Top 100 Write For Yourself Quotes
#1. Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.
[The New Statesman, February 25, 1933]
Cyril Connolly
#2. Write for yourself. That's it. And write every day.
E.L. James
#3. You do not write a novel for praise, or thinking of your audience. You write for yourself; you work out between you and your pen the things that intrigue you
Bret Easton Ellis
#4. If you aren't willing to put your best work out there, write for yourself. Don't ever publish.
Eliza Green
#5. There is only one thing that you write for yourself, and that is a shopping list.
Umberto Eco
#6. There's a whole thing now in the entertainment industry that's like, 'You need to write for yourself. Those are the people that are really valuable.' And it's just like, 'I don't want to! I just want to act!'
Jenny Slate
#7. If you want to write for yourself, get a diary. If you want to write for your friends, get a blog. If you want to write for others ... become an author.
James Patterson
#8. If you write for yourself, you'll reach all the people you want to write for.
William Zinsser
#9. You must write for yourself and not what you think people want to read.
Jodi Ellen Malpas
#10. It's way easier to write for other people. Yourself isn't in it. When you write for yourself, you overthink, and you become paranoid. When you write for others, it isn't about you.
Sam Dew
#11. Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing.
Melinda Rucker Haynes
#12. Suicide is the role you write for yourself. You inhabit it and you enact it. All carefully staged
where they will find you and how they will find you. But one performance only.
Philip Roth
#13. You must write for yourself, above all. That is your only hope of creating something beautiful.
Gustave Flaubert
#14. You can't focus on what you should or shouldn't write or who you should or shouldn't be like. Just write for yourself and eventually you'll get to that place you want to be.
Autumn Doughton
#15. First, you write for yourself... always, to make sense of experience and the world around you. It's one of the ways I stay sane. Our stories, our books, our films are how we cope with the random trauma-inducing chaos of life as it plays.
Bruce Springsteen
#16. Remember to write for yourself, not for a market and give yourself time to develop your own style, your own voice. It takes a lifetime. Enjoy it!
Michael Morpurgo
#17. Write for yourself, not for a perceived audience. If you do, you'll mostly fall flat on your face, because it's impossible to judge what people want. And you have to read. That's how you learn what is good writing and what is bad. Then the main thing is application. It's hard work.
Wilbur Smith
#18. You write for two people, yourself and your audience, who are usually better educated and at least as smart.
Tony Hillerman
#19. Keep in mind that the only person to write for is yourself.Tell the story you most desperately want to read.
Susan Isaacs
#20. Kids love me because I write stories that tell them about their capacity for evil. I'm one of the few writers who lets you cleanse yourself that way.
Ray Bradbury
#21. You've gone far away to a place with no horses and very little grass, and you're studying how to write a story with a happy ending. If you can write that ending for yourself, maybe you can come back.
Jennifer Echols
#22. Ask yourself, what makes my book so different? So interesting? Don't write to be a best seller. Write for and from your heart, not your wallet. Write something you want to be remembered by.
Leon Nacson
#23. I think that in order to get better as an athlete and to see whatever kind of results you're after, you have to make goals. Whether you write them down or tell someone about them, it's important to set goals for yourself in order to achieve any kind of success.
Abby Wambach
#24. It takes so long to write a script, thinking to yourself, "Am I wasting my time? Am I putting everything into this thing that maybe just won't ever exist?" I always think, God, acting is so much easier. At least for acting you have the source material already.
Jason Schwartzman
#25. You are given the form, but you must write the sonnet for yourself.
Madeleine L'Engle
#26. When you write, produce, engineer and mix everything yourself, it tends to take a long time to do anything. And when you're a perfectionist little monster, it makes it even harder. But it's a blast and I wouldn't trade the opportunity for all the ice cream sandwiches in the universe.
Adam Young
#27. Have the courage to write whatever your dream is for yourself.
May Sarton
#28. The best person to write for is yourself - and what better place to start than in a journal.
E.L. James
#29. Never write when you are not in the mood; when you are not feeling it. If the words do not flow freely, and come to you almost magically, then put it down and do not force yourself to write in the book, or it will reflect in your writing and it will be terribly obvious.
Wayne Hoss
#30. When you finally start to write something, do not let yourself stop ... even when you are convinced it's the worst garbage ever. This is the biggest caveat for beginning writers. Instead, force yourself to finish what you began, and THEN go back and edit it.
