Quotes about Story Writing

I do think that short story writing is often a matter of luck. Votes: 6

Daydreaming had started me on the way; but story writing once I was truly in its grip, took me and shook me awake. Votes: 6

I'll give you the whole secret to short story writing. Here it is. Rule 1: Write stories that please yourself. There is no Rule 2. Votes: 6

Short-story writing requires an exquisite sense of balance. Novelists, frankly, can get away with more. A novel can have a dull spot or two, because the reader has made a different commitment. Votes: 6

If there is a magic in story writing, and I am convinced there is, no one has ever been able to reduce it to a recipe that can be passed from one person to another. Votes: 6

The greatest compliment a writer can be given is that a story and character hold a reader spellbound. Im caught up in the story writing and I miss a good deal of sleep thinking about it and working out the plot points. Votes: 6

I knew nothing about the technique of story writing, and now, after eighteen years of writing, I still know nothing about the technique, although with the publication of my new novel, "Tarzan and the Lost Empire", there are 31 books on my list. Votes: 6

I'll give you the sole secret of short-story writing, and here it is: Rule 1. Write stories that please yourself. There is no rule 2. The technical points you can get from Bliss Perry. If you can't write a story that pleases yourself, you will never please the public. But in writing the story forget the public. Votes: 6

Here in Manto's own words that he wanted to mark his grave with: "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Here lies Saadat Hasan Manto and with him lie buried all the secrets and mysteries of the art of short-story writing.... Under tons of earth he lies, still wondering who among the two is greater short-story writer: God or He. Votes: 6

The object of fiction isn't grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story.... Writing is seduction. Good talk is part of seduction. Votes: 4

I feel that discussing story-writing in terms of plot, character, and theme is like trying to describe the expression on a face by saying where the eyes, nose, and mouth are. Votes: 4

For the last 20 years of my life, I've had the mantra to do amazing parts with amazing people in amazing projects, so I'm attracted to good story, writing and character and good people. That's what I'm always searching for and I don't think that's ever going to change. Votes: 4

I think training in comedy, as it were, a history writing comedy, is a powerful tool for anyone. Votes: 3

My history writing was based on what I saw in strange, exotic places rather than just reading books. Votes: 3

I used to do a lot of story writing and storytelling coming up through grade school. By the time I got to college, I decided that I wanted to perform as well, and that's where I started. Votes: 3

I started writing stories as a child. Votes: 2

I started writing stories in my spare time. Votes: 2

With sitcom writing, you're trying to write stories. Votes: 2

I simply love writing good stories, that's my passion. Votes: 2

I simply love writing good stories; that's my passion. Votes: 2

I'm just writing a story that I want to read. Votes: 2

I love writing Christmas stories, especially of the historical variety. Votes: 2

I've been writing stories since I was a kid. I love writing stories. Votes: 2

For me, writing a short story is much, much harder than writing a novel. Votes: 2

I've been writing stories since I was 12. 'Writer's Digest' was one of my writing teachers, actually. Votes: 2

I don't think in terms of optimism and pessimism when writing a story. I am telling a story. Votes: 2

I write for the love of writing. If I never published another book, I would still be writing stories. Votes: 2

I'm not writing great literature. I'm writing commercial fiction for people to enjoy the stories and to like the characters. Votes: 2

Writing wasn't about making money. I wanted to find fulfillment in writing and telling stories, and that's what's driven me. Votes: 2

I think it's a short story writer's duty, as well as writing well about emotions and characters, to write story. Votes: 2

Writing a screenplay is like writing a big puzzle, and so the hardest part, I think, is getting the story. Votes: 2

I don't feel that I wanted to spend my whole writing life - which is my life - writing detective stories. Votes: 2

Writing is writing, and stories are stories. Perhaps the only true genres are fiction and non-fiction. And even there, who can be sure? Votes: 2

I've always been ambidextrous, writing short stories and novels, and I pretty much have been writing a novel and a handful of short stories every year since '91. Votes: 2

Poetry is its own medium; it's very different than writing prose. Poetry can talk in an imagistic sense, it has particular ways of catching an environment. Votes: 2

God is writing His story on the pages of our lives. Votes: 0

In the writing process, the more a story cooks, the better. Votes: 0

I see myself as writing biographies, the complete story of someone's life. Votes: 0

