Lovely Girl   +  writing quotes

I'm an avid collector of quotes. They're cheaper than vintage records, don't take up as much space as a retro lunch box collection, and unlike most other tchotchkes, have the potential to keep those creativity juices flowing. With that in mind, I wanted to kick off 2011 with a round-up of my favorite writing quotes to help you get (or stay) inspired as we enter a new year. On Writing Well

1. "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." ~Anton Chekhov
2. "As a writer, words are your paint. Use all the colors.” ~Rhys Alexander
3. "Whether or not you write well, write bravely." ~Bill Stout (ed. note: I don't think these are mutually exclusive but I appreciate the sentiment)
4. "Writing well means never having to say, 'I guess you had to be there.'" ~Jef Mallett
5. "The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." ~Anaïs Nin
6. "Sometimes a flat-footed sentence is what serves, so you don’t get all writerly: 'He opened the door.' There, it’s open." ~Amy Hempel
7. "Don’t get it right, just get it written." ~James Thurber
8. "Write about what you know and care deeply about. When one puts one's self on paper — that is what is called good writing." ~Joel Chandler Harris
9. "Good writers are those who keep the language efficient. That is to say, keep it accurate, keep it clear." ~Ezra Pound
10. "Start early and work hard. A writer's apprenticeship usually involves writing a million words (which are then discarded) before he's almost ready to begin. That takes a while." ~David Eddings

11. "Revision is one of the true pleasures of writing. I love the flowers of afterthought." ~Bernard Malamud
12. "Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else." ~Gloria Steinem
13. "Writing is the best way to talk without being interrupted." ~Jules Renard
14. "The wastebasket is a writer's best friend." ~Isaac Bashevis Singer
15. "True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, as those who move easiest have learned to dance." ~Alexander Pope
16. "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
17. "We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection." ~ Anaïs Nin
18. “The profession of book-writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business.” ~John Steinbeck
19. “I have been correcting the proofs of my poems. In the morning, after hard work, I took a comma out of one sentence…. In the afternoon I put it back again.” ~Oscar Wilde
20. “I just sit at a typewriter and curse a bit.” ~P.G. Wodehouse

21. "Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it." ~Oscar Wilde
22. "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
23. "If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing." ~Benjamin Franklin
24. "We writers dream of a future where actors are mostly computer generated and their performances can be adjusted, by us, on a laptop, alone." ~Tina Fey
25. "Anyone can become a writer. The trick is staying a writer." ~Harlan Ellison
26. "A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one." ~Baltasar Gracián
27. "Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia." ~E. L. Doctorow
28. "If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I’d type a little faster." ~Isaac Asimov
29. "I write when I'm inspired, and I see to it that I'm inspired to write at 9 o'clock every morning." ~Peter De Vries
30. "Wanting to meet an author because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like paté." ~Margaret Atwood