Writing

quotes and inspiration on writing

"You are, in effect, dropping stones down a well. Every time you hear an echo from your Subconscious, you know yourself a little better. A small echo may start an idea. A big echo may result in a story." - Ray Bradbury

"What a story is “about” is to be found in the curiosity it creates in us, which is a form of caring." - George Saunders

"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." - Stephen King

"The most important is that the writer’s original perception of a character or characters may be as erroneous as the reader’s. Running a close second was the realization that stopping a piece of work just because it’s hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it, and sometimes... See more

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”

—Terry Pratchett

"my books tend to be based on situation rather than story. Some of the ideas which have produced those books are more complex than others, but the majority start out with the stark simplicity of a department store window display or a waxwork tableau." - Stephen King

"“When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story,” he said. “When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.”" - Stephen King

On Writing

The mathematical genius Alexander Grothendieck once had a metaphor for solving problems. He suggested that instead of forcing open an impossibly hard kernel with a hammer and chisel, one should simply let it sit in water and wait. Over time, the shell softens and opens with ease. This is also true in writing; time is the only non-substitutable... See more

Epiphanies Come From Waiting

"Conjure the nouns, alert the secret self, taste the darkness." - Ray Bradbury