Alexander Chee Quotes

If you wish to be a writer, write.

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.

The only way to learn writing is by writing. Talent, as charming as it sounds, amounts to no more than 12 per cent of the process. Work is 80 per cent. The remaining 8 per cent is 'luck' or 'zeitgeist' - in short, things that are not in our hands.

My life as a writer consists of 1/8 talent and 7/8 discipline.

I think writing well takes a little bit of talent and an awful lot of work.

For any writers at all, read everything you can and then put your butt in the chair and write. That's all there is to it.

If you want to be a writer, just write. There's no magic to it.

The secret to being a writer is that you have to write. It's not enough to think about writing or to study literature or plan a future life as an author. You really have to lock yourself away, alone, and get to work.

Part of being a writer is just getting it in your bones, getting the muscle memory down, just doing it.

If you want to be a writer, I have two pieces of advice. One is to be a reader. I think that's one of the most important parts of learning to write. The other piece of advice is 'Just do it!' Don't think about it, don't agonize, sit down and write.

The only difference between a writer and someone who wants to be a writer is discipline.

The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.

A journalist also needs to be disciplined, and so do I. I am, essentially, lazy. Without discipline I'd be just a mass of gummy bears on the sofa instead of on book tour with my eighth novel.

The main thing about writing is... writing. Sitting your butt down in the chair and doing the work.

You won't make a living writing until you learn to write when you don't want to.

The only way to learn and hone your craft is by working hard and writing regularly.

I am always trying to write.

A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

In writing, as in medicine, there are no short cuts. You need stamina.

What it takes is to actually write: not to think about it, not to imagine it, not to talk about it, but to actually want to sit down and write. I'm lucky I learned that habit a really long time ago. I credit my mother with that. She was an English teacher, but she was a writer.

But I work harder now because I have so much more exposure. And actually the harder you work as a writer, the better you get at it. It's like anything else. It's a muscle you have to exercise. I write more now than ever.

I would say, number one, don't worry about getting published. Just write. Number two, just write. Three is make sure you read.

I just write from dawn to dusk.

This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until its done. It's that easy, and that hard.