124 Writing For Yourself Quotes

Following is our list of writing for yourself quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about what you say to yourself.

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Famous Writing For Yourself Quotes

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. — Cyril Connolly

Before you write - remember that every speech has something of 'you' in the writing. Don't take that away when you write. Be yourself. Be comfortable in your own skin. — Phil Collins

Write about what you know and care deeply about. When one puts one's self on paper - that is what is called good writing. — Joel Chandler Harris

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

Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish. — John Jakes

Write your own book instead of reading someone else's book about success — Herb Brooks

All writing is an act of self-exploration. Even a grocery list says something about you; how much more does a novel say? — Steven Saylor

Writers write to influence their readers, their preachers, their auditors, but always, at bottom, to be more themselves. — Aldous Huxley

Any writer overwhelmingly honest about pleasing himself is almost sure to please others. — Marianne Moore

You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. — Sayings

The essays are very solipsistic and self-absorbed, I'm totally conscious of that. To me, book writing is fun, and I basically just write about things that are entertaining to myself. — Chuck Klosterman

If you're going to write, don't pretend to write down. It's going to be the best you can do, and it's the fact that it's the best you can do that kills you. — Dorothy Parker

Writing is storytelling and all of us are authors, not just of words but of reality. You are the author of your life, so go out and live! Then never quit writing about it! — Ben Mikaelsen

Why do you want to read others' books when there is the book of yourself? — Jiddu Krishnamurti

I always treated writing as a profession, never as a hobby. If you don't believe in yourself, no one else will. — Laurell K. Hamilton

Short Writing For Yourself Quotes

  • Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go. — E. L. Doctorow
  • I'm a writer, and I will write what I want to write. — J. K. Rowling
  • Your best work is your expression of yourself. — Frank Gehry
  • Put down the pen someone else gave you. No one ever drafted a life worth living on borrowed ink. — Jack Kerouac
Writing for yourself quote There comes a point in your life when you need to stop reading other people's book and write your ow
There comes a point in your life when you need to stop reading other people's book and write your own.

How Do I Write A Quotes

Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation. — Graham Greene

Today, everything I do from morning meditation on - eating breakfast, going for a walk, writing, reading, even recreation - is governed by one purpose only: how to give the very best account of my life that I can in the service of all. — Eknath Easwaran

When asked, "How do you write?" I invariably answer, "one word at a time." — Stephen King

Writing for yourself quote Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about.

Honestly, as hard a profession as acting is, I think music is even harder. Acting, you're like a leech, because someone else does the hard part for you. They write it for you, then the director tells you what to do. You really just need to know how to pay attention, follow instructions. — Michael Shannon

People have been telling me I'm a failure and that I'm doing it all wrong for 20 years now. Never trust anybody when they tell you how your story goes. You know your story. You write your own story. — Kevin Smith

What do you really want? Sit down and write it out on a piece of paper, write it in the present tense. You might begin by writing, 'I am so happy and grateful now that...' and then explain how you want your life to be in every area. — Bob Proctor

Writing for yourself quote Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.
Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.

The turning point was when I hit my 30th birthday. I thought, if really want to write, it's time to start. I picked up the book How to Write a Novel in 90 Days. The author said to just write three pages a day, and I figured, I can do this. I never got past Page 3 of that book. — James Rollins

You can write a song about a girl or you can write a song about walking down the shops, and it's fine. I just try and do something as meaningful as I can without trying to be a pretentious loser because it's genuinely just how I see things. — Matt Corby

Quite often when I record a song, writing it and making a demo is the big thing and, after that, I think, how do I actually translate this into real life? A lot of the time I think I can't be bothered. — Mick Jagger

Well I actually do have a country house in Connecticut with a population of 3,000. Like, how small is that? I spend a lot of time there - I write up there. So I kind of have the best of both worlds and I love going up there. — Candace Bushnell

What You Say To Yourself Quotes

Always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody says distract you from your goals. — Michelle Obama

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. — Dr. Seuss

One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. And so when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don't invest any energy in them, because I know who I am. — Michelle Obama

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. - Epictetus

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. — Epictetus

Be very careful what you say to yourself because someone very important is listening . . . YOU! — John Assaraf

First, say to yourself what you would be; then do what you have to do. Life is a grindstone. Whether it wears you down or polishes you up depends on what YOU are made of. — Zig Ziglar

Writing for yourself quote Write hard and clear about what hurts.
Write hard and clear about what hurts.

The single most important thing in life is to believe in yourself regardless of what everyone else says. — Hikaru Nakamura

Don't listen to what anybody says except the people who encourage you. If it's what you want to do and it's within yourself, then keep going and try to do it for the rest of your life. — Jake Gyllenhaal

Being yourself is what will make you survive through anything. If you make music to please someone, it's the first step in the wrong direction. Always do what you believe in, no matter what people say. Only way to go! — Zedd

Live today. Remove all blame from your vocabulary. Catch yourself when you find yourself using your past history as a reason for your failure to act today, and instead say, 'I am free now to detach myself from what used to be.' — Wayne Dyer

Live For Yourself Quotes

Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Live for yourself and you will live in vain; Live for others, and you will live again. — Bob Marley

When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. — Tecumseh

Writing for yourself quote Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.
Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.

