17. April 2026
50 Secrets of great writers and their works.
Here is a unique compilation of 50 secrets and insights from great writers and their works, gathered from the wisdom of literary masters. These tips, quotes, and principles can inspire and guide anyone who aspires to write with depth, clarity, and originality.
- “You must write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for adults, then you write it for children.” — Madeleine L’Engle
- “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” — Stephen King
- “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” — Anaïs Nin
- “Nothing any good isn’t hard.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
- “Only a person who is congenially self-centered has the effrontery and the stamina to write essays.” — E. B. White
- “Writing is not an exercise in excision, it’s a journey into sound.” — E. B. White
- “Write your first draft as quickly as possible.” — Stephen King
- “Be consistent—write every day.” — Stephen King
- “Study the work of other people.” — Stephen King
- “Cut out unnecessary details.” — Stephen King
- “Be original, even if it means being misunderstood.” — Jack Kerouac
- “The scariest moment is always just before you start.” — Stephen King
- “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” — Stephen King
- “If it sounds like writing, rewrite it.” — Elmore Leonard
- “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” — Terry Pratchett
- “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” — Jack London
- “The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.” — Mary Heaton Vorse
- “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” — Anton Chekhov
- “Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader.” — Joseph Conrad
- “The most important things are the hardest to say.” — Stephen King
- “The writer’s job is to get the main character up a tree, and then once they are up there, throw rocks at them.” — Vladimir Nabokov
- “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.” — E.B. White
- “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter.” — Mark Twain
- “You can fix anything but a blank page.” — Nora Roberts
- “Write what you know—but also what you feel.” — Ernest Hemingway
- “The first sentence can’t be written until the final sentence is written.” — Joyce Carol Oates
- “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” — Agatha Christie (on writing)
- “The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes.” — André Gide
- “The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” — Agatha Christie
- “Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.” — Virginia Woolf
- “The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof, shit detector.” — Ernest Hemingway
- “The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.” — Gustave Flaubert
- “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” — Richard Bach
- “The only way to learn to write is to write.” — P.D. James
- “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” — Stephen King
- “The most important things in life are not things.” — Theodore Sturgeon (on meaning in writing)
- “The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say.” — Anaïs Nin
- “A writer should write with his eyes and a painter paint with his ears.” — Gertrude Stein
- “The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.” — Samuel Johnson
- “The writer’s curse is that he must always be searching for the perfect word.” — William Faulkner
- “The best stories are not about heroes; they are about people who become heroes by accident.” — J.R.R. Tolkien
- “The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” — Dr. Seuss (on reading for writers)
- “The only rule is there are no rules—except to tell the truth as you see it.” — George Orwell
- “The first draft is a discovery process.” — Haruki Murakami
- “The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.” (again, for emphasis) — Mary Heaton Vorse
- “The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write about it.” — Benjamin Disraeli
- “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” — Albert Camus (for writers)
- “The world needs your voice—don’t be afraid to use it.” — Toni Morrison
- “The most important things are the hardest to say, but they must be said.” (variation) — Stephen King
- “A great book is a friend that never lets you down.” — Anonymous
These secrets reflect the passion, discipline, and creativity that define great literature and its creators.