#writ

drill one hole after another into [language] until that which lurks behind, be it something or nothing, starts seeping through – I cannot imagine a higher goal for today’s writer. ↗

— Samuel Beckett

#imagination

Why do we write? "To make suffering endurable To make evil intelligible To make justice desirable and . . . to make love possible ↗

— Roger Rosenblatt

#inspiration-for-writers #writing-instruction #art

Nothing makes a person desire improvement like failure ↗

— Chris Stocking

#failure #inspiration #success #writing #inspirational

Yes?’ he asked, looking at me over the sheet. ‘I’m a writer temporarily down on my inspirations.’ ‘Oh, a writer, eh?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Are you sure?’ ‘No, I’m not.’ ‘What do you write?’ ‘Short stories mostly. And I’m halfway through a novel.’ ‘A novel, eh?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘What’s the name of it?’ ‘”The Leaky Faucet of My Doom.”‘ ‘Oh, I like that. What’s it about?’ ‘Everything.’ ‘Everything? You mean, for instance, it’s about cancer?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘How about my wife?’ ‘She’s in there too. ↗

— Charles Bukowski

#short-stories #writing #inspirational

Never annoy an inspirational author or you will become the poison in her pen and the villian in every one of her books. ↗

— Shannon L. Alder

#villians #writers #inspirational

For all my longer works (i.e. the novels) I write chapter outlines so I can have the pleasure of departing from them later on. ↗

— Garth Nix

#outlines #writing #inspirational

Rejection isn't a sign of failure. Rejection is a reminder that there's always room for improvement. ↗

— Ana Hart

#writing #inspirational

So here is why I write what I do: We all have futures. We all have pasts. We all have stories. And we all, every single one of us, no matter who we are and no matter what’s been taken from us or what poison we’ve internalized or how hard we’ve had to work to expel it – – we all get to dream. ↗

— N.K. Jemisin

#inspirational #myths #stories #writing #inspirational

It has been often said that writing is 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration. In my experience, this is true. But, in my opinion, it is useless without that 1 percent. It's like an engine without fuel -- can't get anywhere without it. Or like a lighthouse without a light on top -- doesn't guide anyone in to home or safe harbor. ↗

— Robert Fanney

#perspiration #writing #experience

[I]f the writer does his job right, what he basically does is remind the reader of how smart the reader is. ↗

— David Foster Wallace

#readers #writers #inspirational