Being A Writer Quotes

Even though I don't write about things that come from my life because I'm lucky, and I live in a great place with great kids and, you know, a great husband, I think you can find threads of me in the characters, so that's really what being a writer is, probably. ~ Jodi Picoult

But a huge part of being a writer is discovering your own intellectual and aesthetic autonomy, and how you best get the best words onto the page. ~ Paul Harding

Being a writer is a gift, being an author is amazing, becoming a best seller is everyone's dream ~ LaQuita Cameron

I think I was 16 when I had the thought of maybe being a writer. And this is complicated, something I only now understand, because when I was young, having dyslexia and not knowing it made reading such an ordeal. ~ Philip Schultz

Being a writer is 10% inspiration, 80% dedication and 10% going to the post office. ~ Jay Royston

One of the problems with being a writer is that all of your idiocies are still in print somewhere. I strongly support paper recycling. ~ P. J. O'Rourke

I think the biggest advice I can offer is don't just pick one story and stop, write as much as you can, as many stories as you can. The best thing about being a writer is, a writer's craft is nearly perfect because a writer can go anywhere and do his craft. ~ Dwayne McDuffie

In a sense my whole life as a writer is trying to find structural ways, or formal ways, to permit that outflowing so it doesn't just look like crazy output. In other words, if it turns out that you can do a given voice, that's just kind of inclination. But then if you can find a way to put that voice in a story so that the voice serves a purpose, then I would say that's being a writer. ~ George Saunders

One of the difficulties of being a writer must be that you create drama that you can't live out. That's one of the wonderful things about acting. ~ Anjelica Huston

It's not a problem to be surrounded by other writers if that's the craft that you're doing. I suppose if you get obsessed with the notion of being a writer more than the writing itself, that would be bad. But I live near really smart, thoughtful people who take writing very seriously, and I can meet them for breakfast and talk books. ~ Phil Klay

Being a writer is 1% inspiration, 50% perspiration and 49% explaining you're not a millionaire like J.K.Rowling. ~ Gabrielle Tozer

I think my family's watched me over the years in my career, in my pursuit of my career, and they've seen the challenges and the struggles that come with being an actor, with being a writer and a director, and the challenges of morphing my career in from just being an actor into a writer/director. ~ Ricky Schroder

Some want to be writers when life permits it. There is no part-time in being a writer. It's an all-in way of living your life through words and feelings scratched out with a pen. ~ Jason E. Hodges

I think one of the great joys of being a writer is you can transcend everything, even your own sex, what century you live in, and how you think. I found it quite natural to think as a male because I actually think that as a female, one often thinks in the mind of a male in terms of eroticism. You think about what the other person feels. So it's not that hard to imagine being that person. ~ Rebecca Miller

She: Do you always enjoy your struggle?

Me: Yes I do! There is no other meaningful way of living my life. My struggle to give voice to my thoughts is exhilarating. My struggle to channelize my thoughts to an audience is amazingly fulfilling. To write my feelings in words is greatly liberating. It is like my mind has all these thoughts and ideas that need to be shared with the esteemed audience!

She: What is your purpose of being a writer?

Me: A writer's life is a lonely life. The loneliness gives me time to be with myself. I am most happy when I am with myself. This loneliness is like my true existence. I don't need to search for a meaning in life. I have my struggle. I have a purpose. My reason for existence is my struggle to be a writer. ~ Avijeet Das

Younger than Morini and Pelletier, Espinoza studied Spanish literature, not German literature, at least for the first two years of his university career, among other sad reasons because he dreamed of being a writer. ~ Roberto Bolano

The best thing about being a writer is that 'work' is always something you love, plus usually accompanied by tea, coffee and cakes of some sort. ~ Jamie L. Harding

I was not encouraged to follow the career of a writer because my parents thought that I was going to starve to death. They thought nobody can make a living from being a writer in Brazil. They were not wrong. ~ Paulo Coelho