Simplify your life. Don't waste the years struggling for things that are unimportant. Don't burden yourself with possessions. Keep your needs and wants simple and enjoy what you have. Don't destroy your peace of mind by looking back, worrying about the past. Live in the present. Simplify! — Henry David Thoreau

If you only think about yourself - how much money can I make, what can I buy, how nice is my house, what kind of fancy car do I have? - over the long term, I think, you get bored. I think your life becomes diminished. The way to live a full life is to think: What can I do for others? — Barack Obama

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. — Lao Tzu

Writing for yourself quote Your life is your story. Write well. Edit often.
Your life is your story. Write well. Edit often.

Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live. — Gustave Flaubert

My challenge is, do not run away from the hard questions. Truly ask yourself what's worth living for in this life. — Jon Foreman

People will never forget how you made them feel. — Maya Angelou

Work hard at your job and you can make a living. Work hard on yourself and you can make a fortune. — Jim Rohn

Thinking Of Yourself Quotes

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. — Marcus Aurelius

be yourself- not your idea of what you think somebody else's idea of yourself should be. — Henry David Thoreau

You alone are the judge of your worth and your goal is to discover infinite worth in yourself, no matter what anyone else thinks. — Deepak Chopra

Writing for yourself quote A good friend knows all your stories. A best friend helped you write them.
A good friend knows all your stories. A best friend helped you write them.

Do not waste one moment in regret, for to think feelingly of the mistakes of the past is to re-infect yourself. — Neville Goddard

No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. — Friedrich Nietzsche

Do you wish people to think well of you? Don't speak well of yourself. - Blaise Pascal

Do you wish people to think well of you? Don't speak well of yourself. — Blaise Pascal

Writing for yourself quote Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.

Wherever you go, east, west, north or south, think of it as a journey into yourself! The one who travels into itself travels the world. — Shams Tabrizi

Instead of hating the people you think are war-makers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed - but hate these things in yourself, not in another. — Thomas Merton

Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them. — Marcus Aurelius

There's a storm inside of us, a burning river, a drive. You push yourself further than anyone could think possible. You are never out of the fight. — Marcus Luttrell

Talking To Yourself Quotes

Always keep a big bottle of booze at your side. If a bird starts talking nonsense to you in the middle of the night pour yourself a stiff drink. — Edgar Allan Poe

Start calling yourself healed, happy, whole, blessed, and prosperous. Stop talking to God about how big your mountains are, and start talking to your mountains about how big your God is! — Joel Osteen

Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work. — Adrienne Rich

Writing for yourself quote You have the itch for writing born in you. It's quite incurable. What are you going to do with it?
You have the itch for writing born in you. It's quite incurable. What are you going to do with it?

What are the most powerful words in the universe? The ones you use to talk to yourself. — Karen Salmansohn

The freedom from something is not true freedom. The freedom to do anything you want to do is also not the freedom I am talking about. My vision of freedom is to be yourself. — Osho

Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? — Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Writing for yourself quote If they give you lined paper, write the other way.
If they give you lined paper, write the other way.

Everybody talks about wanting to change things and help and fix, but ultimately all you can do is fix yourself. And that's a lot. Because if you can fix yourself, it has a ripple effect. — Rob Reiner

If you're going to learn a new language, you can't try to be perfect. You'll stop yourself from talking. You just have to let go. — Yao Ming

There is a saying that goes, 'If you talked to your friends the way you talk to yourself, you wouldn't have any. —

There's a lot of talk about self-esteem these days. It seems pretty basic to me. If you eat to feel proud of yourself, you've got to do things you can be proud of. Feelings follow actions. — Oseola McCarty

Thinking About Yourself Quotes

Don't pressure yourself. Don't worry about what others think you should do or what the societal "norm" is. Do what moves you and makes you smile and the "good" will follow. — Misha Collins

Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do. — Pope John XXIII

You might as well like yourself; just think about all the time you're gonna have to spend with you. — Jerry Lewis

Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner. - Lao Tzu

Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner. — Lao Tzu

Without the ability to think about yourself, to reflect on your life, there’s really no awareness, no consciousness. Consciousness doesn’t come automatically; it comes through being alive, awake, curious, and often furious. — Maxine Greene

Transform your world by transforming your internal state. Start by learning to let go of negative self judgment, and replace it with positive and loving thoughts about yourself. Be kind to yourself, and watch your external world change. — Anita Moorjani

I don't care what you think about me. I don't think about you at all. - Coco Chanel

I don't care what you think about me. I don't think about you at all. — Coco Chanel

