Category: Quotes

  • Dare to be idle

    “Dare to be idle,” wrote Brenda Ueland in her classic writing manual If You Want to Write: A Book About Art, Independence and Spirit.

    Her advice offers respite from information overload, lists of things to do, overbooked schedules and looming deadlines. Relaxing, said Ueland, is good for your soul and your writing. The imagination needs moodling—long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling, and puttering.

    Moodling is just being, letting your mind drift, as you lounge on the patio, take a walk, stare at the moon or sit at your desk. It’s in this state of dreamy idleness that the imagination kicks in.

    Excerpt from “Ode to moodling,” by Elfrieda M. Abbe, The Writer magazine, August 2002

    Note from Marlene: Brenda Ueland’s book If You Want To Write, is one of my favorite writing books.

    Marlene C

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  • Share what you create.

    “You have a unique creative voice and what you share is special. Keep using your voice, sharing what you create.” — Dan Blank, The Creative Shift, Aug. 11 Substack, “Embracing Your Creativity in the age of AI.”

    Marlene C

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  • Play With Words

    “The bright side of working on a second draft is that it gives you the opportunity to play with words. Words are the writer’s pigment. We mix, we measure; we try this combination or that.

    Original ideas and thoughts are the single most important element in the creative process. It is up to us, as writers, to give them form and voice and let them soar. While you’re writing and rewriting, remember the importance of the process rather than the end product. When you only focus on making your book marketable, it dampens your enthusiasm and blurs your vision.” — “A Writer’s Journey,” by Maureen Crane Wartski, The Writer, December 2000

    Marlene C

  • Write to please an audience of one . . .

    “Elizabeth Berg starts out with a feeling in her head and nothing else. If you’re agonizing over how you might please a particular publisher, Berg has a basic message: Write to please an audience of only one —you.”

    Excerpt from “Trusting Herself,” by Ronald Kovach, September 2002, The Writer Magazine

    Marlene C

  • What you create lives on.

    “What you create lives on. If you are a writer, your words live on. You have a unique creative voice, and writing and publishing is a powerful act.

    You are forging powerful connections with other human beings that enhances their lives.

    A co-creation happens when someone reads your work — half what you intended and half what the reader brings from their life experience and perspective — even when we are no longer present.” — Dan Blank, “Your Writing Lives On,” Nov. 28, 2025 Substack

    These are Dan’s thoughts on three friends losing their fathers who were writers.

    When Dan read what these friends shared about their fathers on social media, he was reminded of the importance of writing, sharing, and reading.

    I agree: Your words matter. Just Write!

    Marlene C

  • Proofreading

    “No matter how many proofreaders one has, there can still be errors/typos. Reading for typos/errors is like a Sherlock Holmes mystery; looking for that stray character lurking in the shadows.” — Janet Pierce

    Marlene C

  • Writers: It ain’t easy being so aware.

    “Writers, remember to take care of yourselves. It ain’t easy being so aware.” — “Meet the Agent,” Writers Digest, March/April 2026, Ericka Tiffany Phillips, literary agent at the Stephanie Tade Agency

    Marlene C

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  • Quiet Writing

    “Quiet writing isn’t a genre, it’s more like a style and an approach. For creative nonfiction, it’s narrative that focuses on everyday moments, employs keen observation, and includes details and imagery to demonstrate and investigate the human experience. It reads quiet but still carries the tension and conflict that is fundamental to good storytelling.”

    — Andrea A Firth

    Excerpted from Quiet Writing: Start with an Everyday Moment, Brevity Blog Post, April 23, 2025

    Andrea A. Firth is an editor at Brevity Blog.

    Marlene C

  • What makes writing memorable?

    “Writing That Endures—It’s All in the Craft,”

    — Ronnie Blair

    Concrete details.

    Evocative language.

    Characters who seem as human as we are.

    Ronnie Blair, “Writing That Endures—It’s All in the Craft,” Brevity Blog, October 17, 2025

    Ronnie Blair is the author of the memoir Eisenhower Babies: Growing Up on Moonshots, Comic Books, and Black-and-White TV.

    Marlene C

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  • Sanctuary

    “When you take sanctuary within yourself, the world can be falling apart around you and you will be okay.”

    — Samantha Rose

    “When you take sanctuary within yourself, the world can be falling apart around you and you will be okay.” — “Giving Up The Ghost” by Samantha Rose

    Marlene C