Friday, April 19, 2013

Q is for Quotes

I thought I'd go with something nice and easy and inspirational today. My favorite writing quotes. These are always good for lifting my spirits on days I'm feeling down.

"Talent is long patience."~Gustave Flaubert

"Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.~E.L. Doctorow

"You feel the call. That's the important thing. Now answer it as fully as you can. Take the risk to let all that is in you, out. Escape into the open. ~Elizabeth Berg

"Writing is like a disease, you either have it or you don't." ~Anne Groell

"Just don't pretend to know more about your characters than they do, because you don't. Stay open to them. It's teatime and all the dolls are at the table. Listen. It's that simple." ~Anne Lamont

"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, without pity, and destroy most of it."~ Owen Sheers

"Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he'll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer. ~Ernest Hemingway


"Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must be cantankerous and objectionable in order to be bright; that ego is paramount over skill; that one can rise to a level from which one can tell the reader to go to hell. These myths, if believed, can ruin you. If you believe you can make a living as a writer, you  already have enough ego. ~Ray Bradbury


Which quote do you guys find to be inspirational? Do you know any other good ones?








  

12 comments:

  1. Gustave Flaubert's really spoke to me. I'm grateful I'm not one of those authors who hears voices -- I'm a dictator, and my characters better do what I tell them to with no back talk! lol

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  2. Can't remember off hand but I have some good ones on my pinterest board. You picked some good ones here.

    http://pinterest.com/queendsheena/great-quotes/

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  3. Haha, this is fantastic!

    I really enjoy the two Anne quotes. It may seem horrible to compare writing to a disease, but I love the "you have it or you don't" ...there's this thing these days where everyone and their three uncles think they can be a writer, and that bothers me, because I know many writers suffer greatly with the passion and utter need to write!

    Also, I love the comment about characters. Sometimes when I write I am very tense, because I know what I want my characters to do but I'm not positive they'll comply with my wishes!

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  4. You can't beat a good quote. Some excellent ones here, thanks.

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  5. Hemingway's quote is the best, I think, because it brings writing down to a 'common sensical' level. He knew his stuff :)

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  6. I like Bradbury's best out of these. My favorite quotes comes from Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens). He was snarky as all get out and loved animals.

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  7. I like the one about destroying most of it.

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  8. If Owen Sheers is to believe, then I'm an author! Hurrah! hahaha.

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  9. Do something that you love and you'll never work a day in your life...from Confucius

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  10. Great choice of quotes. I love reading quotes from established writers; it's nice to know that the experience of being a writer is, by and large, the same for everyone!
    angelinetrevena.blogspot.co.uk

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  11. Love this. Now maybe I'll find my inspiration! I always seem to get overwhelmed, but hopefully this helps!

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  12. One of my favorite quotes is by Stephen King on writing. I also did quotes for Q :)

    I LOVE the Dorothy Parker quote and that one gets my vote!

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