Run with your heart instead of your mind. When you think with your mind, you think of the things you can and can't do. But when you run with your heart you forget about what you can't do, and you just go out and do it. — Gerry Lindgren

The secret of attraction is to love yourself. Attractive people judge neither themselves nor others. They are open to gestures of love. They think about love, and express their love in every action. They know that love is not a mere sentiment, but the ultimate truth at the heart of the universe. — Deepak Chopra

As funny as some photos can be, think twice about allowing yourself to be tagged in questionable photos. — Lewis Howes

People Writing About Writing For Yourself

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Read quotes by Cyril Connolly

Cyril Connolly
quotes on leadership, conflict and life

173 1176
Read quotes by Phil Collins

Phil Collins

83 369
Read quotes by Joel Chandler Harris

Joel Chandler Harris
quotes on slavery, civil war and religion

12 105
Read quotes by Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison
quotes on leadership, religion and education

83 740
Read quotes by John Jakes

John Jakes
quotes on war, love and life

12 89
Read quotes by Herb Brooks

Herb Brooks

25 906

More Writing For Yourself Quotes

Do it because it's in your heart. Not because you want something in return. Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for. — Socrates

Writing for yourself quote Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts..
Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts.. You need to start somewhere.

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

You must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance. — Confucius

By using stale metaphors, similes and idioms, you save much mental effort, at the cost of leaving your meaning vague, not only for your reader but for yourself. — George Orwell

You find yourself by losing yourself. By not thinking about yourself all of the time. When I am in a slump with my writing, I'll go and walk for a week. Walk and not see a human being. Something happens after four or five days which is quite wonderful. It is an ancient thing. Your sense of smell. Your hearing. They come back. — Doug Peacock

Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for. — Socrates

Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms. — Angela Carter

Set goals for yourself and put actionable steps in place to ensure that you achieve them. Whether you aim to get a promotion at work or set up your very own business, these ideas will only remain dreams until you write plan out how you are going to reach them by writing down realistic steps towards hitting your targets. — Kelly Hoppen

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

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

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

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

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

Writing is one of the few professions in which you can psychoanalyse yourself, get rid of hostilities and frustrations in public, and get paid for it. — Octavia Butler

Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for. — Socrates

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

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

Maybe being oneself is an acquired taste. For a writer it's a big deal to bow--or kneel or get knocked down--to the fact that you are going to write your own books and not somebody else's. Not even those books of the somebody else you thought it was your express business to spruce yourself up to be. — Patricia Hampl

Writing is one of the few careers for which you essentially train yourself, the other two major ones being juggling and pickpocketing. — Maureen Johnson

...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

I think you become a writer when you stop writing for yourself or your teachers and start thinking about readers. — Avi

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

Writing for the theater, you find yourself living a nocturnal life — Irwin Shaw

You must write for yourself, above all. That is your only hope of creating something beautiful. — Gustave Flaubert

You hear it said time and time again by successful directors: You have to make a movie for yourself. Don't make it for anyone else. My style of filmmaking happens to be give the audience what they know they don't want, but they want. Ultimately I have to write and direct in a way that let's just say, you don't want to regret making a choice. — Jordan Peele

Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing. — Melinda Rucker Haynes

I find that by putting things in writing I can understand them and see them a little more objectively. ... For words are merely tools and if you use the right ones you can actually put even your life in order, if you don't lie to yourself and use the wrong words. — Hunter S. Thompson

The best person to write for is yourself—and what better place to start than in a journal. — E. L. James

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

Do not do what someone else could do as well as you. Do not say, do not write what someone else could say, could write as well as you. Care for nothing in yourself but what you feel exists nowhere else. And, out of yourself create, impatiently or patiently, the most irreplaceable of beings. — Andre Gide

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

When you are writing, of course, you have to do all that writing and correcting for yourself. When I was a librarian it was expected that I would know about a wide range of books. — Margaret Mahy

Write in recollection and amazement for yourself. — Jack Kerouac

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

You don't market-research a novel; you really are writing it for yourself. It's a hobby, in many ways. The problem becomes what you do when you're confronted by criticism. You just don't listen to it. — Bret Easton Ellis

Diplomacy in a sense is the opposite of writing. You have to disperse yourself so much: the lady who comes in crying because shes had a fight with the secretary; exports and imports; students in trouble; thumbtacks for the embassy. — Carlos Fuentes

Writing so that I can act became a way of having not more control over my future but not having to wait for permission. You can choose yourself. Hmm, who should play this part? I nominate me! — Brit Marling

Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. — Angela Carter

It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn't in the middle of the room. Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around. — Stephen King

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

What the hell do you want to work for somebody else for? Work for yourself! — George Gershwin

Most people use twenty verbs to describe everything from a run in their stocking to the explosion of an atomic bomb. You know the ones: Was, did, had, made, went, looked... One-size-fits-all looks like crap on anyone. Sew yourself a custom made suit. Pick a better verb. Challenge all those verbs to really lift some weight for you. — Janet Fitch

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