“The conscious mind is the editor, and the subconscious mind is the writer. And the joy of writing, when you're writing from your subconscious, is beautiful - it's thrilling. When you're editing, which is your conscious mind, it's like torture.” WritingMindBeautifulJoyConsciousTortureEditorsEditingSubconsciousThrillingSubconscious MindConscious Mind Author:Steve Martin
“Be undeniably good. When people ask me how do you make it in show business or whatever, what I always tell them & nobody ever takes note of it 'cause it's not the answer they wanted to hear-what they want to hear is here's how you get an agent, here's how you write a script, here's how you do this-but I always say, “Be so good they can't ignore you.” If somebody's thinking, “How can I be really good?” people are going to come to you. It's much easier doing it that way than going to cocktail parties.” PeopleIfsThinkingWayWantWritingShowsWantedAsksCausesAnswersPartyEasierNotesScriptsAgentsAsk MeGood PeopleShow BusinessCocktailsCocktail Parties Author:Steve Martin
“To me, torture would be, "I can't think what to write in the next sentence. I'm stuck." Torture would be if you didn't have the next idea.” IfsThinkingWritingI CanIdeasWould BeNextSentencesStuckTorture Author:Steve Martin
“In a strange way, I don't have a job, so I have a lot of time on my hands. When I do work, it might be very concentrated, and it might be months where you're not really doing anything except maybe playing the banjo or writing something. You know, there's a lot of time in the day if you're not working 9 to 5.” IfsKnowsWayWritingHandsMightJobsStrangeMonthsWorking ItBanjos Author:Steve Martin
“Stand-up life is really hard. At one point, I got so paralyzed I could write five screenplays before I could write three jokes for stand-up. Later, I've finally allowed myself to relax quite a bit, to think I can do it because I've done it in the past. The pressure to come up with the material is the same but the anxiety about whether I can do it is gone.” ThinkingWritingI CanHardDonePastLife IsThreeBitsCan DoGoneFiveMaterialsAnxietyJokesPressureCome UpRelaxScreenplaysI Can Do ItParalyzed Author:Steve Martin
“I never had a movie that I wanted to do turned down in my whole life. I always write the script first so it speaks for itself.” WritingFirstsWholeWantedSpeakScriptsWhole LifeTurned Down Author:Steve Martin
“At first I had no skills in writing comedy. I didn't know what a joke was, but, as someone once told me, your emotions follow your intent. If you create the intention of starting a comedy act, slowly your mind starts adjusting and you arrive at a new emotional state.” IfsKnowsWritingMindFirstsStatesEmotionComedyEmotionalSkillsJokesIntentionStartingAdjustingWriting Comedy Author:Steve Martin
“Writing is something I took up rather than anything I had an inclination toward. I like acting -delivering someone else's message - but writing is more of an accomplishment.” WritingActingMessagesAccomplishmentInclinationDelivering Author:Steve Martin
“Deeply funny musings and adventures elevate Paul Rudnick to the highest level of American comedy writing.” WritingLevelsComedyAdventureHighestMusingsComedy Writing Author:Steve Martin
“I think films are about having a good time, so I don't know that there's a message. The message of a film is always what a critic writes, and the fun of a film or the emotion of a film is what the audience feels.” ThinkingKnowsFeelsWritingFilmFunEmotionAudienceMessagesCriticsGood TimesHaving A Good Time Author:Steve Martin
“I've been writing for a long time, since the late '60s. But it hasn't been in the same form. I used to write scripts for television. I wrote for my comedy act. Then I wrote screenplays, and then I started writing New Yorker essays, and then I started writing plays. I didn't start writing prose, really, until the New Yorker essays, but they were comic. I didn't start writing prose, really, until the '90s. In my head, there was a link between everything. One thing led to another.” WritingLongPlayFormUsedComedyOne ThingTelevisionLateLong TimeScriptsComicProseLinksEssaysScreenplaysNew Yorkers Author:Steve Martin
