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#191: The Best Writing Quotes From the Past Year

I post a lot of writing quotes and advice on this blog. Every once in a while, I like to trawl through the archive to see which quotes were the most popular. Today, we’re looking at the top 10 quotes from the past year.

#10: Louis L’Amour (810 notes)

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” — Louis L’Amour

This quote is a staple of any collection of quotes on writing.

#9: John Green (888 notes)

 “Writing is something you do alone. It’s a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don’t want to make eye contact while doing it.” — John Green

Relatable for sure…

#8: Anne Tyler (998 notes)

“I would advise any beginning writer to write the first drafts as if no one else will ever read them — without a thought about publication — and only in the last draft to consider how the work will look from the outside.” — Anne Tyler

So much good advice in a single sentence!

#7: Octavia E. Butler (958 notes)

“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.” — Octavia E. Butler

#6: Maya Angelou (1,002 notes)

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” — Maya Angelou

Another classic writing quote, this time from Maya Angelou.

#5: Shannon Hale (1,046 notes)

“I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shovelling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” — Shannon Hale

This one blew my mind when I first read it. When you’re not feeling like writing, just shovel sand into a box.

#4: Maya Angelou (1,079 notes)

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use the more you have.” — Maya Angelou

This is so true. You’ll always have more new ideas.

#3: E.L Doctorow (1,836 notes)

“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” — E. L. Doctorow

Another very well-known quote and an important piece of advice.

#2: W.H. Auden (4,216 notes)

“Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about.” — W.H. Auden

I found this one only recently. And I guess I’m not the only one who liked it.

#1: Stephen King (8,766 notes)

“A story should entertain the writer, too.” — Stephen King

At the very top of the list with a comfortable lead — Stephen King himself.

What is your favourite writing quote?

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Past Editions

#190: Writing and Snow, April 2021

#189: The Importance of Showing Up, April 2021

#188: The Casual Writer, March 2021

#187: Writing For Yourself, March 2021

#186: A Stimulus Check for Your Mind, March 2021

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“If you really do want to write, and you’re struggling to get started, you’re afraid of something. What is that fear?”

— Margaret Atwood

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“You’ve got to stand being bad if you wanna be a writer, because if you don’t, you’re never going to write anything good.”

— David Mamet

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#190: Writing and Snow

There are countless metaphors for writing. From shovelling sand into a box to architecture and gardening. Writing a book is like a long bout of painful illness. It’s like jumping off a cliff and having to build wings on the way down. You just sit at the typewriter and bleed.

I was sitting in my kitchen the other day, minding my own business, when this weird idea crept onto my mind. It kept bugging me until I had no choice but to write it down. Because writing and snow seem to have a lot in common.

The first snow of the season is exciting. It’s something new. Something you haven’t seen for a while. It makes you want to go outside in spite of how cold it is. You know that you’ll be sick of it by Christmas, but that doesn’t matter.

Writing is also exciting in the beginning. When you’re starting a new project, or when you’re just starting out. You’re anxious to get going.

The initial excitement gets you started, but the energy doesn’t last forever. Some days are hard. It’s like waking up at 5 a.m. to find your car snowed in for the third time in a week. Snow is cool and all, but clearing your driveway in pitch black gets old pretty fast.

Writing a novel is a bit like rolling a giant snowball. You’re making progress. The words keep adding up. But the more you have, the heavier the thing becomes. More importantly, not everything is under your control. If it stops snowing for a few days, you’ll be stuck. If the temperature creeps above zero, it will start melting away. There are things in your life that can set your writing project back weeks or even months, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Sometimes, you’ll be working on a project and the seasons will change. The first snowdrops start breaking through. Spring will come and all the snow will disappear. This happens to writers too. Even if you do everything right, sometimes all the snow will melt right in front of your eyes.

Your life circumstances might change. Maybe you burn out. Maybe you don’t feel inspired anymore. That’s the natural ebb and flow of creativity.

Some people choose to wait for next year. Others go looking for a mountain or travel north until they find a place that has snow all year round. It’s up to you whatever you choose to do. But no matter what happens, no matter what you do, there will always be more snow.

