
One idea does not make a story, you need a second idea to rub it against in order to make a fire. ~Twyla Tharp
The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~Anaïs Nin
Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow
If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison
The wastebasket is a writer's best friend. ~Isaac Bashevis Singer
Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov
Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne
Ink and paper are sometimes passionate lovers, oftentimes brother and sister, and occasionally mortal enemies. ~Emme Woodhull-Bäche
The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~Mark Twain
A writer is someone who can make a riddle out of an answer. ~Karl Kraus
Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. ~Gene Fowler
Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted. ~Jules Renard, Journal, 10 April 1895

Every writer I know has trouble writing. ~Joseph Heller
A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one. ~Baltasar Gracián
If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad. ~Lord Byron
Pen names are masks that allow us to unmask ourselves. ~C. Astrid Weber
If I'm trying to sleep, the ideas won't stop. If I'm trying to write, there appears a barren nothingness. ~Carrie Latet
The coroner will find ink in my veins and blood on my typewriter keys. ~C. Astrid Weber

An author in his book must be like God in the universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere. ~Gustave Flaubert
If I fall asleep with a pen in my hand, don't remove it - I might be writing in my dreams. ~Danzae Pace
No author dislikes to be edited as much as he dislikes not to be published. ~Russell Lynes
Loafing is the most productive part of a writer's life. ~James Norman Hall
A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. ~Thomas Mann, Essays of Three Decades, 1947
Sit down, and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it. ~Colette, Casual Chance, 1964