Writer's Block Quotes

• I don't believe in writer's block. Think about it - when you were blocked in college and had to write a paper, didn't it always manage to fix itself the night before the paper was due? Writer's block is having too much time on your hands.

  Jodi Picoult

  Block, Believe, Writing

  "Jodi Picoult on Writing, Publishing, and What She’s Reading". Interview with Noah Charney, www.thedailybeast.com. April 3, 2012.

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• writing about a writer's block is better than not writing at all

  Charles Bukowski

  Block, Writing, Writers Block

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• Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.

  George Orwell

  Struggle, Book, Writing

  George Orwell (1970). “A Collection of Essays”, p.316, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.

  Ernest Hemingway

  Writing, Humility, Crafts

  "New York Journal-American" Newspaper, July 11, 1961.

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• Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.

  E. L. Doctorow

  Inspiration, Writing, Talking

  E. L. Doctorow, Christopher D. Morris (1999). “Conversations with E.L. Doctorow”, p.9, Univ. Press of Mississippi

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• When I'm writing, I write. And then it's as if the muse is convinced that I'm serious and says, 'Okay. Okay. I'll come.'

  Maya Angelou

  Writing, Serious, Muse

  "Famous Writers Share How They Handle Writer’s Block" by Jeryl Brunner, www.huffingtonpost.com. January 29, 2015.

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• The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading in order to write. A man will turn over half a library to make a book.

  Samuel Johnson

  Time, Powerful, Book

  Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 6 Apr. 1775)

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• If I waited for perfection... I would never write a word.

  Margaret Atwood

  Writing, Perfect, Writers Block

  FaceBook post by Margaret Atwood from May 05, 2014

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• It is perfectly okay to write garbage – as long as you edit brilliantly.

  C. J. Cherryh

  Writing, Long, Garbage

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• The problem is acceptance, which is something we're taught not to do. We're taught to improve uncomfortable situations, to change things, alleviate unpleasant feelings. But if you accept the reality that you have been given- that you are not in a productive creative period- you free yourself to begin filling up again.

  Anne Lamott

  Acceptance, Reality, Uncomfortable Situations

  Anne Lamott (2007). “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, p.178, Anchor

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• The secret of getting ahead is getting started

  Mark Twain

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

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• Writing is 90% procrastination. It is a matter of doing everything you can to avoid writing, until it is about four in the morning and you reach the point where you have to write.

  Paul Rudnick

  Morning, Writing, Procrastination

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• There's no such thing as writer's block. That was invented by people in California who couldn't write.

  Terry Pratchett

  Block, Writing, California

  Interview with SFBC's Joyce Wiley, www.lspace.org. 1996.

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• Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness.

  George Orwell

  Struggle, Book, Writing

  George Orwell (1970). “A Collection of Essays”, p.316, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.

  Thomas Mann

  Writing, People, Difficult

  "Essays of Three Decades". Book by Thomas Mann, 1942.

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• If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don't just stick there scowling at the problem. But don't make telephone calls or go to a party; if you do, other people's words will pour in where your lost words should be.

  Hilary Mantel

  Party, Sleep, Exercise

  FaceBook post by Hilary Mantel from Nov 03, 2012

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• The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.

  Mark Twain

  Inspirational, Life, New Beginnings

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• I've only suffered writer's block badly once, and that was during the writing of Chamber of Secrets. I had my first burst of publicity about the first book and it paralysed me. I was scared the second book wouldn't measure up, but I got through it!

  J. K. Rowling

  Block, Book, Writing

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• Art is not in some far-off place.

  Lydia Davis

  Art, Art Is, Writer's Block

  Lydia Davis (2008). “Break It Down: Stories”, p.59, Macmillan

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• People have writer's block not because they can't write, but because they despair of writing eloquently.

  Anna Quindlen

  Block, Writing, People

  Essay, www.amazon.com.

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• Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say.

  Barbara Kingsolver

  Writing, Creativity, People

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• Writing is something that you don't know how to do. You sit down and it's something that happens, or it may not happen. So, how can you teach anybody how to write? It's beyond me, because you yourself don't even know if you're going to be able to. I'm always worried, well, you know, every time I go upstairs with my wine bottle. Sometimes I'll sit at that typewriter for fifteen minutes, you know. I don't go up there to write. The typewriter's up there. If it doesn't start moving, I say, well this could be the night that I hit the dust.

  Charles Bukowski

  Fear, Moving, Wine

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• I haven't had writer's block. I think it's because my process involves writing very badly.

  Jennifer Egan

  Block, Writing, Thinking

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• Fool," said my muse to me. "Look in thy heart and write.

  Philip Sidney

  Writing, Heart, Looks

  'Astrophel and Stella' (1591) sonnet 1

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• One of the most difficult things is the first paragraph. I have spent many months on a first paragraph, and once I get it, the rest just comes out very easily.

  Gabriel Garcia Marquez

  Months, Firsts, Difficult

  FaceBook post by Gabriel García Márquez from Mar 09, 2015

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