Writing Quotes
  
  
  
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		I've been gearing up for this future of writing a lot of new music by digging into my favorite old stuff, and twisting it around and highlighting the things I really love.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Caroline Shaw
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		Often, when you're in some of these writing rooms for... and the most restrictive is network television, right? They say, 'Wow, that's a great joke, but we can't do that. Okay, let's try the second joke. Oh, you can't do that one. But the third joke you can do,' and hopefully it will be great, but it will remind people of what the joke really was.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Jay Chandrasekhar
			
		
	
	
  
	 
	
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		One of the most challenging aspects of writing a memoir is finding your own voice, and you should be very careful about being influenced by someone else's voice.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Jeannette Walls
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		College was a wonderful time to really explore my interests. I ended up writing my senior thesis about gender inequality in the developing world.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Lauren Bush
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		We must not drift away from the humble works, because these are the works nobody will do. It is never too small. We are so small we look at things in a small way. But God, being Almighty, sees everything great. Therefore, even if you write a letter for a blind man or you just go sit and listen, or you take the mail for him, or you visit somebody or bring a flower to somebody-small things-or wash clothes for somebody, or clean the house. Very humble work, that is where you and I must be. For there are many people who can do big things. But there are very few people who will do the small things.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Mother Teresa
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		My expectations for myself were never high. I had a very unusual way of writing songs and of thinking about music. I wasn't at all like Bob Dylan or Simon and Garfunkel. I was completely different - I didn't have a David Geffen at my side.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Don McLean
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		I've tried writing on a computer thinking it would make me more efficient, but if you're writing crummy stuff, being efficient is no help.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Jennifer Egan
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		I try not to get analytical in the writing process. I try to just kind of keep the flow from my brain to my hand as far as the pen is concerned and go with the moment and go with my guts.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Quentin Tarantino
			
		
	
	
  
	 
	
		
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		One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Hart Crane
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		One suggestion my wife and I have used in our personal finance courses we teach at college is simply writing down all expenditures and seeing where the money goes. That alone will cause heads of households to think twice about x, y or z expenditure, and to consider carefully whether they really need something or not.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Mark Skousen
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		My lab and academic work fill my day from about 9 am to 7 p.m. Then I zoom out the lens to work on my other writing.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				David Eagleman
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		When you are a sentence-based writer, they have to be good. They have to be really on the spot. Because when you don't have a plot, really, what shall you rely on? Just language. And sometimes I am so afraid of writing the wrong thing, I just sit and wait for the right thing to come.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Per Petterson
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		I still find the idea of a research-heavy or historical novel daunting. That's something I've had in mind for a while: like, would you research for a year and then start writing? I sit down, and I just don't know how to write it.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Lynn Coady
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		I'm not really good at writing sad sappy ballads. In terms of the lyrics not matching the vibe of the music, that's kind of the way my career has gone; everyone is a little confused about it all the time.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Mac DeMarco
			
		
	
	
  
	 
	
		
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		Keep your hands moving. Writing is rewriting.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				August Wilson
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		Be patient, work hard and consistently, have faith in your writing, and don't be afraid to listen to constructive criticism.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Jonathan Galassi
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		It is also a warning. It is a warning that, if nobody reads the writing on the wall, man will be reduced to the state of the beast, whom he is shaming by his manners.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Mahatma Gandhi
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		My secret for writing is going back to clarity. I'm very clear about what I want to accomplish-the goal-and then the next two are focus and concentration. And I've probably spent my whole life both practicing those two and teaching them. Focus. Focus on a single point and concentration. And concentrating on a single thing till it's done.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Brian Tracy
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		Honestly, my sales pitch when I was a kid was, 'You don't want these Girl Scout cookies, do you?' If I had to push my own books, I'd stop writing. I hate the conflation of marketing and writing.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Jincy Willett
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		The writing process remained the same pretty much that we have always done. It’s very collaborative and everyone brings their bag of ideas into the room – we all play guitar, we all write lyrics.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Neil Sanderson
			
			
				Three Days Grace