The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can’t help it.

— Leo Rosten

A metaphor is like a simile.

— Author Unknown

Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money.

— Jules Renard

The best style is the style you don’t notice.

— Somerset Maugham

Be obscure clearly.

— E.B. White

Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own.

— Carol Burnett

I do not like to write – I like to have written.

— Gloria Steinem

The desire to write grows with writing.

— Desiderius Erasmus

The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it.

— Benjamin Disraeli

I try to leave out the parts that people skip.

— Elmore Leonard

Writing is a struggle against silence.

 — Carlos Fuentes

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.

— W. Somerset Maugham

That isn’t writing at all, it’s typing.

— Truman Capote

If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it.

— Tennessee Williams

Sometimes when I think how good my book can be, I can hardly breathe.

— Truman Capote

There is creative reading as well as creative writing.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.

— Gustave Flaubert

Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you.

— Marsha Norman

I loved words. I love to sing them and speak them and even now, I must admit, I have fallen into the joy of writing them.

— Anne Rice

Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.

— Isaac Asimov

I am a drinker with writing problems.

— Brendan Behan

I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.

— Steven Wright

The scariest moment is always just before you start.

— Stephen King

Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you.

— Marsha Norman

The first step in blogging is not writing them but reading them.

— Jeff Jarvis

Easy reading is damn hard writing.

— Nathaniel Hawthorne

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.

— Phyllis Theroux

The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.

— Agatha Christie

I love being a writer. What I can’t stand is the paperwork.

— Peter De Vries

I have made this letter longer, because I have not had the time to make it shorter.

— Blaise Pascal

Every writer I know has trouble writing.

— Joseph Heller

Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.

— Author Unknown

My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.

— Anais Nin