Though I don’t write as often as I’d like, I think a lot about the craft and about its mysteries. This means when I see a good book that sifts the gems of a writer’s wisdom from the mass of their written work I pay attention. When the master speaks, the student listens.
I collect good quotes in general, but I probably have 30 pages of just quotes on writing. Quotes capture the essential wisdom of an author’s thoughts. For some of us, for many of us actually, all we ever read of an author is a quote we run across while reading something else. Well, like in this blog post!
So the other day while browsing the discount table (where you find some great books!) at the bookstore, I came across The Little Book of Writers’s Wisdom. I thought I’d share just a few quotes with you.
So the first one is from George Orwell:
“For the creative writer, possession of the ‘truth’ is less important than emotional sincerity.”
I remember Orwell saying somewhere something to the effect that unless a writer can “feel” they really can’t write persuasively. This connection between feeling and good writing is a common theme in Orwell’s essays.
The second quote is a very rich one by Christopher Hitchens:
“There is some relationship between the hunger for truth and the search for the right words. The struggle may be ultimately indefinable and even undecidable, but one damn well knows is when one sees it.”
Wow, this is a quote that probably deserves an entire blog post by itself. Any volunteers?
Which leads me to my final quote by John Steinbeck, which is a nice follow up to the Hitchens quote:
“The craft or art of writing is the clumsy attempt to find symbols for the wordlessness. In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable. And sometimes if he is very fortunate and if the time is right, a very little of what he is trying to do trickles through — not ever much. And if he is a writer wise enough to know it can’t be done, then he is not a writer at all. A good writer always works at the impossible.”
Yes, another great quote for the topic of a blog post. 🙂
Jeff Wills 
My favorite is Steinbeck’s quote … and I fully believe he was/is spot-on! 🙂
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Thanks Jonathan! I agree, Steinbeck’s is my favorite.
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The search for truth, the clumsy attempts to find symbols for wordlessness and explaining the inexplicable while lonely…it’s no wonder many writers drink. But when the surge of creativity stimulates the dopamine in your frontal lobe, that pure motivation lessens the nagging risk vs reward sensory perception and the love and art of the writers thoughts pours out. And that is worth every clumsy attempt and the loneliness while searching for the truth.
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You know that struggle does make you sometimes reach for the Bourbon or Wine. Sometimes you need that lubricant to free up or loosen up the flow of thought.
Nicely said my friend.
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