Chris Baty Quotes

#1. The biggest thing separating people from their artistic ambitions is not a lack of talent. It's the lack of a deadline. Give someone an enormous task, a supportive community, and a friendly-yet-firm due date, and miracles will happen.

Chris Baty

#2. The world is a lot more fun when you approach it with an exuberant imperfection.

Chris Baty

#3. You are doing this because you are fantastic and brave and curious. And, yes, you are probably a little crazy. And this is a good thing.

Chris Baty

#4. If you spend enough time with your characters, plot simply happens.

Chris Baty

#5. There's an old folk saying that goes: whenever you delete a sentence from your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground. Where it will likely require medical attention.

Chris Baty

#6. The roar of adrenaline drowned out the self-critical voices that tend to make creative play such work for adults.

Chris Baty

#7. Just think of the acclaim! The feelings of satisfaction! The vastly increased dating opportunities!

Chris Baty

#8. A novel rough draft is like bread dough; you need to beat the crap out of it for it to rise.

Chris Baty

#9. Instead, we spent our downtime prodding at lifeless characters and wondering how long a human body could subsist on a diet of ramen and Coke before liver function ceased entirely.

Chris Baty

#10. Despite what you may have learned last month, sustained writing is best accomplished as part of a balanced lifestyle, one that includes things like grocery shopping and speaking in complete sentences with your significant other. No

Chris Baty

#11. When your novel first peeks its head into the world, it will look pretty much like every newborn: blotchy, hairless, and utterly confused.

Chris Baty

#12. Rereading parts of your novel while writing is like doubling back at rerunning parts of a marathon midrace.

Chris Baty

#13. fiction writing can be a blast when you set aside debilitating notions of perfection and just dive headlong into the creative process.

Chris Baty

#14. here's the thing: However attractive the idea of a writer's retreat may sound, having all day to poke around on a novel actually hampers productivity.

Chris Baty

#15. The quickest, easiest way to produce something beautiful and lasting is to risk making something horribly crappy.

Chris Baty

#16. If you have a million things to do, adding item number 1,000,001 is not such a big deal. When, on the other hand, you have nothing to do, getting out of bed and washing yourself before 2:00 P.M. feels like too much work to even contemplate.

Chris Baty

#17. A deadline is, simply put, optimism in its most kick-ass form. It's a potent force that, when wielded with respect, will level any obstacle in its path. This is especially true when it comes to creative pursuits.

Chris Baty

#18. There's a book in you that only you can write.

Chris Baty

#19. Don't be offended if you encounter some good-natured ribbing; the idea of
writing a novel in a month deserves to be laughed at.

Chris Baty

#20. Today's tangents will become tomorrow's arcs, and unforeseen connections will tie up your loose ends in a way that will make you want to slap your head and holler at your accidental brilliance.

Chris Baty