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7 Classic Quotes to Inspire Your Writing

written by Sonia Simone
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7 Classic Quotes to Inspire Your Writing

Writing is a glorious and rewarding experience, a noble craft, one of the most satisfying ways you can spend your time — at least, while your clothes are on.

Except for the days when it’s horrible.

Maybe that’s why writers love quotes about writing. They help remind us of those lofty aspects and give us courage to get through the crummy parts.

For your inspiration and encouragement, here are some favorite quotes on writing from our editorial team.

Brian Clark

Brian gets us started with one of the classics:

“I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit,” Hemingway confided to F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1934. “I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.”

Robert Bruce

If there are two things Robert loves, it’s David Mamet and morbid references. His favorite quote combines the two:

“Having spent too many years in show business, the one thing I see that succeeds is persistence. It’s the person who just ain’t gonna go home. I decided early on that I wasn’t going to go home. This is what I’ll be doing until they put me in jail or in a coffin.” – David Mamet

Stefanie Flaxman

Stefanie’s favorite is an artful bit of philosophy:

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” – Anaïs Nin

Chris Garrett

This one has been attributed to Mark Twain, T.S. Eliot, Cicero, and others, but it turns out it was originally written by Blaise Pascal. “Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.”

“I only made this so long because I didn’t have time to make it shorter.” – Blaise Pascal

Kelton Reid

Kelton goes for a little Irish passion.

“Write it, damn you, write it! What else are you good for?” – James Joyce

Sonia Simone

Since I put this post together, I get two. 🙂 Toni Morrison is a toweringly great novelist and one of my favorite writers. Here’s what she has to say about the writing we put into the world — or, of course, any creative work:

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison

And the other, from the gorgeously layered novel Song of Solomon, is solid advice for writers, creative people, or really, any of us:

“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” – Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

How about you?

Do you have a favorite writing quote? Let us know in the comments!

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Reader Comments (17)

  1. I don’t write much, but I do have a quote I like: You only learn to be a better writer by actually writing.

    It’s like with most things, just get started already.

  2. It’s hard to argue with Neil Gaiman

    “This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until its done. It’s that easy, and that hard.â€?

  5. Hello Sonia,

    Something to inspire us and our writings. Reading quotes that boost up our morals are always loved and are in demand.

    I loved the Kelton’s quote “Write it, damn you, write it! What else are you good for?â€? Something that all bloggers need to
    co-relate with.

    Thanks for the share.

    Shantanu.

  6. Hi Sonia,

    Awesome Quotes!

    My favorite writing quote is –

    “Writing is a journey of discovery because until you start, you never know what will happen, and you can be surprised by what you do – expect the unexpected! ”

    Mini Grey

    I will tweet your post.

    Thanks a lot for sharing.

  8. Hello Sonia,

    Thanks for this collection of great quotes from pro bloggers. Its really very helpful and inspirational too. Thanks for sharing it with us all.

  9. Hi Sonia,

    I often turn to E.B. White, Stephen King, Astrid Lindgren, and William Zinsser when I’m looking for writing advice and inspiration. One of my favorite quotes from Mr. Zinsser is:

    “Don’t be kind of bold. Be bold.”

    Thanks for an inspirational article!

  10. Hi Sonia
    Thank you for these. My favourite is also a Hemingway quote:
    “Just put the seat of the pants on the seat of the chair.”
    Down to the basics, as ever.
    Very best
    Charles Harris

  11. That Mamet quote is it to me Sonia. I do my best to embody it. To live that sucker. Because I am ALL IN for as long as I am here in my meat suit, being a writer, blogger, just keeping at it. Persistence. People who become world renowned for their writing or anything just keep at it. This is why I am like crabgrass or a bad cold in the blogging tips niche; ya can’t get rid of me LOL….comments, guest posts, Quora, everywhere, I do my best to make friends 1 bond at a time and to help folks by being a familiar presence.

  15. Being a writer certainly as its ups and downs! There are days when I am in the zone and I feel like the words are flowing out of me. Other days, I would rather scrub the house clean than write. I love taking inspiration from other writers and these quotes are perfect. Here’s one of my favorites – It’s by Stephen King: Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.

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