There's something paralyzing about being a writer that you have to escape. I don't want to think of myself as a guy who's written a bunch of books. The 26 letters distance us from our own hesitations and they make us sound as if we know what we're doing. We know grammar, we know prose, but actually we're all just struggling in the dark, really. ~ Nicholson Baker

Sometimes I don't even know why I'm writing what I'm writing...
I'm just following these people around and taking notes. ~ P. Anastasia

I still believe in you, as a writer, but the only stuff we ever had in common doesn't travel very far."
"What stuff is that?" he'd asked her.
"We're completely at ease being naked in front of strangers and total fuckheads", she'd told him. Maybe that's part of what being a writer entails, Danny Baciagalupo found himself thinking on that rainy spring night in Iowa city. ~ John Irving

Being a writer is great, and being a parent is great, and I hate Marching Band. ~ MaryJanice Davidson

The best piece of advice I ever received about being a writer came from my brother Lee. I was just starting out and he told me that if I wanted to have a long career, I had to be versatile, that I shouldn't just think of myself in one way, because there would come a time when maybe that one thing wasn't working out for me - and I'd still want to earn a living as a writer. ~ Tod Goldberg

Fat' is usually the first insult a girl throws at another girl when she wants to hurt her.

I mean, is 'fat' really the worst thing a human being can be? Is 'fat' worse than 'vindictive', 'jealous', 'shallow', 'vain', 'boring' or 'cruel'? Not to me; but then, you might retort, what do I know about the pressure to be skinny? I'm not in the business of being judged on my looks, what with being a writer and earning my living by using my brain…

I went to the British Book Awards that evening. After the award ceremony I bumped into a woman I hadn't seen for nearly three years. The first thing she said to me? 'You've lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw you!'

'Well,' I said, slightly nonplussed, 'the last time you saw me I'd just had a baby.'

What I felt like saying was, 'I've produced my third child and my sixth novel since I last saw you. Aren't either of those things more important, more interesting, than my size?' But no – my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book: finally, something to celebrate!

I've got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don't want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I'd rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, before 'thin'. And frankly, I'd rather they didn't give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman st ~ J.K. Rowling

I once dreamt of being a writer, to have my words known by many from many countries; this dream i dreamt came true ... so why cant your dream come true too? Rayvon L Browne does not believe in the word cant - Rayvon L Browne ~ Rayvon L. Browne

I tell my students that being a writer is like being a member of a medieval guild and that what we are doing is very subversive and very important. ~ Jayne Anne Phillips

The privilege of being a writer is that you have this opportunity to slow down and to consider things. ~ Chris Abani

I know well enough that very few people who are supposedly interested in writing are interested in writing well. They are interested in publishing something, and if possible in making a "killing." They are interested in being a writer not in writing ... If this is what you are interested in, I am not going to be much use to you. ~ Flannery O'Connor

What satisfaction do you, personally, get from being a writer?" Lanark tried to remember. He said, "It's the only disciplined work I remember trying. I sleep better for it. ~ Alasdair Gray

I don't think being a lawyer is more or less valuable than being a writer. ~ Emily Gould

Writing for the sake of writing, writing that draws its credibility from its very existence, is a foreign idea to most Americans. As a culture, we want cash on the barrel head. We want writing to earn dollars and sense so that it makes sense to us. We have a conviction - which is naive and misplaced - that being published has to do with being "good" while not being published has to do with being "amateur." ...
"Did you write today?"
"Yes."
"Then you're a writer today."
It would be lovely if being a writer were a permanent state that we could attain to. It's not, or if it is, the permanence comes posthumously.
A page at a time, a day at a time, is the way we must live our writing lives. Credibility lies in the act of writing. That is where the dignity is. That is where the final "credit" must come from. ~ Julia Cameron

Being a writer is a good, good thing. ~ Shannon Hale

Siren voices tell me, 'You don't have to keep going on.' And then you think, 'I'm a writer. What do I do? Sit there watching my wife clean up?' I don't know. I like being a writer. ~ Terry Pratchett

