On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Quotes

“The rest of it—and perhaps the best of it—is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”

― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

topic:writingbravery

“This suggests cutting to speed the pace, and that’s what most of us end up having to do (kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings).”

― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

topic:writing

“Writing is seduction. Good talk is part of seduction. If not so, why do so many couples who start the evening at dinner wind up in bed?”

― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

topic:writingtalking

“I think the best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event”

― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

topic:writingcharacter

“When you write a book, you spend day after day scanning and identifying the trees. When you’re done, you have to step back and look at the forest.”

― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

topic:writing

“I don’t read in order to study the craft; I read because I like to read.”

― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

topic:workreadingpleasure

“reading in bed can be heaven, assuming you can get just the right amount of light on the page and aren’t prone to spilling your coffee or cognac on the sheets.”

― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

topic:reading

“The trick is to teach yourself to read in small sips as well as in long swallows. Waiting rooms were made for books—of course!”

― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

topic:readingwaiting

“books are a uniquely portable magic.”

― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

topic:readingbooks

“Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones.”

― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

topic:bookslearning