The best writing advice is not theory. It comes from writers who sat alone with blank pages and fought their way through. Here are the tips and quotes that shaped how I think about craft, arranged by the lesson they teach.
On Getting Started
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” — Stephen King
King was not talking about horror novels. He was talking about sitting down at the desk. The resistance you feel before writing is universal. The only cure is to start before you feel ready.
“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” — Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
“Free yourself of perfection. There is a critical voice in your head that starts to tell you it is not good enough or that no one is going to like it. It is about turning that voice off and just allowing yourself to write.” — Annabel Pitcher
On Clarity and Simplicity
“Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.” — Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway wrote lean sentences that hit like punches. Every word earned its place. This does not mean writing should be simple — it means every flourish should serve the structure. The craft of writing is knowing when to add and when to cut.
“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Work out what you want to say, and say it as clearly as possible.” — Chris Vick
On Truth and Courage
“If there is a book that you want to read, but it has not been written yet, you must be the one to write it.” — Toni Morrison
Morrison did not write safe books. She wrote the ones that needed to exist. The stories only you can tell — those are the ones worth telling.
“Write what you fear. If you fear something, if you are afraid of something, if you are troubled by something, then that is probably the best place to write from, because in writing it you work through it.” — Pete Kalu
“You have to put yourself out there. Rejection is part of the process and it is a part that you should embrace because it never goes away.” — Victoria Schwab
“You have to slice off a bit of your own soul and put it in those pages. One moment of pure honesty is all you need to get the audience to connect with your characters.” — Derek Landy
On Finding Your Voice
“Write something that is unique to you. Do not think of it as being creative because then you will freeze up. Think of it as writing something that only you can write.” — Alwyn Hamilton
“It is always, always write a book you want to read yourself, because you will be amazed at how many people do not, and they write for other people or the market, but it is the books you write for yourself that other people want to read.” — Patrick Ness
“Write what you feel compelled to write, and not what you feel like you are supposed to write. Let yourself fail repeatedly.” — Nina LaCour & David Levithan
On the Daily Practice
“I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.” — W. Somerset Maugham
Professional writers do not wait for the muse. They sit down at the same time every day and write. Our writing craft guides can help you build a sustainable writing practice.
“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.” — E.B. White
“Writing is like a muscle — the more you exercise that muscle, the easier it will get.” — Julia Gray
On Revision and Killing Darlings
“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” — Stephen King, On Writing
The brilliant sentence that does not serve the story must go. The 25 signs of amateur writing are almost all things that could be fixed with ruthless revision.
“I am not a very good writer, but I am an excellent rewriter.” — James Michener
“A book that is finished is worth a thousand times more than a half-finished book.” — Taran Matharu
On Reading
“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time — or the tools — to write. Simple as that.” — Stephen King
Every great writer is a voracious reader. Reading teaches you pacing, voice, structure, and dialogue far more efficiently than any writing course. Read widely. Read outside your genre.
“Read, read everything you can. Read all the time. And then, when you are not reading, write all the time, write loads and loads, and throw most of it away, and then rewrite the good bits.” — Philip Reeve
On Persistence
“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” — Jodi Picoult
“The biggest piece of advice I can give you is that if you are going to be in any creative profession, you should turn all of the no’s into ‘not yet’ instead. If you assume those no’s mean ‘not yet,’ that means you just have to try harder.” — Maggie Stiefvater
“When you get rejection letters, treat them as trophies. The more you have, the better you are doing, the closer you are to your goal.” — Frances Hardinge
For more on the mechanics of turning these principles into publishable fiction, see our complete craft of writing guide or get the book.
Source
Many quotes from contemporary authors come from 65 Authors Share Their #1 Tip for New Writers on The YA Shelf — tips collected at the 2016 Young Adult Literature Conference from authors including Patrick Ness, Maggie Stiefvater, Victoria Schwab, Sophie Kinsella, Malorie Blackman, and more.
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