Writing Process Quotes

“How does a person ever tell? All he can do is inscribe strokes on a page and hope that at least some of those arrows will hit their targets....”
― Maggie O'Farrell, Hamnet

“I have another novel in mind -- "On the Road" -- which I keep thinking about: about two guys hitch-hiking to California in search of something they don't really find, and losing themselves on the road, and coming all the way back hopeful of something else.
[ -- 23 August 1948]”
― Jack Kerouac, Windblown World: The Journals of Jack Kerouac 1947-1954

“To write fantasy is to dance with the impossible, making it real enough to touch the hearts of those who dare to read.”
― Derren Parsons

“Completing a novel is a triumph of the ego.”
― Hemingway, Ernest

“il nous change, il modifie la marche de notre vie." /
"it changes us, it alters the course of our lives.”
― André Gide, Journals 1889-1949

“Today, as I stand on the axis of perseverance and hard work - let there be no mistake - I am a writer. And it is nothing short of extraordinary.”
― T.S. Wallace

“Method consists entirely in properly ordering and arranging the things to which we should pay attention.”
― René Descartes, Oeuvres - Volume 10

“If editors could write, they would be writers.”
― Neel Burton

“The most unsettling aspect of A.I.-generated text is how it tries to divorce the act of writing from the effort of doing it, which is to say, from the processes of thought itself.”
― Kyle Chaykra

“...story is first, last, and always the experience of aesthetic emotion - the simultaneous encounter of thought and feeling.”
― Robert McKee, Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting

“What is the worst possible thing that could happen to my protagonist? How could that turn out to be the best possible thing that could happen to him?”
― Robert McKee, Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting

“Numbers add precision and power to your Kindle titles. By incorporating them alongside benefits, you not only grab attention but also establish yourself as a credible authority in your field. Don't underestimate the impact of numbers in creating exceptional Kindle titles.”
― Idongesit Okpombor, How to Craft Irresistible Book Titles: Mastering the Art of Crafting Compelling Kindle Book Titles

“Psychologists say that most writers are a tad narcissistic, but in my opinion seeing one's writing shared by others gives a writer confidence that people like his words and feel happy to share them in their posts.”
― Avijeet Das

“Sometimes, poetry oozes out as blood
From the wounds that suddenly appear
On the unblemished skin
And leaves you numb.”
― Neelam Saxena Chandra, Beneath the dead skin

“Fantasy writing isn't just about creating worlds; it's about discovering the endless possibilities within oneself.”
― Derren Parsons

“My writing process tends to involve reading, more reading, writing scraps of thoughts, revising, more revising, a little crying, and a whole lot of jelly beans.”
― David Deutsch

“Thomas Manns Sprache zeigt selbst im Gekünstelten das, was den Schriftsteller vom Schreiber scheidet: Zucht.”
― Otto Schumann, Grundlagen und Techniken der Schreibkunst. Handbuch für Schriftsteller, Redakteure und angehende Autoren

“It was almost as if, in all those many years of not writing on a regular basis, the words had stacked up by the door, clogging things up, making me feel stuck. Now that I started to write again, the door opened and the waiting words tumbled out, relieved to be set free.”
― Laurie E. Smith, Leap With Me: A Creative Path to Finding and Following Your True Voice

“I mark Henry James’ sentence: observe perpetually. Observe the oncome of age. Observe greed. Observe my own despondency.
- Virginia Woolf”
― Alexandra Johnson, The Hidden Writer: Diaries and the Creative Life

“Thus number 5 Cheyne Row is not so much a dwelling place as a battlefield—the scene of labour, effort and perpetual struggle. Few of the spoils of life—its graces and its luxuries—survive to tell us that the battle was worth the effort. The relics of drawing room and study are like the relics picked up on other battlefields.”
― Virginia Woolf, The London Scene: Six Essays on London Life

“Writing is not a mere occupation, but a passionate journey that transcends boundaries of time. It demands countless hours of dedication, pouring your soul onto paper, immersing yourself in a world of imagination. When the clock strikes nine to five, true writers ascend beyond the ordinary, igniting their creative flame that burns through the night. Embrace the unyielding spirit that fuels your words and remember, great stories are born from the relentless hours we invest, illuminating the world with our art.”
― Yvonne Padmos

“Manuals delineate the storytelling mechanics, which are important, but storytellers are more magicians than mechanics. Theirs is the art of controlled revelation of nothing less than the meaning of life, not all of it but some of it. These magi cast the spells that seduce the audience into suspending its disbelief in fictional characters and plots. They are aided by the audience’s eagerness to suspend disbelief.”
― Lawrence J. Kurnarsky, The Story of the Story: How to Kidnap Your Audience

“I suppose my attitude toward the creative process is much like that of Alexandre Dumas pere when he was approached by a young aspirant who boasted that he was going to write a novel much better than either “The Three Musketeers” or “The Count of Monte Cristo”.
‘Have you an attractive setting?’ the veteran writer asked politely, and the young man replied: ‘The greatest! Ominous islands. Gleaming castles. Wooded glens with gracious mansions.’
‘Have you interesting characters?’
‘Kings and princesses and dubious cardinals.’
‘But have you a logical plot to tie this together?’
‘A most ingenious one. Twists and turns that will bewilder and delight.’
Said Dumas: ‘Young man, you’re in excellent shape. Now all you need are two hundred thousand words, and they’d better be all the right ones.’”
—Chapter IX, “Intellectual Equipment”, pages 311-312”
― James A. Michener, The World Is My Home a Memoir

“To be an "aspiring writer" is akin to walking into a welcoming, exciting university with a life-time membership that drives our creativity into a business. It is an educational journey filled with possibilities that offers great insight into self, and the meaning of life.”
― Lillian Brummet, Purple Snowflake Marketing: How To Make Your Book Stand Out In A Crowd

“I don’t like writing as if I don’t exist.”
― Siddhartha Mukherjee

“I don't do Netflix,
I don't binge for adrenaline.
I find it far more soothing to
listen to old BBC radio shows
while I do my writing.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets

“Entweder man hat einen guten Plot oder nicht. Wenn´s kein guter Plot ist, dann hilft auch die beste Schreibe nichts. Und wenn´s ein guter Plot ist, dann macht ihn auch die mieseste Schreibe nicht kaputt.”
― Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Plot

“the most critical thing an aspiring writer can do, I think, is to always know why he or she is doing it and for whom. It’s fine to find gratification in the approval of others or in financial success or in any other extrinsic reward, but it’s toxic to make that approval or prestige the motive to write.”
― Maria Popova

“A writer should feel deeply from his heart of the joys and sorrows of people. And he must write as honestly as possible. Then only can he claim to be a writer.”
― Avijeet Das

“FROM THE START, A WRITER 'DESCRIBES' THEM ALL”
― Lynn Byk, The Fearless Moral Inventory of Elsie Finch