I'm always writing. There is always a story brewing in my head. Votes: 0

For me, it's writing a book and telling people about this story. Votes: 0

Writing a story, regardless of length, begins always with a single word. Votes: 0

I'd realized that in writing happiness is useless-without suffering there is no story. Votes: 0

Writing about racism requires a directness that writing a love story does not. Votes: 0

If you're not writing your own story, you're a character in someone else's. Votes: 0

You want in all cases for the story to get through the writing. Votes: 0

Places are extremely important when writing a long story because place shapes a character. Votes: 0

I'm writing a new love story, set in eastern North Carolina. Surprise, surprise, huh? Votes: 0

I'm terrible at story and structure, but I'm not so bad at writing dialogue. Votes: 0

Usually with film writing I start with characters, and set about writing their story. Votes: 0

Each write the story of your life, so try writing the best you can. Votes: 0

I like to think that I am telling a story rather than writing it. Votes: 0

We spent 10 years writing our first fiction story and truly hope people like it. Votes: 0

Writing the story of your own life is a bit like drilling your own teeth. Votes: 0

You are writing the story of your only life every single minute of every day. Votes: 0

Every moment of a science fiction story must represent the triumph of writing over world-building. Votes: 0

It is the kernel of truth in every story that makes its writing beautiful beyond standards. Votes: 0

The story was writing itself and I was having a hard time keeping up with it. Votes: 0

It's my attempt to remain invisible, not distract the reader from the story with obvious writing. Votes: 0

Forget about writing to Penthouse. This one was going to be a story for their grandkids. Votes: 0

Writing your own story around the same ideas is not plagiarism; at worst, it's being unoriginal. Votes: 0

Each piece of writing I undertake, whether a story, novel, play, or poem, begins with an image. Votes: 0

The world before us is a postcard, and I imagine the story we are writing on it. Votes: 0

The most exciting part of writing a novel is when the characters take control of the story Votes: 0

I am writing graffiti on your body. I am drawing the story of how hard we tried. Votes: 0

When I started writing 'Luck in the Shadows,' I just wanted to create an adventure story. Votes: 0

We have story-makers and we have writers apparently most of the today's writing falls into the first category. Votes: 0

I think striking the right tone for your story is, if you like, the alchemical work of writing. Votes: 0

I started writing to please myself, a story I would like to read, and that is still true. Votes: 0

For my type of story and my kind of writing, I think 'Vanity Fair' is the right forum. Votes: 0

After writing a story I was always empty and both sad and happy, as though I had made love. Votes: 0

I've evolved in my writing to tell a more emotional story - my publisher, Random House, has urged that. Votes: 0

A photographer is like a writer... you're writing with your lens so make sure you tell a good story. Votes: 0

The most fun part for an actor is the writing and the story and the character. That's very fulfilling. Votes: 0

If I can tell you the story from beginning to end in five minutes, I'm ready to start writing. Votes: 0

To me, writing is fun. It doesn't matter what you're writing, as long as you can tell a story. Votes: 0

The key to writing successful YA is to keep the adults out of the story as much as possible. Votes: 0

I don't want anyone reading my writing to think about style. I just want them to be in the story. Votes: 0

Before I start writing, before I have an idea of where and when the story happens, I research it thoroughly. Votes: 0

There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you. Votes: 0

The story itself should force its moral upon you. You find out what the moral is by writing the story. Votes: 0

One poem or story doesn't matter one way or the other. It's the process of writing and life that matters. Votes: 0

Writing a nonfiction story is like cracking a safe. It seems impossible at the beginning, but once you're in, you're in. Votes: 0

The good thing about writing a true story is that you don't have to worry about giving an impression of realism. Votes: 0

Do you wait for things to happen, or do you make them happen yourself? I believe in writing your own story. Votes: 0

The only story that seems worth writing is a cry, a shot, a scream. A story should break the reader's heart. Votes: 0

You can be writing every day. When you go on a road trip, the trip itself becomes part of the story. Votes: 0

Do you wait for things to happen, or do you make them happen yourself? I believe in writing your own story. Votes: 0

Writing a short story is like having a short intense affair, whereas writing a novel is like a long rich marriage. Votes: 0

I never know, when I start writing a story, what's going to happen, or how it will all get sorted out. Votes: 0

I begin by writing paragraphs that don't have an immediate relation to a plot. The sound of the story comes first. Votes: 0

