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If You Want to Write

Book by Brenda Ueland · 19 quotes · Writing, Thinking, People

This book offers practical advice and insights on how to develop a writing habit, overcome writer's block, and refine one's craft.

Book detail: If You Want to Write is presented as a focused source page for quotations connected with this book, collection, transcript, or source record.

This book offers practical advice and insights on how to develop a writing habit, overcome writer's block, and refine one's craft.

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All Writing Thinking People Ifs Knows Self Imagination Trying Creative Creativity Should Feelings Important True Self Art Ashamed Believe Children Feels Firsts

If You Want to Write Quotes

“everyone who is human has something to express. Try not expressing yourself for twenty-four hours and see what happens. You will nearly burst. You will want to write a long letter, or draw a picture, or sing, or make a dress or a garden.”

Want Writing Trying Humans Long Happens Humanity Hours Four Communication Draws Garden Letters Twenties Dresses Express Yourself

Book:If You Want to Write

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“the only way to become a better writer is to become a better person.”

Way Writing Persons Better Person

Book:If You Want to Write

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“So remember these two things: you are talented and you are original. Be sure of that. I say this because self-trust is one of the very most important things in writing.”

Writing Two Important Self Remember Originals Important Things Two Things Self Trust

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“Now some people when they sit down to write and nothing special comes, no good ideas, are so frightened that they drink a lot of strong coffee to hurry them up, or smoke packages of cigarettes, or take drugs or get drunk. They do not know that ideas come slowly, and that the more clear, tranquil and unstimulated you are, the slower the ideas come, but the better they are.”

People Knows Writing Ideas Strong Clear Special Drink Drug Coffee Drunk Smoke Frightened Good Ideas Cigarette Packages Tranquil

Book:If You Want to Write

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“You must become aware of the richness in you and come to believe in it and know it is there, so that you can write opulently and with self-trust. If you once become aware of it and have faith in it, you will be all right.”

Ifs Knows Writing Believe Self Have Faith Richness Self Trust

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“Self-trust is so important. When you launch on a story, make your neck loose, feel free, good-natured. And be lazy. Feel that you are going to throw it away. Try writing utterly unplanned stories and see what comes out.”

Feels Writing Trying Important Self Stories Necks Lazy Self Trust

Book:If You Want to Write

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“You have to hold your audience in writing to the very end-much more than in talking, when people have to be polite and listen to you.”

People Writing Ends Talking Audience Polite

Book:If You Want to Write

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“Even if I knew for certain that I would never have anything published again, and would never make another cent from it, I would still keep on writing.”

Ifs Writing Art Stills Certain Creativity Cents

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“I learned that you should feel when writing, not like Lord Byron on a mountain top, but like child stringing beads in kindergarten, - happy, absorbed and quietly putting one bead on after another.”

Feels Should Writing Children Joy Lord Creativity Mountain Kindergarten Beads Mountain Top Byron

Book:If You Want to Write

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“We have come to think that duty should come first. I disagree. Duty should be a by-product. Writing, the creative effort, the use of the imagination, should come first – at least, for some part of every day of your life. It is a wonderful blessing if you use it. You will become happier, more enlightened, alive, impassioned, light-hearted and generous to everybody else. Even your health will improve. Colds will disappear and all the other ailments of discouragement and boredom.”

Source: If You Want to Write

“No writing is a waste of time – no creative work where the feelings, the imagination, the intelligence must work. With every sentence you write, you have learned something. It has done you good.”

Writing Done Feelings Imagination Creative Waste Sentences Wasting Time Creative Work

Book:If You Want to Write

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“The only way to write well, so that people believe what we say and are interested or touched by it, is to slough off all pretentiousness and attitudinizing.”

People Way Writing Believe Wells Touched Pretentiousness Slough

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

“The only good teachers for you are those friends who love you, who think you are interesting, or very important, or wonderfully funny; whose attitude is: "Tell me more. Tell me all you can. I want to understand more about everything you feel and know and all the changes inside and out of you. Let more come out." And if you have no such friend,--and you want to write,--well, then you must imagine one.”

Ifs Thinking Knows Want Feels Writing Wells Important Interesting Attitude Teacher Imagine Love You Good Teacher

Book:If You Want to Write

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“...at last I understood that writing was this: an impulse to share with other people a feeling or truth that I myself had.”

People Writing Feelings Lasts Share Understood Impulse

Book:If You Want to Write

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“...writing is not a performance but a generosity.”

Writing Performances Generosity

Book:If You Want to Write

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“Advertising companies hire the very brightest, wittiest young people to write for them. Not one single sentence of it is worth repeating. Why? Because it wasn't meant.”

People Writing Young Company Sentences Advertising Single Sentence Wittiest

Book:If You Want to Write

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“The true self is always in motion like music, a river of life, changing, moving, failing, suffering, learning, shining. That is why you must freely and recklessly make new mistakes - in writing or in life - and do not fret about them but pass on and write more.”

Writing Self Moving Suffering Mistake Failing Rivers Shining Life Changing True Self

Book:If You Want to Write

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“Write a true, careless, slovenly impulsive, honest diary every day of your life.”

Writing Honest Journal Diaries Careless Impulsive

Book:If You Want to Write

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“If you write something and they all tell you it is bad - editors, critics, everybody - think it over and you may become convinced that they are right (though you are not to be ashamed or discouraged for a minute, but keep on writing).”

Ifs Thinking Writing May Minutes Critics Convinced Ashamed Editors Discouraged

Book:If You Want to Write

Source: If You Want to Write

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