Jodi Picoult
#32. Writing becomes a really good creative outlet when you're sitting there and feeling creatively frustrated or stilted, but also you then get to write parts for yourself.
Zoe Lister-Jones
#33. For a writer, they say write what you know. As a performer, you find it in yourself, in your heart. You relate to the character. You try to live it, try to have it be real for you.
Uma Thurman
#34. Don't force yourself to write. Some people can write a novel in a few months, whereas for others it can take over a year. I'm lucky to be one of the former - but, even so, if I'm not in the mood to write, I won't. I'll go off, do something else and come back to it when I'm ready.
Cecelia Ahern
#35. Writing is very hard mostly because until you try to write something down, it's easy to fool yourself into believing you understand things. Writing is terrible for vanity and self-delusion.
Mark Vonnegut
#36. To make my diary a little different I am going to call it a Thought Book ... I have thoughts that I never can use unlesss I write them down, for Aunt Miranda always says, Keep your thoughts to yourself.
Kate Douglas Wiggin
#37. The first person you should think of pleasing, in writing a book, is yourself. If you can amuse yourself for the length of time it takes to write a book, the publisher and the readers can and will come later.
Patricia Highsmith
#38. I learned the enormous power of writing for yourself, especially now that people seem to be receptive to the fact that women can write.
Maya Rudolph
#39. Set an intention to heal any unexpressed anger that may be present in your life. Go to a quiet place with pen and paper. Take a few deep breaths. Ask your anger to speak to you. Write down the thoughts and feelings. When you are finished, forgive yourself for holding on to the anger for so long.
Iyanla Vanzant
#40. Even if you're in the thick of revising another work, write something new. Something small. It's important to keep telling yourself stories.
Don Roff
#41. Fiction is about everything human and we are made out of dust, and if you scorn getting yourself dusty, then you shouldn't try to write fiction. It's not a grand enough job for you.
Flannery O'Connor
#42. He wanted to write about country so it would be there like Cezanne had done it in a painting. You have to do it from inside yourself ... You could do it if you wanted to fight for it. If you'd lived right with your eyes.
Ernest Hemingway,
#43. Everyone who is human has something to express. Try not expressing yourself for twenty-four hours and see what happens. You will nearly burst. You will want to write a long letter, or draw a picture, or sing, or make a dress or a garden.
Brenda Ueland
#44. When you die, others who think they know you, will concoct things about you ... Better pick up a pen and write it yourself, for you know yourself best.
Sholom Aleichem
#45. I see so many bands, that are trying really hard to write for a person that they've never met. I get the idea behind it and the idea of helping people, but I feel you help people more by exposing yourself.
Andy Biersack
#46. The personal screenplay- where you dive into the terrifying depths of your soul, unearth the most intimate details about yourself, and put it on paper for the world to see. Proceed with caution, for madness lies ahead.
A.D. Posey
#47. If you write with passion in your own style, you will make a place for yourself
Dean Koontz
#48. Be bold, and try not to fall in love with your faults. Don't be so afraid of giving yourself away, either, for if yo write, you must. And if you can't face that, better not write.
Katherine Anne Porter
#49. You write music for yourself and if you just open that door and let people in, the audience is going to grow and it's going to become more accessible.
Yukimi Nagano
#50. Life is how you brew it. Wake up, you have a story to tell. Don't chase vain glory, your story will tell it. You owe it to yourself to write the lines of your story in the ink of purpose!
Israelmore Ayivor
#51. I believe that basically you write for two people; yourself to try and make it absolutely perfect; or if not that then wonderful. then you write for who you love whether they can read or write or not and whether they are alive or dead.
Ernest Hemingway,
#52. Ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write [create]? Dig into yourself for a deep answer.
Rainer Maria Rilke
#53. Take lots of time for yourself, discovering yourself-pursue not only a profession but other life passions, I always make time to rock climb or hike or write a few short stories. Also, find good people and surround yourself with them. Most importantly, always believe you will, unequivocally.
Sarah Silverman
#54. For God's sake, madam, when you write to me, talk of yourself; there is nothing I so much desire to hear of; talk a great deal of yourself, that she who I always thought talked best may speak upon the best subject.
Alexander Pope to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Michael Kelahan
#55. When you do a writing job for a studio, one of the things you want to do is satisfy the expectations of your employer. That's a little bit different than when you sit down and write something to satisfy yourself, because then you're the employer.