When you're writing a novel, you're still telling a story. But you're telling it very differently. It's a craft like anything else. Votes: 0

Writing fulfils an insatiable drive. Finishing the story satisfies my thirst. But I must keep drinking until the story quenches a buyer. Votes: 0

Try writing an entire story with only a thousand words at your disposal. It’s a terrific lesson in economy and precession. Votes: 0

I've tried to write deep and serious. I spent years working to write a story that would make my writing group cry. Votes: 0

One of the ready advantages of writing a road or quest story is that it mirrors the experience of writing a novel. Votes: 0

Ive tried to write deep and serious. I spent years working to write a story that would make my writing group cry. Votes: 0

Instead of writing backwards over what had happened, giving structure and meaning to his story, he wrote forwards, slipping into troubling futures. Votes: 0

I like terrific writing, but I also like a terrific story. My favorite books have both, and they're by contemporary, commercial American writers. Votes: 0

Sometimes ... it takes me an entire day to write a recipe, to communicate it correctly. It's really like writing a little short story. Votes: 0

One of the things you learn very early in writing for television, especially, is that compressing the story is always a good idea. Votes: 0

If you can't write a story that pleases yourself, you will never please the public. But in writing the story forget the public. Votes: 0

My style of writing is to allow the story to unfold on its own. I try not to structure my work too rigidly. Votes: 0

The first thing you have to consider when writing a novel is your story, and then your story - and then your story! Votes: 0

I think the job of writing and literature is to encourage each one of us to believe that we're living in a story. Votes: 0

Every story I've written was written because I had to write it. Writing stories is like breathing for me; it is my life. Votes: 0

When I'm writing the first draft, I'm writing in a very slovenly way: anything to get the outline of the story on paper. Votes: 0

I used to love to make things - you couldn't drag me away for dinner because I was always writing a story or something. Votes: 0

... there is ... a big aspect of play in writing novels, and making the story more and more elaborate is just more and more fun. Votes: 0

I have no control over my writing. I have lots of good intentions, but no control. There's a story that wants to be told. Votes: 0

One thing about writing 'The Sarah Silverman Program' was the concern that I don't give myself the best story, you know what I mean? Votes: 0

I love writing. I never feel really comfortable unless I am either actually writing or have a story going. I could not stop writing. Votes: 0

It took me seven years of writing before I published my first story. And then, the publications trickled in over the next five years. Votes: 0

My thoughts are with you all. Forever conscious of the vast, absurd universe and writing my eternal story I shall remain dead, but dreaming. Votes: 0

I love Mikhail Bulgakov. He is very original and takes the story to unexpected places. I didn't realise political writing could be so funny. Votes: 0

Writing a mystery is more difficult than other kinds of books because a mystery has a certain framework that must be superimposed over the story. Votes: 0

I remember my dad working with me on breaking down my script and writing out a back story for my character and all that stuff. Votes: 0

When I started writing, there was nothing about zombies. It was all teen movies, which to me are scarier than zombies, but that's another story. Votes: 0

Whatever's happening today, remember it is only ONE SCENE in a long movie. Don't treat it like it's the whole story. Keep writing the story. Votes: 0

Writing a story is like going down a path in the woods. You follow the path. You don't worry about getting lost. You just go. Votes: 0

When I am writing a story it feels as real as the life I am experiencing off the page. It's an emotional illusion, I guess. Votes: 0

Writing is an extreme privilege but it's also a gift. It's a gift to yourself and it's a gift of giving a story to someone. Votes: 0

I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly. Votes: 0

You find when you're writing a detective story that you're actually not trying to solve anything. You're trying to stop the reader from solving the puzzle. Votes: 0

I try to hurt myself, to sprain something, writing every novel and story, because I'm stretching for something new and difficult that I haven't done before. Votes: 0

Writing is something you do alone. It's a profession for introverts who wanna tell you a story but don't wanna make eye contact while telling it Votes: 0

The story I am writing exists, written in absolutely perfect fashion, some place, in the air. All I must do is find it, and copy it. Votes: 0

We all hate moral ambiguity in some sense, and yet it is also absolutely necessary. In writing a story, it is the place where I begin. Votes: 0

I like to be surprised. Fresh implications and plot twists erupt as a story unfolds. Characters develop backgrounds, adding depth and feeling. Writing feels like exploring Votes: 0

