Writing

Friedrich Nietzsche Philosopher, Writer

Writing

"Style ought to prove that one believes in an idea; not only that one thinks it but also feels it."

Thinking Believe Writing

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Friedrich Nietzsche Philosopher, Writer

Writing

"one does not only wish to be understood when one writes; one wishes just as surely not to be understood."

Writing Life Wish

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Li-Young Lee Poet

Writing

"In writing poetry, all of one's attention is focused on some inner voice."

Writing Voice Attention

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Khaled Hosseini Author, Physician

Writing

"I don't know the nuts and bolts of writing. I studied medicine. I was a pre-med nerd. So everything I learned, I know about writing is very instinctive."

Writing Medicine Nuts

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Mark Twain Writer, Humorist

Writing

"The test of any good fiction is that you should care something for the characters; the good to succeed, the bad to fail. The trouble with most fiction is that you want them all to land in hell, together, as quickly as possible."

Writing Character Land

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Mark Twain Writer, Humorist

Writing

"Ideally a book would have no order to it, and the reader would have to discover his own."

Writing Book Order

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Jean-Paul Sartre Philosopher, Writer

Writing

"Originally, poetry creates the myth, while the prose-writer draws its portrait."

Writing Portraits Myth

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Jim Harrison Novelist, Poet

Writing

"I'm actually forced to write about Michigan because as a native of that state it's the place I know best."

Writing States Michigan

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Jimmy Buffett Musician, Author

Writing

"I want to keep going as I have, to travel, read, perform, write, and enjoy my family. I've promised myself only this: no more Laundromats, no more two-shows-a-night, and no more deadlines. I'll work at my own pace."

Writing Two Night

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Jimmy Buffett Musician, Author

Writing

"Songwriters write songs, but they really belong to the listener."

Writing Song Listeners

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John Cage Composer, Musician

Writing

"Paper should be edible, nutritious. Inks used for printing or writing should have delicious flavors. Magazines or newspapers read at breakfast should be eaten for lunch. Instead of throwing one's mail in the waste-basket, it should be saved for the dinner guests."

Writing Should Have Lunch

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John Gardner Author, Educator

Writing

"A common and usually unfortunate answer is “Write about what you know.” Nothing can be more limiting to the imagination, nothing is quicker to turn on the psyche's censoring devices and distortion systems, than trying to write truthfully."

Writing Knows Imagination

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John Lennon Musician, Activist

Writing

"Songwriting is like ... being possessed. You try to go to sleep but the song won't let you."

Writing Song Sleep

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John Steinbeck Novelist, Journalist

Writing

"The craft or art of writing is the clumsy attempt to find symbols for the wordlessness."

Writing Art Crafts

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John Steinbeck Novelist, Journalist

Writing

"The discipline of the written word punishes both stupidity and dishonesty."

Writing Stupid Discipline

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John Steinbeck Novelist, Journalist

Writing

"The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true."

Believe Writing Powerful

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John Steinbeck Novelist, Journalist

Writing

"A creative person has to be alive. He can't borrow from things he's done in the past. He can't let his method choose his subjects or his characters. They can't be warped to fit his style."

Writing Character Past

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John Steinbeck Novelist, Journalist

Writing

"I suffer as always from the fear of putting down the first line. It is amazing the terrors, the magics, the prayers, the straitening shyness that assail one. It is as though the words were not only indelible but that they spread out like dye in water and color everything around them. A strange and mystic business, writing."

Writing Prayer Color

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Jordan Peele Filmmaker, Actor

Writing

"You hear it said time and time again by successful directors: You have to make a movie for yourself. Don't make it for anyone else. My style of filmmaking happens to be give the audience what they know they don't want, but they want. Ultimately I have to write and direct in a way that let's just say, you don't want to regret making a choice."

Writing Successful Regret

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Jorge Luis Borges Writer, Poet

Writing

"I write for myself, and perhaps for half a dozen friends. And that should be enough. And that might improve the quality of my writing. But if I were writing for thousands of people, then I would write what might please them. And as I know nothing about them, and maybe I'd have a rather low opinion of them, I don't think that would do any good to my work."

People Thinking Writing

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