Favorite Writing Quotes


Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.  ~E.L. Doctorow

Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning:  I wanted to know what I was going to say.  ~Sharon O'Brien

Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very;" your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.  ~Mark Twain



Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don't start sentences with a conjunction.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.
~William Safire, "Great Rules of Writing"


A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one.  ~Baltasar Gracián

The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes.  ~Agatha Christie



The road to hell is paved with adverbs.  ~Stephen King

No author dislikes to be edited as much as he dislikes not to be published.  ~Russell Lynes

Being an author is having angels whisper in your ear - and devils, too.  ~Terri Guillemets  

It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous.  ~Robert Benchley