Writer's Block from many different perpectives

"One of the most difficult things is the first paragraph. I have spent many months on a first paragraph, and once I get it, the rest just comes out very easily." - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one." - Mark Twain

"I've often said that there's no such thing as writer's block; the problem is idea block. When I find myself frozen--whether I'm working on a brief passage in a novel or brainstorming about an entire book--it's usually because I'm trying to shoehorn an idea into the passage or story where it has no place." - Jeffrey Deaver

"If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word." - Margaret Atwood

"What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat.’ And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, 'Okay. Okay. I’ll come.'" - Maya Angelou

 "I think writer's block is simply the dread that you are going to write something horrible. But as a writer, I believe that if you sit down at the keys long enough, sooner or later something will come out." - Roy Blount, Jr.


"Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer." - Barbara Kingsolver


"Writing is 90 percent procrastination: reading magazines, eating cereal out of the box, watching infomercials. It's a matter of doing everything you can to avoid writing, until it is about four in the morning and you reach the point where you have to write." - Paul Rudnick

Comments

Philip said…
Interesting set of quotes. I think the 'problem' of getting starting is a delaying tactic or procrastination as the last quote describes it. George Orwell said that 'writers write' and so he forced himself to put something down on paper whatever its merits just to get going. Mind you when it comes to first paragraphs my English teacher said when you have finished your essay, cross out the first paragraph as it will be superfluous! I doubt that is always the case but he had a point.
sintaicharles said…
Thanks for your feedback and sharing, Philip.

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