A Quote by Gordon Lish

Writing is not about self-expression; it is about putting words on paper.

Gordon Lish

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About Expression Paper Putting Self Self-Expression Words Words On Paper Writing

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Gordon Lish
American - Novelist
Born: February 11, 1934

Writing is finally about one thing: going into a room alone and doing it, putting words on paper that have never been there in quite that way before.

William Goldman

I have a mess in my head sometimes, and there's something very satisfying about putting it into words. Certainly it's not something that you're in charge of, necessarily, but writing about it, putting it into your words, can be a very powerful experience.

Carrie Fisher

When I'm writing, it's about the page. It's not about the movie. It's not about cinema. It's about the literature of me putting my pen to paper and writing a good page and making it work completely as a document unto itself. That's my first artistic contribution. If I do my job right, by the end of the script, I should be having the thought, 'You know, if I were to just publish this now and not make it . . . I'm done.

Quentin Tarantino

The secret to writing is writing. Lots of people I know talk about writing. They will tell me about the book they are going to write, or are thinking about writing, or may write some day in the future. And I know they will never do it. If someone is serious about writing, then they will sit down every day and put some words down on paper.

Michael Scott

I think all writing is about writing. All writing is a way of going out and exploring the world, of examining the way we live, and therefore any words you put down on the page about life will, at some level, also be words about words. It's still amazing, though, how many poems can be read as being analogous to the act of writing a poem. "Go to hell, go into detail, go for the throat" is certainly about writing, but it's also hopefully about a way of living.

Nick Laird

I'd never written nonfiction about the war on drugs, but I know a tremendous amount about it: I taught a class on it for seven years. I was putting into words the stuff I was teaching, and I was writing it up and thought, "Dude, you're writing a book."

Ayelet Waldman

If the communication is perfect, the words have life, and that is all there is to good writing, putting down on the paper words which dance and weep and make love and fight and kiss and perform miracles.

Gertrude Stein

Write about what you know and care deeply about. When one puts one's self on paper - that is what is called good writing.

Joel Chandler Harris

I love writing thank-you notes. There's something very nostalgic to me about the feel of a card and putting pen to paper. How many times in our lives are we required to put pen to paper anymore?

Taylor Swift

Writing is finally about one thing: going into a room alone and doing it. Putting words on paper that have never been there in quite that way before. And although you are physically by yourself, the haunting Demon never leaves you, that Demon being the knowledge of your own terrible limitations, your hopeless inadequacy, the impossibility of ever getting it right. No matter how diamond-bright your ideas are dancing in your brain, on paper they are earthbound.

William Goldman

Putting words on paper regularly is part of the necessary discipline of writing. A journal is a great way to do that.

Pearl Cleage

We talk about self-expression but need to pause and remember that self-expression requires a self to express.

Julia Cameron

Writing doesn't mean necessarily putting words on a sheet of paper. You can write a chapter while walking or eating.

Umberto Eco

Although I always loved reading and putting words on paper, I never thought about becoming a writer until I was twelve.

Kimberly Willis Holt

One of the few ways I can almost be certain I'll understand something is by sitting down and writing about it. Because by forcing yourself to write about it and putting it down in words, you can't avoid having your say on the subject. You might be wrong, but you have to think about it very intensely to write about it.

Hunter S. Thompson

I think the underlying purpose is expression. It's not about technique, it's not about hitting the right note, writing the perfect prose, having the perfect brushstroke. It's about expression of oneself, the things around you, and the emotions. I think expression is the one word that I would use, whether it's for sorrow, tragedy, joy, or even the need to express and be heard.

Charlie Albright

A Quote by Gordon Lish

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