thoughts on writing
Writing: Assuming you understand the core principles of writing and the basics of grammar, what determines your ability to write well more than anything else is writing a lot. Once you reach the threshold of writing a decent sentence, the thing that leads to success is writing more.
James Clear • How Smart Do You Have to Be to Succeed?
The point is, writing well, even an ordinary letter or a well-considered e-mail, demands the generosity of your time, effort, and thought. You have to care enough that it’s worth your energy, weighing that cost against the cost of not doing it.
Kurt Vonnegut • Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style
“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”
—Terry Pratchett
Good input=good output: to be a great writer, we must be great readers. I’ve found that the quality of the texts I read influences the quality of the writing I produce.
3 of Seneca's Metaphors for Taking Notes
Be kind to yourself. Give yourself room. There are years to go. Don’t pummel yourself with expectation. Go easy. Your material will eventually find its way to voice.
Kurt Vonnegut • Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style
This applies to life not just writing
We are writers, and we never ask one another where we get our ideas; we know we don’t know.
Stephen King • On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft (A Memoir of the Craft (Reissue))
Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
Kurt Vonnegut • Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style
My only ritual for writing is that I do it every morning. I wake up and get to work.