Thoughtful Writing Quotes

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If I had more time, I would have written less.

Read as much as you can. Write only when you feel the inner need to do so. And don’t ever rush into print.

Words have to be crafted, not sprayed. They need to be fitted together with infinite care.

I think about the sentence a long time, and then I write it. I don't revise it once it's set down.

I write fast, because I have not the brains to write slow.

Of writing well the source and fountainhead is wise thinking.

I read a lot of bad scripts and weird television shows. I don't know. There's a lot of work out there I was reading at 14 years old and noticing this lack of thought. And then, reading 'Afterschool,' that's full of thought. It was bursting with ideas.

I felt like the script [of "I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore"] was so clear. It was sort of packed full of information. [Macon Blair] puts in a lot of discussion in the script. Characters are introduced very thoughtfully. The way he described walking into particular environments was very specific.

Whatever sentence will bear to be read twice, we may be sure was thought twice.

What can we writers learn from lizards, lift from birds? In quickness is truth. The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. In hesitation is thought. In delay comes the effort for a style, instead of leaping upon truth which is the only style worth deadfalling or tiger-trapping.

I demand that my books be judged with utmost severity, by knowledgeable people who know the rules of grammar and of logic, and who will seek beneath the footsteps of my commas the lice of my thought in the head of my style.

When I write, I use an Underwood #5 made in 1920. Someone gave me an electric typewriter, but there's no use pretending you can use machinery that thinks faster than you do. An electric typewriter is ready to go before I have anything to say.

When I teach writing, I always tell my students you should assume that the audience you're writing for is smarter than you. You can't write if you don't think they're on your side, because then you start to yell at them or preach down to them.

Typing is no substitute for thinking.

To me, writing is a considered act. It's something which is a great labor of thought and consideration.

The fact that the author thinks slowly is not serious, but the fact that he publishes faster than he thinks is inexcusable.

A person who can write a long letter with ease, cannot write ill.

Your writings should reflect wise thoughts.

I find my readers to be very smart, and there is no reason to write dumb.

I always write after I think for quite a long time, so the actual writing time is rather short. I think a lot of the work gets done when you have something on your mind while you're doing many other things.

Writing long hand is the last refuge. One needs the time it takes to put pencil to paper and let it run along the ruled line.

Much of an editor's job is in fact pretty nanny-like in nature: in many ways, you're there to protect and defend, to reassure and clean up. What I ask from writers is respect. I want them to respect me enough to turn in a clean draft. I want that draft to be as good as they can make it. I want to feel the thought behind those words. And I want it to be turned in on time. It drives me wild when I get a story that's obviously slapped together, and the same can be said for a manuscript; you should respect your reader enough to give her something that reflects your best efforts.

If you are careful about the content and writing style, readers will not feel that you are in a hurry.

The strokes of the pen need deliberation as much as the sword needs swiftness.