Writing quotes

Writing

30.7K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.

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Writing quotes (page 170 of 1537)

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Lady Gaga Singer, Actress
Writing

"I write about what I know: sex, pornography, art, fame obsession, drugs, and alcohol. I mean, why would anyone care to listen to me if I wasn't an expert in what I write about?"

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Kanye West Rapper, Producer, Fashion Designer
Writing

"It wasn't until I hung out with Dead Prez and understood how to make, you know, raps with a message sound cool that I was able to just write "All Falls Down" in 15 minutes."

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J. K. Rowling Novelist, Screenwriter
Writing

"Some people do not seem to grasp that I still have to sit down in peace and write the books, apparently believing that they pop up like mushrooms without my connivance."

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J. K. Rowling Novelist, Screenwriter
Writing

"I've only suffered writer's block badly once, and that was during the writing of Chamber of Secrets. I had my first burst of publicity about the first book and it paralysed me. I was scared the second book wouldn't measure up, but I got through it!"

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J. K. Rowling Novelist, Screenwriter
Writing

"Often, you have to fail as a writer before you write that bestselling novel or ground-breaking memoir. If you're failing as a writer - which it definitely feels like when you're struggling to write regularly or can't seem to earn a living as a freelance writer - maybe you need to take a long-term perspective."

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J. K. Rowling Novelist, Screenwriter
Writing

"I think they thought it was very arrogant of me to write the end of my seven books series when I didn't have a publisher and no-one had heard of me"

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J. K. Rowling Novelist, Screenwriter
Writing

"I’ll make Goyle do lines, it’ll kill him, he hates writing,” said Ron happily. He lowered his voice to Goyle’s low grunt and, screwing up his face in a look of pained concentration, mimed writing in midair. “I... must... not... look... like... a... baboon’s... backside."

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Zadie Smith Novelist, Essayist
Writing

"The young people have a phrase for this now, which is "slay in your lane." That's a very important principle of writing. You have to work out what it is you can't do, obscure it, and focus on what works."

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Zadie Smith Novelist, Essayist
Writing

"When I write I am trying to express my way of being in the world. This is primarily a process of elimination: once you have removed all the dead language, the second-hand dogma, the truths that are not your own but other people's, the mottos, the slogans, the out-and-out lies of your nation, the myths of your historical moment - once you have removed all that warps experience into a shape you do not recognise and do not believe in - what you are left with is something approximating the truth of your own conception."

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Zadie Smith Novelist, Essayist
Writing

"It's a feeling of happiness that knocks me clean out of adjectives. I think sometimes that the best reason for writing novels is to experience those four and a half hours after you write the final word."

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Zadie Smith Novelist, Essayist
Writing

"English writing tends to fall into two categories - the big, baggy epic novel or the fairly controlled, tidy novel. For a long time, I was a fan of the big, baggy novel, but there's definitely an advantage to having a little bit more control."

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Napoleon Bonaparte Military Leader, Emperor
Writing

"To write history one must be more than a man, since the author who holds the pen of this great justiciary must be free from all preoccupation of interest or vanity."

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Mahatma Gandhi Political Leader
Writing

"We do not need to proselytise either by our speech or by our writing. We can only do so really with our lives. Let our lives be open books for all to study."

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