“I never consciously place symbolism in my writing. That would be a self-conscious exercise and self-consciousness is defeating to any creative act. Better to get the subconscious to do the work for you, and get out of the way. The best symbolism is always unsuspected and natural.”
~ Ray Bradbury
“All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. If you can get so that you can give that to people, then you are a writer.”
~ Ernest Hemingway
“The first thing to ask when writing a sentence is ‘What am I trying to do?'”
“Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.”
~ Kurt Vonnegut
Each of us is born with a unique way of looking at the world and an unlimited potential for creative thought. But as we grow up, we’re forced to stifle much of our creativity in order to “fit in.” Through personal writing, you can uncover your creative voice again.
Whether you write in a journal or on a computer, you can create a safe, nurturing space where your voice feels free to emerge. Simply by acknowledging your unique thoughts, even though you don’t share them with anyone, you can rediscover your natural creativity and paint a picture of your psychological and spiritual landscape.
~ Wendy Knerr
“Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.”
~ Kurt Vonnegut
‘Writing gives me great feelings of pleasure. There’s a marvelous sense of mastery that comes with writing a sentence that sounds exactly as you want it to. It’s like trying to write a song, making tiny tweaks, reading it out loud, shifting things to make it sound a certain way. It’s very physical. I get antsy. I jiggle my feet a lot, get up a lot, tap my fingers on the keyboard, check my e-mail. Sometimes it feels like digging out of a hole, but sometimes it feels like flying. When it’s working and the rhythm’s there, it does feel like magic to me.”
~ Susan Orlean
“I’ve had a sign over my typewriter for over 25 years now, which reads “Don’t think!” You must never think at the typewriter — you must feel. Your intellect is always buried in that feeling anyway.”
~ Ray Bradbury
“Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day. It helps.”
~ John Steinbeck
“Always stop while you are going good and don’t worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way your subconscious will work on it all the time. But if you think about it consciously or worry bout it you will kill it and your brain will be tired before you start.”
~ Ernest Hemingway
