My Favorite Quotes about Writing

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“I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself. ” – Marlene Deitrich

This post was originally published on 8/30/2023. Heads up – you may have already seen this.

I think it’s safe to say that writing is the subject that I’ve studied longest. Sure, it started with just grasping the pencil with some dexterity and has developed through school essays, technical writing, and now to developing a personal angle with memoir writing, and blogging. But whatever the genre, it feels like an incredibly rich and vast subject of study.

So here are five of my favorite quotes about writing.

“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” – Richard Bach

“Write what you need to read.” – Adage

“The discipline of creation, be it to paint, compose, write, is an effort towards wholeness.” – Madeleine L’Engle

“I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one.” – Mark Twain

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” – Stephen King

What are your favorite quotes for writing inspiration?

84 thoughts on “My Favorite Quotes about Writing”

  3. The last two resonate. Twain speaks on our use of time and the need to speak of what is important.

    King is spot on, but should have added that it depends on what you read as much as it matters that you read.

    Thanks, Wynne.

    Liked by 3 people

  10. This post was originally published on 8/30/2023. Heads up – you may have already seen this.

    Apart from being great quotes… I can’t remember what happened yesterday, let alone what I read or wrote a year ago – so to me it’s new and fresh – thank you.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I love that it feels new, Malcolm! And to be fair, it was published on a shared blog and I’ve been slowly moving those post over so it’s likely you might not have seen it a year ago!

      Liked by 1 person

  13. There’s a couple of different versions of this quote from different people, but one of my favorites is by Joan Didion, “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means.” Yes, it definitely applies to me. I need to write things out to figure out what I really believe. Kind of strange. But true.

    Liked by 2 people

  14. Wonderful qoutes thank you for the inspiration. Its been a summer of learning and finding my roots to this new journey of life finally just needed to listen to myself and focus on what is important and writing was sadly set aside. And now it’s time to get back to it. And the qoutes help.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Maya Angelou: ” I want to write so well that a person is 30 or 40 pages in a book of mine … before she realizes she’s reading.” and “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

    Liked by 3 people

  19. These are some excellent motivational quotes for writing Wynne. 🤗💖🥰 One of my favorites is “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
    –Toni Morrison

    Liked by 1 person

  20. Love the King quote. I used to read for pleasure. Now, I read for pleasure and to observe and learn from the author’s craft.

    Liked by 2 people

  21. Wonderful quotes, Wynne. I just read this one yesterday in The Economist, “Habitual handwriting opens up space for generating good ideas, organising them on the page and constructing nuanced vocabulary choices.” Dr. Hetty Roessingh, professor emerita University of Calgary.

    Liked by 2 people

  26. Writing is the fuel that runs the engine of creativity. Without writing, I feel like I’m dead in the water! Thank goodness for the fabulous writers (and quotes) that keep the fuel burning!

    Liked by 2 people

  30. I’m a HUGE fan of quotes! Back when I didn’t know how to find my way out of the effects of trauma, I turned to quotes as a way to find direction and comfort, knowing that the people who wrote them had experienced the same emotions I was going through, and found they gave me strength to work through the trauma.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. Reading inspiring quotes whether they’re from a favourite writer or artist or former always gets the creative juices flowing.

    I love reading Stephen King’s plain spoken views on writing and on anything really. His excellent memoir about writing is a staple on my bedside table. Such an inviting and encouraging read.

    Liked by 1 person

  34. About the Stephen King’s quote, I have a reservation: Writing is a creation, it can be from experience too or imagination, it doesn’t a not need the help of reading a lot.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. That’s an interesting reservation, Bibek. My take is not that reading changes our ability to create – but helps us hone the craft of stringing words together to convey what our experience or imagination.

      Liked by 1 person

  35. You are correct. We learn the way to use the words and the style. However, even there, there can be creativity of our own and here is the realm of creation of top class poetry.

    Liked by 1 person

  37. Pingback: Your Favorite Quotes About Writing – Surprised By Joy

  39. An author friend once advised, “Back-side* in the chair, fingers on the keyboard.”
    (*original word changed to be family friendly 😉)

    Like

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