Quotes about Writing: N

The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamouring to become visible. ~ Vladimir Nabakov
There is the first satisfaction of arranging it on a bit of paper; after many, many false tries, false moves, finally you have the sentence you recognize as the one you are looking for. ~ Vladimir Nabokov
I have rewritten — often several times — every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers. ~ Vladimir Nabokov
Only ambitious nonentities and hearty mediocrities exhibit their rough drafts. It's like passing around samples of sputum. ~ Vladimir Nabokov
Don't sell yourself short; dare to dream. You might sell to a top market before you ever sell to a non-paying market - you won't know unless you try. In the same way, it's good to be cooperative, but don't be too humble either. ~ Rheal Nadeau
Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose. ~ Zora Neale Hurston

The author must keep his mouth shut when his work starts to speak. ~ Friederich Nietzsche
Good writers have two things in common: They prefer being understood to being admired, and they do not write for the overcritical and too shrewd reader. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~ Anaļs Nin
We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection. ~ Anais Nin
If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it. ~Anais Nin
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. ~ Anais Nin

The reader has certain rights. He bought your story. Think of this as an implicit contract. He's entitled to be entertained, instructed, amused; maybe all three. If he quits in the middle, or puts the book down feeling his time has been wasted, you're in violation. ~ Larry Niven
It is a cardinal sin to bore the reader. ~ Larry Niven
You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed. ~ Larry Niven
For all my longer works, for example novels, I write chapter outlines so I can have the pleasure of departing from them later on. ~ Garth Nix
I write what I would like to read. ~ Kathleen Norris
I write to tell stories. I believe that there a some professions in the world that will last forever: doctor or a nurse, teacher, builder and a storyteller. I write also to become myself, more so day by day. Writing is a way to shape out visible and invisible, in myself as well as in the world. ~ Eppu Nuotio