“I don't think anyone is ever writing so that you can throw it away. You're always writing it to be something. Later, you decide whether it'll ever see the light of day. But at the moment of its writing, it's always meant to be something. So, to me, there's no practicing; there's only editing and publishing or not publishing.” ThinkingWritingMomentsLightMeant To BePublishingEditing Author:Steve Martin
“I take editing seriously. It's a joy to edit. I always hand a manuscript to several editors and can't wait to get back their notes and see what they've said. I don't criticize myself for making blunders here and there, because it's just natural. You write in chunks, and you may not remember that that sentence you wrote yesterday had the same word repeated three times. I do enjoy that. I love the feeling of repairing. Repairing is really nice.” WritingMaySaidFeelingsHandsRememberJoyThreeWaitingEnjoyNaturalNiceNotesSentencesYesterdayCriticizeGet BackEditorsEditingThree TimesHere And ThereEditsReally NiceManuscriptsBlundersChunksRepairing Author:Steve Martin
“I hope people find my movies funny and will watch them years from now. And, in terms of writing, I hope that something remains that will not seem old-fashioned, that will still have a vibrancy to it 50 years from now.” PeopleWritingYearsStillsSeemsTermWatchesRemainsOld FashionedVibrancy Author:Steve Martin
“I don't think comic timing is the same as music timing, but I definitely find that I've learned from just writing in general that songs can be narrative without having a story.” ThinkingWritingStoriesSongComicNarrativeI've LearnedTiming Author:Steve Martin
“It eventually appeared to be me, cinematically. When I was writing it I was actually an author, you know, writing a book. ... But there certainly is a difference in energy between a younger man and an older man.” KnowsMenWritingBookEnergyDifferencesWriting A BookOlder Man Author:Steve Martin
“The real joy is in constructing a sentence. But I see myself as an actor first because writing is what you do when you are ready and acting is what you do when someone else is ready.” WritingFirstsRealHumorFunnyJoyActorsActingReadySentencesReal Joy Author:Steve Martin
“I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper.” ThinkingWritingWellsHumorFunnyPaperBunchBlankConsideringEditingWriters And WritingWriting By WritersWell WrittenBlank Paper Author:Steve Martin
“I actually credit Twitter with fine-tuning some joke-writing skills. I still feel like I'm working at it.” FeelsWritingStillsFineSkillsJokesCreditTuningFine TuningWriting Skills Author:Steve Martin
“I think there are people out there writing original bluegrass songs, but it's hard to get them out on the air.” PeopleThinkingWritingHardSongAirOriginalsBluegrass Author:Steve Martin
“I knew I could only play Cyrano if he were Americanized. I had no intention of writing the script myself. I was afraid of it. You're playing with fire when you tamper with a classic. So I went looking for a writer. But it was such a personal idea, and anyone I would give it to would make it his own. It's hard to ask Neil Simon to write your idea.” IfsGivingWritingIdeasHardPlayAsksFireIntentionScriptsClassicPlaying With Fire Author:Steve Martin
“No matter how many times people say it - 'Oh, I'm just writing this for myself' 'Oh, I'm just doing this for myself' - nobody's doing it for themselves! You're doing it for an audience. So whether I'm performing or writing a book or playing music, it's definitely to be put out there and to be received in some way, definitely.” PeopleWayWritingBookMatterAudiencePerformingWriting A BookPlaying Music Author:Steve Martin
“What I mean is that none of my talents had a - what's that great word - rubric. A singer, an actor, a dancer - there was nothing I could really say I was. The writing came much later. And, actually, thank God, because if I had said I'm a singer, I would really have just had one thing to do.” IfsWritingMeanSaidActorsOne ThingTalentSingersThings To DoDancerThank GodRubrics Author:Steve Martin
“The conscious mind is the editor, and the subconscious mind is the writer.” WritingMindConsciousEditorsSubconsciousSubconscious MindConscious Mind Author:Steve Martin
