Writing Rules Quotes: top 62 famous quotes about Writing Rules

Writing Rules Quotes & Sayings

Happy to read and share the best inspirational Writing Rules quotes, sayings and quotations on Wise Famous Quotes.

I had made all these rules for myself: I'm not writing social commentary, I'm not writing love songs. — Joni Mitchell

There are no rules in writing. There are useful principles. Throw them away when they're not useful. But always know what you're throwing away. — Will Shetterly

You need to realize that most writing rules aren't laws, they're rules of thumb. — Patrick Rothfuss

'Show up at the desk' is one of the first rules of writing, but for 'Wolf Hall' I was about 30 years late. — Hilary Mantel

Wherein we discover that many of the "rules" for good writing and good sex are the same: Keep your hand moving, lose control, and don't think. — Natalie Goldberg

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. — W. Somerset Maugham

The test of a writer is whether you want to read him again years after he should by the rules be dated. — Raymond Chandler

The Six Golden Rules of Writing: Read, read, read, and write, write, write. — Ernest Gaines

In reading and writing, you cannot lay down rules until you have learnt to obey them. Much more so in life. — Marcus Aurelius

There are no definite rules (in writing). You learn as you go. — Winna Efendi

Learn the rules before you break them. — Steven Taylor Goldsberry

I'm the first to admit that I don't write right. Now, relax and enjoy the show! The sideshow, that is. — Lori R. Lopez

Chief Justice [John] Roberts compared judges to umpires, who apply rules they did not write and cannot change to the competition before them. — Orrin Hatch

You can learn all sorts of rules and techniques of writing and still not be able to assemble something beautiful or enchanting. — Peter Turchi

If one writes the rules then one can contradict oneself. It's all about rhetoric, about official narratives. — Kate Zambreno

We took a sledgehammer to the rules of English and reassembled the pieces into a language only we understood. — Anthony Marra

Rules for writing the first line? The last line?
First line: Make them want more.
Last line: Make them want the next book. — Darynda Jones

Invention hovers always a little above the rules. — Mary Oliver

There are no rules to writing a song. — Randy Castillo

I didn't know that there were many rules in music when I first started writing. — Tyler Joseph

When people cannot write good literature it is perhaps natural that they should lay down rules how good literature should be written. — George Saintsbury

There are many rules of good writing, but the best way to find them is to be a good reader. — Stephen E. Ambrose

I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative. — Elmore Leonard

Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating. — Pixar's 22 Rules Of Storytelling

I write movies about mavericks, about people who break rules, and I don't like movies about people who are pulverised for being mavericks. — Quentin Tarantino

Be in love with everything . — Jack Kerouac

Two very simple rules:
A. You don't have to write.
B. You can't do anything else
The rest comes of itself. — Raymond Chandler

Eschew surplusage. — Mark Twain

Clarity trumps all rules. — C.E. McLean

Writing rules is not one of the more 'glamorous' aspects of working on games. It is a task that is, in general, more drudgery than glory. — Jim Dunnigan

There are different rules for reading, for thinking, and for talking. Writing blends all three of them. — Mason Cooley

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

When I read some of the rules for speaking and writing the English language correctly, I think any fool can make a rule, and every fool will mind it. — Henry David Thoreau

The three rules of writing: 1. It's Work. 2. It's Work. 3. Surprise! It's Work. — John Scalzi

I have never been one to write by rule, not even by my own rules. — William Carlos Williams

There are no rules in writing. If the words work for you, use them. — Claire Contreras

Sometimes the rules of writing get in the way of a good story told. — Jason E. Hodges

Anxious, inexperienced writers obey rules. Rebellious, unschooled writers break rules. Artists master the form. — Robert McKee

Whenever I write for hotel reservations, I always enclose a set of rules I have made for the hotels. — Ethel Waters

Neither in writing nor in reading wilt thou be able to lay down rules for others before thou shalt have first learned to obey rules thyself. — Marcus Aurelius

When it comes to writing, clarity trumps all rules. — C.E. McLean

It's not enough to create magic. You have to create a price for magic, too. You have to create rules. — Eric Burns

In my imagination, the Editor meditated in a mountain-cave, espoused the rules of grammar, and frowned upon speculative fiction. — Josh Malerman

Three Rules for Literary Success: 1. Read a lot.
2. Write a lot. 3. Read a lot more, write a lot more. — Robert Silverberg

Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist. — Pablo Picasso

I didn't write the rules. Why would I follow them? — W. Eugene Smith

To write only according to the rules laid down by masterpieces signifies that one is not a master but a pupil. — David Shields

The only 'ironclad rules' in writing fiction are the laws of physics and the principles of grammar, and even those can be bent. — Val Kovalin

The three rules to writing a novel;

1) Write
2) Write more
3) Keep writing — Sci Furz

I don't make the rules, I just make it up. — L. Davyd Pollack

One must learn the rules so one can break them properly. — A.D. Posey

T[he rules of writing] require that the episodes in a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help to develop it. — Mark Twain

I know grammar by ear only, not by note, not by the rules. — Mark Twain

There's no rule for better writing. Make your own rules, and see what works best for you. — Tarang Sinha

Just remember this, when the scream at last has ended and you've turned on the lights: by the rules of the game, I must always lie. — Margaret Atwood

I have made three rules of writing for myself that are absolutes: Never take advice. Never show or discuss work in progress. Never answer a critic. — Raymond Chandler

I love writing, but I have that E. E. Cummings idea that as long as you stay inside the rules of your own world, it doesn't matter what it is. — Pete Wentz

I write in a fantasy world so I can make up my own rules and can change facts when I want to. It's all about having control. — C.S. Woolley

Like all writing rules, the injunction to start with the trouble can be broken, and it should be sometimes - if there's good reason. — Darin Strauss

The greatest rules of dramatic writing are conflict, conflict, conflict. — James Frey

Follow the rules until you make them. — Luke Green

There are so many rules about play writing. I'd have a nervous breakdown if I followed them. — Terrence McNally