Great thinkers and writers often have pithy things to say about the writing process. Here are a few quotations to make your writing day go more smoothly.
Don’t write merely to be understood. Write so that you cannot possibly be misunderstood. – Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do. – Thomas Jefferson
Sit down, and put down everything that comes into your head and then you’re a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it. – Colette, Casual Chance, 1964
The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof shit detector. This is the writer’s radar and all great writers have had it. – Ernest Hemingway, interview in Paris Review, Spring 1958
I try to leave out the parts that people skip. –Elmore Leonard
The wastebasket is a writer’s best friend. – Isaac Bashevis Singer
Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. – Anton Chekhov
A metaphor is like a simile. – Author Unknown
An old racetrack joke reminds you that your program contains all the winners’ names. I stare at my typewriter keys with the same thought. – Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic’s Notebook, 1960
The best style is the style you don’t notice. – Somerset Maugham
The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. – Mark Twain
Do you have a favorite quote about writing? Please send it to me at lizd@worktalk.com. And if you are looking for a way to become a better writer yourself, check out the Worktalk trainings.