When I'm writing a book, sentence by sentence, I'm not thinking theoretically. I'm just trying to work out the story from inside the characters I've got. Votes: 0

Writing a story is like ruling the world. Except it's even better. How many rulers out there that you know can tell people what they say? Votes: 0

I'm pretty disciplined to keep the momentum of a story going by writing everyday, even if it's only a couple paragraphs or a page or two. Votes: 0

I like to be surprised. Fresh implications and plot twists erupt as a story unfolds. Characters develop backgrounds, adding depth and feeling. Writing feels like exploring. Votes: 0

The compact between writing and walking is almost as old as literature -- a walk is only a step away from a story, and every path tells. Votes: 0

I started drawing at a very young age. Writing a story wasn't satisfying, but to actually draw our own world - it's like controlling your own dreams. Votes: 0

All the things that live within you find their place, in character and story, once you tap into that other space that is the creative writing space. Votes: 0

We are innately creative beings capable of writing a love story worth living, and we cannot afford to miss out on the opportunity to experience nourishing relationships. Votes: 0

If you remain unsettled by a piece of writing, it means you are not watching the story from the outside; you've already taken a step towards it. Votes: 0

You should be writing for the love of the story, and when it comes time to return to the manuscript, everything else belongs behind a closed door. Votes: 0

There is no trick to writing a believable love story, a heartbreaking scene or real-sounding dialogue. All you need is to tell the truth. It's always heartbreaking. Votes: 0

Writing is truly a creative art - putting word to a blank piece of paper and ending up with a full-fledged story rife with character and plot. Votes: 0

In terms of writing characters or stories, at least initially, there's no difference between live-action and animation. A good story is a good story, whatever the medium. Votes: 0

Writing a story is kind of like surfing, as opposed to the novel, where you use a GPS to get somewhere. With surfing, you kind of jump. Votes: 0

Headline writing is tough because often times you are given a predetermined number of spaces and words depending on the layout and the type of the story. Votes: 0

I always worry that knowing too much about a novel or a story early on in writing will close it down - it feels fatalistic in some way. Votes: 0

Freedom begins the moment you realize someone else has been writing your story and it's time you took the pen from his hand and started writing it yourself. Votes: 0

To create a market for your writing you have to be consistent, professional, a continuing writer - not just a one-article or a one-story or a one-book man. Votes: 0

The writing process is not just putting down one page after another-it's a lot of writing and then rewriting, restructuring the story, changing the way things come together. Votes: 0

Writing a story, you understand, is not done by consensus. But we do learn from each other, and we remind ourselves how important this work we're doing is. Votes: 0

Writing a story or a novel is one way of discovering sequence in experience, of stumbling upon cause and effect in the happenings of a writer's own life. Votes: 0

I really like comedy. There's always a choice, when you're writing: you can either go for the joke or you can go for the story, the important stuff. Votes: 0

Writing a short story is a little like walking into a dark room, finding a light and turning it on. The light is the end of the story. Votes: 0

I find that writing is as magical as the genre I write in. When the story comes alive and takes over, it's truly a journey to another world. Votes: 0

You shouldn't even be writing this story if you haven't heard me play live. You can't write with the passion you receive until you see a Dick Dale concert. Votes: 0

I don't really do themes. I might accidentally, but themes are an emergent phenomena of the writing of the book, of just trying to get a story out there. Votes: 0

Whenever I started writing music, it just naturally led itself there. As I started to tell my story, it's where my home was. It's just a very natural choice. Votes: 0

Peter Rabbit, for all its gentle tininess, loudly proclaims that no story is worth the writing, no picture worth the making, if it is not a work of imagination. Votes: 0

Designing the prints was very much like writing a story with characters, [inspired by] some of my my favorite icons of the time: Eva Perón and Josephine Baker. Votes: 0

If you are having trouble with a story, it may not be an issue with the quality of the writing - there may just be too much of it. Votes: 0

When I sit down to write, I don't think about writing about an idea or a given message. I just try to write a story which is hard enough. Votes: 0

Good writing is remembering detail. Most people want to forget. Don't forget things that were painful or embarrassing or silly. Turn them into a story that tells the truth. Votes: 0

If I can tell you the story from beginning to end in five minutes, I'm ready to start writing. Then it's a constant spreading out of that five minutes. Votes: 0

When I started writing 'A Million Little Pieces,' I felt like it was the right story with the style I had been looking for, and I just kept going. Votes: 0