Writing Style Quotes by Famous Authors

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1. “Capital Letters Were Always The Best Way Of Dealing With Things You Didn't Have A Good Answer To.”

Douglas Adams

Writing Style, Evasion, Humor, Communication, Emphasis

2. “I like to start with the first chapter, end with chapter 40. No flashbacks, nothing fancy, just a direct storytelling.”

John Grisham

Writing Style, Storytelling, Literary Technique, Author Preference, Simplicity

3. “Aphorisms are essentially an aristocratic genre of writing. The aphorist does not argue or explain, he asserts; and implicit in his assertion is a conviction that he is wiser and more intelligent than his readers.”

W.H. Auden

Aphorisms, Writing Style, Wisdom, Intelligence, Literary Elitism

4. “I write right off the typer. I call it my “machinegun.” I hit it hard, usually late at night while drinking wine and listening to classical music on the radio and smoking mangalore ganesh beedies.”

Charles Bukowski

Creative Process, Writing Style, Unique Habits, Typewriter, Music, Wine

5. “My writing is jagged and harsh, I want it to remain that way; I don't want it smoothed out.”

Charles Bukowski

Writing Style, Creative Integrity, Harsh Expression, Writing, Style, Integrity

6. “Style is that which indicates how the writer takes himself and what he is saying. It is the mind skating circles around itself as it moves forward.”

Robert Frost

Writing Style, Self-Expression, Creative Process, Style, Expression, Creativity

7. “It’s true that at the time I was fond of Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan, and it was from them that I learned about this kind of simple, swift-paced style, but the main reason for the style of my first novel is that I simply did not have the time to write sustained prose.”

Haruki Murakami

Writing Style, Inspiration, Kurt Vonnegut, Richard Brautigan, Simplicity, Novel Writing

8. “In Japan they prefer the realistic style. They like answers and conclusions, but my stories have none. I want to leave them wide open to every possibility. I think my readers understand that openness.”

Haruki Murakami

Writing Style, Japan, Realism, Possibilities, Storytelling, Openness

9. “What I’d like to be is a unique writer who’s different from everybody else. I want to be a writer who tells stories unlike other writers’.”

Haruki Murakami

Writing Style, Unique Voice, Storytelling, Inspiration, Creativity, Individuality

10. “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”

Stephen King

Writing Style, Language Expression, Clarity Adverbs, Precision, Writing

11. “People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy... and I keep it in a jar on my desk.”

Stephen King

Dark Humor, Writing Style, Horror, Creepy Personality, Identity, Shock Value

12. “I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I’ll go for the gross-out. I’m not proud.”

Stephen King

Terror Effect, Horror Writing, Emotional Impact, Fear Tactics, Writing Style, Shock Value