writer’s block

“If you want to write for yourself, get a diary. If you want to write for your friends, get a blog. If you want to write for others…become an author.”

“In life, finding a voice is speaking and living the truth. Each of you is an original. Each of you has a distinctive voice. When you find it, your story will be told. You will be heard.”

“You learn to write the same way you learn to play golf… You do it, and keep doing it until you get it right. A lot of people think something mystical happens to you, that maybe the muse kisses you on the ear. But writing isn’t divinely inspired – it’s hard work.”

“I don’t think I ever have trouble with writer’s block. It’s different when you make it up as you go – that means you’re going to get stuck. I wouldn’t call it writer’s block, I’d say, “I don’t know where the hell this story is going.”

“The enemy is not the badly written page; it is the empty page the great advantage of a badly written page is that it can be rewritten. It can be improved. A blank page is zero. In fact, it’s worse than zero, because it represents territory you’re afraid, unwilling, or too lazy to explore. Avoid exploring this territory long enough, and you’ll abandon your book.”

Timothy Hallinan

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” 

~ Robert Frost

“A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others.”

~ William Faulkner

“The important thing is not what we write but how we write, and in my opinion the modern writer must be an adventurer above all, willing to take every risk, and be prepared to founder in his effort if need be. In other words we must write dangerously.”

~ James Joyce

“Writing is like a rollercoaster ride for me, an adventure. I love exploring the world through playing people who are absolutely nothing like me.”

“The worst advice a young writer can get is “Write what you know.” Imagination is more important than experience.”

~ Joe Haldeman