Joel Coen
#56. There are many people who say, 'I write for myself.' I think that if you write and publish, then you write for your readers, not just for yourself. Many writers say that they write to be loved. I place myself among those writers.
Angeles Mastretta
#57. There is sometimes a feeling in crime fiction that good writing gets in the way of story. I have never felt that way. All you have is language. Why write beneath yourself? It's an act of respect for the reader as much as yourself.
John Connolly
#58. When you're an artist, you can only do your own stuff. Even if you only write for other people, you're really more focused on yourself. So while everybody's out touring, I'm working on records.
Rico Love
#59. Thank your readers and the critics who praise you, and then ignore them. Write for the most intelligent, wittiest, wisest audience in the universe: Write to please yourself.
Harlan Ellison
#60. Someone yelled at me once, 'You never write about yourself.' People used to get so mad at me for that. But my definition of myself is completely up for grabs. I'm everywhere, just like we all are.
Suzan-Lori Parks
#61. Just write the truth, son, just the truth. . . . Look for the truth in yourself and take it to the people. Look for the truth in the people and store it within yourself.
Sonallah Ibrahim
#62. Jack shook his head. 'Books. What is it with women and books? My sisters were the same. They were always buying books for boys they fancied.'
Ellie bent down and picked up the stone and put it on the table. 'It's like sending a love letter without having to write it yourself,' she said softly.
Hazel Osmond
#63. A poet can feel free, in my estimation, to write a poem for himself. Or a painter can paint a painting for himself. You can write a short story for yourself. But for me, comedy by its nature is communal. If other people don't get it, I'm not sure why you are doing it.
Keegan-Michael Key
#64. The act of writing means you wish to communicate. Whether you're writing a memoir for yourself you put in a drawer, or you write a poem and you send it to a little magazine, or you write for publication, it always means - the form follows function.
Harlan Ellison
#65. You can write better about a place you've seen for yourself. You don't have to have been there - I've sure written about places I've never seen - but it does help.
Harry Turtledove
#66. The best ideas are those that really affect me emotionally - those are the ones you never forget. You think to yourself, 'I want to write that book', for years; those are the ideas that I love to work with, and 'The Bone Garden' was one of them.
Tess Gerritsen
#67. No one can advise or help you - no one. There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself. Search for the reason that bids you write, find out wether it spreading out its root in the deepest places of your heart ... Delve into yourself for a deep answer
Rainer Maria Rilke
#68. It's a sort of philosophy you cook up for yourself. You probably write things the same as everybody else, but it's your own personal way of saying things.
Jim Capaldi
#69. I think it's like when you lose something so close to you, it's like losing yourself. That's why at the end, it's hard for her to write even. She can hardly remember how. Because she barely knows what she is anymore.
Ava Dellaira
#70. Write plays that matter. Raise the stakes. Shout, yell, holler, but make yourself heard. It's time for playwrights to reclaim the theatre. We do that by speaking from the heart about the things that matter most to us. If a play isn't worth dying for, maybe it isn't worth writing.
Terrence McNally
#71. When you finish for the day, write a note reminding yourself of what you plan to do next. This helps you to remember today's great idea when you get back to work tomorrow.
Nita Leland
#72. As a poet or a novelist or a painter, you are pushing yourself all the time, always looking for a new way to approach something, challenging yourself and never, never trying to write the same book twice.
Paul Auster
#73. You write not for children but for yourself. And if by good fortune children enjoy what you enjoy, why then you are a writer of children's books.
Arthur Ransome
#74. I've had fun doing romantic comedies, but I just can't anymore. There's nothing fulfilling creatively, there's nowhere to grow, nothing to learn from it or for yourself. I'd rather just be home with my family or write music until that special project comes my way.
Mandy Moore
#75. Get yourself a notebook and write in it EVERY night for two weeks. Then stop if you can. If you can't, you're a writer.
Charles Ghigna
#76. Books are great for if you want to work on the craft of writing for yourself, or, you know, to write novels or indie films, stuff like that.
Thomas Lennon
#77. It's not too difficult to write a book. The trick is to get someone other than yourself to read it - it's even tricker to get them to pay for the experience.
Paul Boyce
#78. The skating community is very fickle. And with me, they're especially fickle for whatever reason. Maybe I bring it on myself, but if you don't prove yourself and you don't skate consistently, then they can very easily write you off and bring somebody from behind you and put them in your place.