Want More?

My email subscribers receive a notification when I publish these posts along with a few things I found interesting or helpful on the literary internet every week. Click the link below to join the club.

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Past Editions

#189: The Importance of Showing Up, April 2021

#188: The Casual Writer, March 2021

#187: Writing For Yourself, March 2021

#186: A Stimulus Check for Your Mind, March 2021

#185: Always Behind the Schedule. March 2021

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“Keeping a journal sharpens our senses. It’s like an exercise in writing. If you’re describing a scene, you are practicing the act of writing—which is very important—and thinking in language.”

— Joyce Carol Oates

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#175: Writing Without Expectations

It’s the final week of the year, and I’m exhausted. It happens every year — whether there’s a pandemic or not. If I can, I take two weeks off to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with my family. I don’t do much work at all. I try not to think about work either.

It’s nice to be doing nothing once in a while. It feels like I could get used to this. Just loafing around. But I’m also pretty sure that I wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long.

I’ve been reading Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich — a harrowing accounts of the impact that the nuclear disaster had on the people who either lived nearby or were called in to clean up the mess afterwards. When my eyes become too tired, I switch to digital painting. I’d like to learn how to paint a tree. I’ve been failing at that pretty consistently, but that’s ok.

Painting for me is like watching TV. I enjoy playing around with the colours but have no expectations for the quality of the end product. Yesterday, I painted this forest scene. It’s a crappy study of a painting that I found on the Internet and liked. I doubt the original author would even recognise it, because I didn’t do it justice at all.

It made me think about writing, and why can’t I write a story without worrying about quality? Just sit down and play with words and have absolutely no expectations?

It’s strange. Once you put your hopes on something, it changes. Things become serious. Everything you write has to be good. You’re afraid that writing something bad means that you’re a bad writer. Bad writing threatens your identity.

I would be wary of posting a half-baked fic on the blog. Yet, I don’t mind sharing an amateurish copy of a painting. It doesn’t make sense.

Taking your writing too seriously not only makes the whole process more stressful. It reduces your chances of success because you end up writing less and take fewer risks.

There’s literally no downside to writing bad stories. The more you write the more you’ll learn, period. I certainly learned a bunch of things by copying that painting.

So this is one of my goals for 2021: get rid of that lingering pressure and go back to writing stories just to have fun. It seems like a fitting theme for the year as well. 2021: No expectations.

Thank you for your continued support in 2020. I really appreciate it 🙏

I’ll see you in 2021!

Want More?

My email subscribers receive a notification when I publish these posts along with a few things I found interesting or helpful on the literary internet every week. Click the link below to join the club.

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(I won’t spam you or pass your email to a third party. You can unsubscribe at any time.)

Past Editions

#174: Time to Reflect, December 2020

#173: Writing or Nothing at All, December 2020

#172: The Winter Slump is Here, December 2020

#171: Shun the Nonbelievers, November 2020

#170: Comparisonitis, November 2020

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Not dead yet

Hi, so it’s been approximately 84 years since I’ve last posted anything but I want to fix that. Currently school is trying to kill me and it’s doing a pretty good job trying with assignments and trying to figure this half online half in person thing. Things have been a little rough lately because I spend most of my time alone (like 90% of the time) I have my own apartment so I live alone and I don’t really go out that often either. I wanted to get a cat as a companion but my dad wouldn’t let me because he would hate visiting me if I had a cat. So I’m gonna try to post on here more regularly for some kind of interaction with the outside world and not just sit in my own thoughts all the time. Sorry this is a little unorganized this all just kind of came out stream of consciousness style. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Have a nice day or night depending on where you are :) 

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Hi

Things have been kinda rough-ish lately mentally so I just wanted to make a tumblr so I could vent about things, and also share some good things that happen when they do. Because I don’t wanna just focus on the negative even if I just wanna get it out sometimes with some rants, and I thought this would be a good place to share and maybe get some positivity back. Thanks for reading I hope you have a nice day, or night depending on where you are.  :)