James E. Gunn Quotes

I write down portions, maybe fragments, and perhaps an imperfect view of what I'm hoping to write. Out of that, I keep trying to find exactly what I want.

The way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas and throw the bad ones away.

I tend to have an endless number of ideas for writing projects. I don't necessarily say that as a good thing. Maybe it's a good thing, but I have ideas for all kinds of projects: contemporary novels, graphic novels, anything that happens to go through my mind.

Write down everything you can think of, no matter how stupid it seems. I always write down my thoughts throughout the day. Sometimes good things come out of it, and I'll find an idea to develop into a song, so my best advice is to try and draw inspiration from everyday things.

I've always thought that writing isn't really that hard. It's having a good idea that's hard.

Think of the imagination as a giant stone from which we carve out new ideas. As we chip away, our new ideas become more polished and refined. But if you start by editing your imagination, you start with a tiny stone.

I'm always thinking about stories and ideas, and I have a few I'd like to actively pursue, but as much as I love them, I love the process of creation, and I want to go on and create things for myself, and create new things.

As authors, we know that it is very difficult to unleash one's creativity.

I write all the time and I try to think of ideas all the time.

My favorite thing is a brand-new project from scratch because you really never know how they're going to come to life. Going back for the third and fourth time to old ones is very gratifying, but it's not my favorite use of my creativity.

I enjoy creating new ideas, working on new creative projects.

Writing is no trouble: you just jot down ideas as they occur to you. The jotting is simplicity itself - it is the occurring which is difficult.

I write every day... I never get ideas unless I'm actually writing. Ideas I get in the shower don't do me any good.

I think that anything that leads to creativity and good work is good.

Having imagination it takes you an hour to write a paragraph that if you were unimaginative would take you only a minute.

I have a good idea every two years. Give me a topic, I will give you the idea!

I have 40 years of unpublished material, the ones they don't pick, and the reason I don't redraw them or use them again is that I like to use my brain every day and come up with new jokes.

I have four or five ideas that just keep floating around and I want to kind of just let one - like a beautiful butterfly, let it land somewhere.

I get inspired at different times and in different ways.

I want to spend my time between the creation of ideas and the creation of things.

Good literature can be created only with something that is different from literature.

I've often said that there's no such thing as writer's block; the problem is idea block.

I think that everything is part of creativity - the more you create, the more you have ideas, and the more you meet people.

What you make up in your heads sticks if it's good, falls out if it's bad. If we still remember something a day after we made it up, it might be worth building on.

I try to stay focused on my creativity.