Quotessence
Home / Topics / Writers On Writing Quotes

Writers On Writing Quotes

Browse 552 quotes about Writers On Writing.

Writers On Writing Quotes

“Books used to be written by humanity's greatest thinkers, or at least our greatest entertainers. Now every halfwit can publish his verbal diarrhea. And millions of shitty, mediocre, uninspired, trite books are drowning out mankind's greatest literary accomplishments.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“Pro tip: If you can't think of anything more interesting to post on social media than a picture of your cup of coffee, you are boring and you have nothing interesting to say.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“Conformists are boring. Artists are interesting. That's the difference between a wannabe writer and a real writer.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“You have to make people care about your book. They have to love it or hate it. If they don't care about your book, you have failed as a writer.”

WritingWriters On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better Writer
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“Self-publishing is not nearly as easy as people think it is. Sure, you can upload some crappy manuscript online and slap some run-of-the-mill cover on it. But that doesn't mean anyone wants to read it.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteSelf PublishingHow To Be A Better Writer
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“The large companies that offer self-publishing services don't care whether you buy a copy of Dracula, a copy of Frankenstein, and a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey – or if you buy three "proof copies" of your own book. They still sold you three books. And they know that wannabe writers are so proud of their own crappy book, they'll buy a whole bunch of copies to give to their friends and family. Wannabe writers are their best customers.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteSelf PublishingHow To Be A Better Writer
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“Basically the self-publishing industry's business model is based on selling you your own book. You're giving them money so that you can feel like a writer.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteSelf PublishingHow To Be A Better Writer
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“Some people feel that cheap immigrant labor is bringing down wages, which makes it impossible for Americans to earn a living. A lot of real writers feel the same way about the influx of millions of wannabe writers into their profession.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteSelf PublishingHow To Be A Better Writer
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“In the past, ten authors made a million bucks each. Now a million authors make ten bucks each. Is that better? No. That's not helping anyone. Your vanity is making it harder for real writers to feed their families.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteSelf PublishingHow To Be A Better Writer
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“Most self-published books are kinda like dreams. Your dream was interesting to you, but when you tell others what you dreamed last night, their eyes glaze over, because your nightly hallucinations really aren't all that interesting to anyone else.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteSelf PublishingHow To Be A Better Writer
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“Chances are, even your friends and family aren't really interested in reading your self-published book. Your mom might read it to do you a favor, but if it wasn't written by her precious little angel, she probably couldn't care less about it.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteSelf PublishingHow To Be A Better Writer
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“Readers can only read so many books in a month. And unless you give them a really good reason to read your book, they'll prefer to read some other, more famous book. You're competing for the reader's attention. And if you don't even know that, you've already lost.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteSelf PublishingHow To Be A Better Writer
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“When you self-publish a book, not only are you competing with millions of other books, you're also at a disadvantage because your book is self-published, and a lot of readers are unwilling to even try your book, because they've had so many bad experiences.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteSelf PublishingHow To Be A Better Writer
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“Before you take anyone's advice, check the sales rank of their own books. If their Amazon sales rank is somewhere around 700,000 or worse, they're barely selling one book per month, if even that. Why would you follow their advice? They have no idea what they're talking about. They're rookies pretending to be experts. It's almost like they're role playing. They're make-believe writers, the way kids are make-believe astronauts or pirates.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“Its pretty annoying to real writers, when some unqualified, talent-free hack calls himself a writer, because it devalues the word. Millions of shitty self-published wannabe writers are giving real indie writers with real talent a bad name.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“If everyone is suddenly a writer, then no one is. It feels like cultural appropriation. You're stealing their identity. You're appropriating the one thing that is sacred to real writers. You're not a writer. You like to write. There's a difference. To you it's just a hobby, and yet you decorate yourself with stolen feathers. You give yourself a title you haven't earned and don't deserve. Just like you can't wake up one day and pretend now you're a proctologist.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“Have you traveled the globe? Have you been places, done things and experienced the world? Have you lived a colorful, unique life? If not, you have nothing of value to contribute to humanity. Everything you write is not based on real world experience but recycled second hand information.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“You can't be a writer if you haven't done shit and experienced nothing interesting. They say write what you know. If you know nothing about life, you can't be a good writer. Good writing is based on who you are as a person. Every good book is a part of who you are. Every good writer reveals his true self in his books. If there is nothing interesting to reveal, go be an accountant or something. You have no business being a writer.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“The difference between some random toddler scribbling some crappy drawing and Leonardo da Vinci is that Leonardo has talent. Someone with no talent is not the same as someone with talent.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“If someone with talent creates something, it's art. When someone with no talent creates something, it's crap.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“If you want to be a good writer, you need to be a talented artist. And artists are unique and stand out. Artists are the opposite of conformists.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“If you want to be a good writer, you need to be a talented artist. And artists are unique and stand out. Artists are the opposite of conformists. So by doing what everyone else is doing, you're proving your mediocrity, and your lack of artistic uniqueness. When you follow everyone else's example, you are by definition not an artist. You're a copy cat.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“Not every self-published indie author is bad. There actually are some very good ones. But they're the exception, not the rule.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“Shakespeare was one in a million. That makes you pretty unique, if there's only one million people. But when there's a hundred million people, then being one in a million means there are 100 people just as talented as you. In a country of 300 million people, there are 300 people like you. And in a world of seven billion people, you're competing with 7000 other people who are every bit as good as you. I wonder if Shakespeare would have gotten famous if he lived today, and had to compete with 7000 other Shakespeares.”