Johnny Weir
#79. Write something to suit yourself and many people will like it; write something to suit everybody and scarcely anyone will care for it.
Jesse Stuart
#80. With writing, I think you have to be honest with yourself. I have a certain kind of writing; that is, I like to really embellish the human spirit. You have to write about something you have a feel for.
Sylvester Stallone
#81. When one heated exchange (in English) led a commenter to write "Go fuck yourself!" in Lojban, it turned into a lengthy discussion of why he hadn't said what he meant to say, and what the proper Lojban expression for the sentiment might be.
Arika Okrent
#82. I think you can be taught to write. You can't be taught to be a good writer. For that, you have to bring something to it, yourself, something that can't be given to you.
James Salter
#83. Sometimes all you need is one person with a guilty conscience to come forward and do the right thing. Often, the miracle you need resides inside of yourself, when you humbly ask for forgiveness.
Shannon L. Alder
#84. Failure is a hard word for people to take. Use the word kindness then instead. Let yourself be kind. And this kindness comes from an understanding of what it is to be a human being. Have compassion for yourself when you write. There is no failure - just a big field to wander in.
Natalie Goldberg
#85. In the future, when something comes up, you tell exactly how it happened but write down for yourself the way you think it should have happened. Tell the truth and write the story. Then you won't get mixed up. It was the best advice Francie every got.
Betty Smith
#86. That's the secret of how to enjoy writing and how to make yourself meet high standards," said Mrs. Berman. "You don't write for the whole world, and you don't write for ten people, or two. You write for just one person.
Kurt Vonnegut
#87. Don't market yourself. Editors and readers don't know what they want until they see it. Scratch what itches. Write what you need to write, feed the hunger for meaning in your life. Play at the serious questions of life and death.
Donald Murray
#88. Decide for yourself what makes you truly happy and then organize your life around it. Write down your goals and make plans to achieve them.
Brian Tracy
#89. Nothing is better for a young journalist than to go and write about something that other people don't know about. If you can afford to send yourself to some foreign part, I still think that's by far the best way to break in.
Tina Brown
#90. It's such a deliberate thing to sit down and write a tweet. You're putting yourself out there in a very deliberate way, and over however many tweets, you start to create a character for yourself.
Michael Ian Black
#91. Editing requires you to be always open, always responding. It is very important, for example, not to allow yourself to want the writer to write a certain kind of book. Sometimes that's hard.
Robert Gottlieb
#92. It's important to look ahead, I think, to shape your stuff for - again - effect. Because it's just so easy to write long, flowy sentences, get lost in them. The hard part's making them matter, making yourself make them matter.
Stephen Graham Jones
#93. Write the story that you were always afraid to tell. I swear to you that there is magic in it, and if you show yourself naked for me, I'll be naked for you. It will be our covenant
Dorothy Allison
#94. I think for many songwriter/performers, you need to go off by yourself and write the songs to begin with, but then you need people to bring them to life. So you have to be comfortable with solitude and also with being very social.
Alan Licht
#95. Sometimes you write and you find yourself almost wondering how it will turn out. I don't think every writer sort of almost admits that at some stage his books can take on their own kind of life it selves and simply lead away into directions that they're not kind of prepared for.
J.P. Donleavy
#96. The more I write the more I learn about writing. It is easy to say what looks good or sound good on paper until you experience it for yourself.
Jeanette Michelle
#97. When the army doesn't come for you, when no one chooses to fight for you, when no one dives in after you with fairy tales and promises, you write a different story. You write a tale of adventure and chaos, of survival and fortitude, and instead of wishing to be saved, you save yourself.
Kelton Wright
#98. As for advice - write as much as you can! Time's ticking, and if you don't throw everything you have into your stories today, you might find yourself on the wrong side of THE END tomorrow!
Darren Shan
#99. You have to follow your own voice. You have to be yourself when you write. In effect, you have to announce, 'This is me, this is what I stand for, this is what you get when you read me. I'm doing the best I can - buy me or not - but this is who I am as a writer.
David Morrell
#100. I think you have to learn for yourself how to write. I'm slightly mystified by creative writing courses - God love them - because I can't understand how you can explain a process that I find so baffling.
Kate Atkinson
Famous Authors
Popular Topics
Scroll to Top
