Chronicles of a Procrastinating Novelist Volume 14: 10 Great Quotes About Writing

Another shorty but fun-ish to bulk up the post count of this so far pitiful exercise in building my authorial career. I present ten of my favorite quotes about writing that I've ferreted away over the decades. My choices have evolved as my own habits and tastes have likewise done, so hopefully this list can serve as fodder for future posts featuring updated versions! *giggles desperately*

Should anyone care to comment, feel free to pick a favorite off this list and extrapolate on why, or share a great quote of your own. For in the words of Oscar Wilde, "Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit." I'd love to hear from any readers out there. Enjoy.

"How vain it is to sit down and write when you have not stood up to live." - Henry David Thoreau
"Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing." - Benjamin Franklin
"Serious writers write, inspired or not. Over time, they discover that routine is a better friend than inspiration." - Ralph Keyes
"The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other cat's mat is a story." - John Le Carre
"Finish. The difference between being a writer and being a person of talent is the discipline it takes to apply the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair and finish. Don't talk about doing it. Do it. Finish." - E. L. Konigsburg
"A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity." - Franz Kafka
"If you write one story, it may be bad. If you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor." - Edgar Rice Burroughs
"Be ruthless about protecting your writing days. I.E. do not cave in to endless requests to have 'essential' and 'long overdue' meetings on those days." - J.K. Rowling
"Good fiction's job is to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable." - David Foster Wallace
"I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent, he would be wise to develop a thick hide." - Harper Lee