Jack Kerouac, on writing:

 

It ain't whatcha write, it's the way atcha write it.
- Jack Kerouac.

Anne Lamott, on writing and reading:

Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation.

It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea.

You can't stop the raging storm,
but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.
 
- Anne Lamott.

Stephen King, on writing:

 

When you sit down to write, write.

Don't do anything else except go to the bathroom,
and only do that if it absolutely cannot be put off.

- Stephen King.

Jhumpa Lahiri, on stories:

 

I am drawn to any story that makes me want to read from one sentence to the next.
I have no other criterion.

- Jhumpa Lahiri.

E. L. Doctorow, on writing:

 

Writing is an exploration.

You start from nothing and learn as you go.

- E. L. Doctorow.

Francine Prose, on writing and reading:

 

Like most – maybe all – writers,
I learned to write by writing and, by example, by reading books.

– Francine Prose.

Harlan Ellison, on writing:

 

People on the outside think there's something magical about writing,
that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn't like that.

You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that's all there is to it.

- Harlan Ellison.

Edna Ferber, on writing:

 

Life can't ever really defeat a writer who is in love with writing,

for life itself is a writer's lover until death -
fascinating, cruel, lavish, warm, cold, treacherous, constant.

 - Edna Ferber, A Kind of Magic (1963).

Edgar Allan Poe, on writing:

 

Through joy and through sorrow, I wrote.

Through hunger and through thirst, I wrote.
Through good report and through ill report, I wrote.
Through sunshine and through moonshine, I wrote ...
 
- Edgar Allan Poe.

Liane Moriarty, on writing:

 

My real thinking and planning gets done when I'm doing something else,
like driving or walking or taking a shower.
- Liane Moriarty.

Stephen King, on books:

 

Books are a uniquely portable magic.
- Stephen King.

Harper Lee, on writing:

Writing is a process of self-discipline you must learn before you can call yourself a writer.

There are people who write, but I think they’re quite different from people who must write.

– Harper Lee.

James A. Michener, on writing:

 

I love writing.

I love the swirl of words as they tangle with human emotions.
- James A. Michener.

Erma Bombeck, on dedication:

 

When I stand before God at the end of my life,

I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say,
'I used everything You gave me'.
 
- Erma Bombeck.

Voltaire, on writing:

 

Writing is the painting of the voice.

- Voltaire.

Herta Muller, on writing:

 

I have always written only for myself - to clarify things,

to clarify things with myself,
to understand in an inner way what is actually happening.
- Herta Muller.

Wallace Stevens, on writing and imagination:

 

In the world of words, the imagination is one of the forces of nature.
- Wallace Stevens.

Erica Jong, on writing:

All writing problems are psychological problems.
Blocks usually stem from the fear of being judged.
If you imagine the world listening, you'll never write a line.
That's why privacy is so important.
You should write first drafts as if they will never be shown to anyone.
- Erica Jong.

Desiderius Erasmus, on books:

When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.

- Desiderius Erasmus.

Judy Blume, on writing:

 

The best books come from someplace inside.
You don't write because you want to, but because you have to.
- Judy Blume.