People should think that being a writer is cool. Even if you're just a starving writer. Besides, most great writers were starving at one point or another. It comes with the title. ~ Zack Love

Being a writer is like being in a relationship. If you're not 100% committed to your writing, you will fail to be the best that you can be. ~ Patti Roberts

I don't think being a writer who is religious means you have to write about nothing but religion. When I do write about religion, it's to inform the story, not to push a certain agenda. ~ G. Willow Wilson

For me, being a writer is not an altered state. It's very ponderous, and very - it's like being a shoemaker. ~ Anne Lamott

I vividly remember being 14. That was the age when I started to get happy: I started being a writer and stopped being a loser. ~ Anthony Horowitz

Being a writer means crying over the sad parts, even though you already know it's going to be okay. ~ Clare B. Dunkle

Certainly, I know what it's like to be obsessed. I haven't always been there for my children. They could reach me, but I wasn't always there. But, you know, that's not necessarily anything to do with being a writer. I mean, a taxi driver could have the same problem ... Maybe. ~ Henning Mankell

There's no path to being a writer that's applicable to everyone. Some young writers have the fortitude to work in a vacuum. For me, it was important to have some sense that my failures weren't unique. ~ Jonathan Dee

My relatives used to laugh when I talked of being a writer. ~ Taylor Caldwell

* If mind control sounds appealing to you, congratulations - you're well on your way to being a writer! ~ Pseudonymous Bosch

I waved my hand in front of my face, obi-wan style. "I am not here."
Niall's mucas glands kicked into overdrive. "Eoin's dead! And his ghost is standing right there on the grass!"
Donal let out a long suffering sigh. "Eoin is being a writer." Niall calmed down, becuase everyone knows writers are weird and are always doing stupid thingss. ~ Eoin Colfer

I think being a writer was a crappy job when you just had typewriters. It was crappy when we just had ink and paper. And it's sort of crappy now. It's always just you and the page. That doesn't change. ~ Colson Whitehead

I had achieved the most important things in my life when I married Joan and had the sons. Given the choice between Joan and the boys, and being a writer, I world give up being a writer without a blink. ~ Robert B. Parker

One of the odd things about being a writer is that you never reach a point of certainty, a point of mastery where you can say, 'Right. Now I understand how this is done.' ~ Jenny Offill

And I love being a writer because I want to leave something here on earth to make it better, prettier, stronger. I want to do something important in my life, and I think that adding beauty to the world with books like The Relatives Came or Waiting to Waltz or Henry and Mudge and the Forever Sea really is important. Every person is able to add beauty, whether by growing flowers, or singing, or cooking luscious meals, or raising sweet pets. Every part of life can be art. I am so grateful to be a writer. I hope every child grows up and finds something to do that will seem important and that will seem precious. Happy living and, especially, happy playing. ~ Cynthia Rylant

The tricky thing about being a writer, or about being any kind of artist, is that in addition to making art you also have to make a living. ~ Ann Patchett

I think the best thing about being a writer is getting to dream. It's constantly viewing life through the "what if?" lens. ~ Kevin J. Fitzgerald

I have never thought that I have sacrificed anything being a writer. That might not be true, maybe I have sacrificed something. Maybe I've given something up, but I can't think of it. ~ Walter Mosley

Being a writer is something I love to do, plus I get independence. It's a great job for a woman because she can work at home and always be there for the children. ~ Anne Mather

The idea of being a writer attracts a good many shiftless people, those who are merely burdened with poetic feelings or afflicted with sensibility. ~ Flannery O'Connor

That's one of the perks of being a writer. You get to put mean people in a book. And then you get to kill them. ~ Kim Jones

Being a writer is so great because you're literally not dependent on anybody. Whereas, as an actor, you have to audition or wait for somebody else to make a decision about how to use you, with writing, you can do it anywhere, anytime you want. You don't have to ask permission. ~ Sam Shepard

