuller

I have a paper cut from writing my suicide note

45. “I have a paper cut from writing my suicide note. It’s a start...”

My girlfriend does her nails with white-out When she’s asleep

46. “My girlfriend does her nails with white-out. When she’s asleep, I go over there and write misspelled words on them.”

It usually helps me write by reading – somehow the

47. “It usually helps me write by reading – somehow the reading gear in your head turns the writing gear.”

“Write from Beyond what you know From the authority of

48. ““Write from Beyond what you know. From the authority of your senses.” – author of Meditations in Green.”

I'm writing a book I've got the page numbers done

49. “I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers done.”

I wrote a few children's books not on purpose

50. “I wrote a few children's books, not on purpose.”

Birthdays

Mark Manson 1984

Morgan Housel 1984

Deaths

Charles Bukowski 1994

New Authors

John D. Rockefeller

Andrew Carnegie

Margaret Fuller

Top Authors

Albert Einstein

William Shakespeare

Eleanor Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt

Winston Churchill

Martin Luther King Jr.

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