Writers On WritingAuthor QuotesWriting AdviceWriting QuotesWriting TipsAuthors On WritingQuotes About WritingHow To WriteHow To Be A Better WriterSelf Publishing Tips
Book:The Ugly Truth About Self-Publishing: Not another cookie-cutter contemporary romance
Create image

“You resting your head tenderly on my shoulders while we sit below the old Oak tree. And we smile at each other and gaze lovingly at the fascinating sunset over the hills. This moment makes me feel completely alive as if we have reached not just cloud nine or ten but also cloud infinity!”

Life QuotesHillsPoetry QuotesLove QuoteMuseWriters On WritingRomance QuotesLove PoemWriters QuotesWriters LifePoetry LovePoetry Quotes LoveSunset QuotesOak TreeSky QuotesPoetry Of LifeClouds QuotesValentines QuoteCloud NineSunset Sky
Author:Avijeet Das
Create image

“I think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many rooms are going to be in the house, what kind of roof they're going to have, where the wires are going to run, what kind of plumbing there's going to be. They have the whole thing designed and blueprinted out before they even nail the first board up. The gardeners dig a hole, drop in a seed and water it. They kind of know what seed it is, they know if planted a fantasy seed or mystery seed or whatever. But as the plant comes up and they water it, they don't know how many branches it's going to have, they find out as it grows. And I'm much more a gardener than an architect.”

WritingWritersArchitectWriters On WritingWriting ProcessGardenerWriting CraftCraft
Author:George R.R. Martin
Create image

“Assim como todo excesso numa atividade costuma levar ao contrário do que se pretendia, as palavras servem de fato para tornar os pensamentos compreensíveis, mas só até certo ponto. Quando esse ponto é ultrapassado, elas tornam os pensamentos a serem comunicados mais e mais obscuros. Encontrar tal ponto é uma tarefa do estilo e uma questão da capacidade de julgar, pois toda palavra supérflua age diretamente contra seu objetivo.”

Writers On Writing19th CenturyWriters On ThinkingWriters On Style
Book:A Arte de Escrever
Create image

“(...) assim como é preciso evitar uma sobrecarga de ornamentações na arquitetura, nas artes discursivas é preciso evitar sobretudo os floreios retóricos desnecessários, todas as amplificações inúteis e, acima de tudo, o que há de supérfluo na expressão, dedicando-se a um estilo casto. Tudo o que é dispensável tem um efeito desvantajoso. A lei da simplicidade e da ingenuidade, já que essas qualidades combinam com o que há de mais sublime, vale para todas as belas-artes.”

SimplicityWriters On Writing19th CenturyNaivetyWriters On Style
Book:A Arte de Escrever
Create image

“Writing is the dragon that lives underneath my floorboards. The one I incessantly feed for fear it may turn and devour my ass. Writing is the friend who doesn't return my phone calls; the itch I'm unable to scratch; a dinner invitation from a cannibal; elevator music for a narcoleptic. Writing is the hope of lifting all boats by pissing in the ocean. Writing isn't something that makes me happy like a good cup of coffee. It's just something I do because not writing, as I've found, is so much worse.”

WritingWriters On WritingWriting ProcessWriters QuotesWriters WorldWriter S PhilosophyWriter S VoiceWriter S Pain
Author:Quentin R. Bufogle
Create image

“When I am working on a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and warm as you write. You read what you have written and, as you always stop when you know what is going to happen next, you go on from there. You write until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you hit it again. You have started at six in the morning, say, and may go on until noon or be through before that. When you stop you are as empty, and at the same time never empty but filling, as when you have made love to someone you love. Nothing can hurt you, nothing can happen, nothing means anything until the next day when you do it again. It is the wait until the next day that is hard to get through.”

WritingWriterWriters On WritingInterviewHemingwayParis ReviewErnest
Author:Ernest Hemingway
Create image

“Writing, music, sculpting, painting, and prayer! These are the three things that are most closely related! Writers, musicians, sculptors, painters, and the faithful are the ones who make things out of nothing. Everybody else, they make things out of something, they have materials! But a written work can be done with nothing, it can begin in the soul! A musical piece begins with a harmony in the soul, a sculpture begins with a formless, useless piece of rock chiseled and formed and molded into the thing that was first conceived in the sculptor's heart! A painting can be carried inside the mind for a lifetime, before ever being put onto paper or canvass! And a prayer! A prayer is a thought, a remembrance, a whisper, a communion, that is from the soul going to what cannot be seen, yet it can move mountains! And so I believe that these five things are interrelated, these five kinds of people are kin.”

WritingArtPrayerMusicPaintingWriters On WritingArtistsSculpting
Author:C. JoyBell C.
Create image

“Each of us wages a private battle to thrive. Whenever a person fully immerses oneself in life’s aromatic flower garden of pleasures and encounters life’s warship of armor-plated rigors, they blend and bend to make reasonable accommodations for surviving. Scripted and unscripted encounters with superior militant forces bruise us mightily and eventually cut us to the core. Every person’s life contains a minefield of obstacles that function as potential barriers to achieving our ultimate manifestation. The expended labor of continuously hefting oneself over one contentious hurdle after another is what leads a conscientious person onto the path of needing to write in order to create emotional poultices to ameliorate painful wounds.”

WritingSelf HelpSurvivalSelf ImprovementPersonal DevelopmentWritersWriters On WritingWriting ProcessSelf Help QuotesWriters QuotesWriters And WritingWriting PhilosophyLearning By DoingWounds To The HeartLearning From The PastWounded SoulsLearning From AdversityLearning From Our Struggles
Book:Dead Toad Scrolls
Create image