Being a writer
is all about having something to say. And it'd better be interesting. If you don't have anything
interesting to say, don't become a writer. Become something useful. Like a doctor. ~ Candace Bushnell

No one has expressed it better than a great novelist I heard once on a talk show who said something like You want to know the price I pay for being a writer? Okay, I'll tell you. I travel by plane a great deal. And I'm usually seated next to some huge businessman who works on files or his laptop computer for a while, and then notices me and asks me what I do. And I say I'm a writer. Then there's always a terrible silence. Then he says eagerly, 'Have you written anything I might have heard of? ~ Anne Lamott

The worst thing about being a writer is having to pretend you know what you're talking about. ~ Marty Rubin

I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork. ~ Peter De Vries

I've always said the hardest aspect of the job of being a writer is writing. ~ Bob Mayer

Hanging out in coffee shops and talking about one day being a writer or an activist or an entrepreneur is just about the worst thing you can do. ~ Jeff Goins

It never occurred to me to be a film director, partly because I hadn't seen a single film by a female director, but I liked the idea of being a writer moving to Hollywood and being unhappy; that sounded romantic and fabulous to me. ~ Mary Harron

One of the things I prize most about being a writer is its license - you could even say injunction - to be curious, to follow anything anywhere and see where it might take you, how it can transform you, whether in content or form. ~ Gregory Allen Howard

When we forget ourselves, when we let go of being good and just settle into just being a writer, we begin to have the experience of writing through us. We retire as the self-conscious author and become something else - the vehicle for self-expression. When we are just the vehicle, the storyteller and not the point of the story, we often write very well - we certainly write more easily. ~ Julia Cameron

Being a writer now is about so much more than writing. There's publishing, touring, marketing, web presence. ~ James Frey

The hardest thing about being a writer is convincing your wife that lying on the sofa is work. ~ John Hughes

Being a writer was never a choice, it was an irresistible compulsion. ~ Walter Jon Williams

Always thought being a writer would be one of the most useless things you could be in a zombie apocalypse, but it turns out arts and culture and storytelling is what helps us get through. Along with science, doctors, nurses, delivery people, farm workers and supermarket cashiers. ~ Lauren Beukes

Being a writer is an endless study in human transition and lessons learned or forgotten or misapplied. ~ Sloane Crosley

My family didn't like me going on the stage, and they didn't much like my being a writer, either. ~ P.L. Travers

What's this business of being a writer. It's just putting one word after another. ~ Irving Thalberg

There are a lot of women writers who never get married and don't have kids. I am married, but I didn't marry until I was 43. I knew when I was young that if I had to make a choice between being married and being a writer, I would have chosen to be a writer. I think it's a career where you have to put the career first. I don't have kids but - and luckily everyone isn't like this - I think if you have that passion, in a way, your career is your child. ~ Candace Bushnell

I love a lots of things about being a writer! The thrill of seeing characters come to life, and the satisfaction as a story starts to fall into place. Independence not being answerable to anyone but myself or tied to a nine-to-five routine is very important to me, too. And of course, it's great being a writer when it comes to parties! In my experience, most people are fascinated by the process of writing and the whole idea of romantic fiction, even if they have never read any. ~ Jessica Hart

From being a writer of plays, it was not that surprising that somebody thought of giving me a job as an actor. After I played one part, others came along. ~ Wallace Shawn

It's not easy to diagnose because depending where the endometrial deposits are, the symptoms can be quite different. It's an unrecognized problem among teenage girls, and it's something that every young woman who has painful menstruation should be aware of ... it's a condition that is curable if it's caught early. If not, if it's allowed to run on, it can cause infertility, and it can really mess up your life.
[Author Hilary Mantel on being asked about being a writer with endometriosis, Nov 2012 NPR interview] ~ Hilary Mantel

Sometimes we mask ourselves to further reveal ourselves, and it's always been connected to me with being a writer: We tell lies to tell a greater truth. The story is a mask; the characters you create are masks. That appeals to me. Aside from that, too, in the carnival the masks were beautiful, and offered a vision of Haitian creativity. ~ Edwidge Danticat

The highest privilege of being a writer is being able to say, 'open your mind to me and I'll take you to another world. ~ Alexei Maxim Russell

A curse of being a writer is the compulsion to edit. Take the sign on my walking trail, for example. It reads, 'Watered by well water.' One of these days, no matter how hard I try to resist, I just know I'm going to paint it out to read, 'Irrigated by well water.' If you don't get this, it's because you're not a writer. ~ Ron Brackin

Do you enjoy being a writer, Mrs Avery?" asked Julian.
"No, of course not, she said. "It's a hideous profession. Entered into by narcissists who think their pathetic little imaginations will be of interest to people they've never met. ~ John Boyne

The less conscious one is of being a writer, the better the writing. ~ Pico Iyer

That's the worst aspect of being a writer: managing plausibility. ~ Chuck Palahniuk

I liked the idea of being a writer and letting somebody else do the graft. ~ Siouxsie Sioux

And I find - I'm 63, and my capacity to be by myself and just spend time by myself hasn't diminished any. That's the necessary part of being a writer, you better like being alone. ~ John Irving

My being a writer and playing Scrabble are connected. If I have a good writing day, I'll take a break and play online Scrabble. My favorite word as a child was 'carrion,' before I knew what it meant. I later created crossword puzzles, which was a lot about puns, and how words would create these strange, strange things. ~ Meg Wolitzer

I had to wait for a long time before I could support myself with writing. However, being a writer is what I have most wanted to be, from the time I was a child. ~ Margaret Mahy

When a person sets out to learn from others and not to teach others he becomes a true writer. ~ Carla H. Krueger

There are times when I can't believe how much ridiculous stuff happens to me and how brilliant it is to be in a position to write about it. ~ Carla H. Krueger

I've always felt that the cool thing about being a writer is that all you need is paper to do the job. ~ Dwayne McDuffie

The real skill of being a writer is being able to take your inspired moments, and make them work as a whole, through the unromantic, daily hard work. ~ Nick Blaemire

I seriously doubt I would ever have written the first story had I not been a lawyer. I never dreamed of being a writer. I wrote only after witnessing a trial. ~ John Grisham

I will always love being a writer. There is nothing greater than that. ~ Millicent Ashby

I guess being a writer is a little like being a singer, when they're forced to sing that same boring song a million times over to their fans, even though that song was in the charts something like twenty years ago. We must read our book a million times before releasing it, they must sing the same song a million times after release, right? WRONG! It's nothing like that at all, because a song only takes three minutes to sing, whereas the reading of a book takes a fucking lifetime if you hate it already! ~ Jimmy Tudeski

The great thing about being a writer is that you are always recreating yourself. ~ Martin Cruz Smith

I never even dreamt of being a writer because I didn't feel allowed. When I was a child I was terribly ambitious, but I didn't know at all what this great thing would become. ~ Amelie Nothomb

Part of being a writer is knowing when what you write is really bad. ~ Reif Larsen

Being a writer is determined more by writing than by having written. ~ Mokokoma Mokhonoana

One of the best perks of being a writer is having a safe place to park all the crazy crap residing in my head. ~ Coo Sweet

An essential element of being a writer is learning whom to listen to and whom to ignore where your work is concerned. Every ~ Ann Patchett

Being a writer is part of a noble tradition, as is being a musician – the last egalitarian and open associations. No matter what happens in terms of fame and fortune, dedication to writing is a marching-step forward from where you were before, when you didn't care about reaching out to the world, when you weren't hoping to contribute, when you were just standing there doing some job into which you had fallen. ~ Anne Lamott

There's no point for me in being a writer and having all these blocked places where I feel I can't think freely and imagine freely. There just really is no point. ~ Binyavanga Wainaina