Andrew Blackman

“Writing is easy. You just sit down at the typewriter and open a vein.”

—Red Smith

(On reflection, not sure if this is inspirational or scary. But I like the quote.)

Andrew Blackman Inspiration monday morning inspiration

“I write a little every day, without hope and without despair.”

—Isak Dinesen

(For this quote, and a few others I’ve used recently, thanks to Crazyhorse Journal)

Andrew Blackman Inspiration monday morning inspiration

“The writer operates at a peculiar crossroads where time and place and eternity somehow meet. His problem is to find that location.”

—Flannery O’Connor

Andrew Blackman Inspiration monday morning inspiration

“I only write when I feel the inspiration. Fortunately, inspiration strikes at 10:00 o’clock every day.”

—William Faulkner

Andrew Blackman Inspiration faulkner, monday morning inspiration

“We are here to provide for those who are weaker and hungrier, more battered and more crippled than ourselves. That is our only certain good and great purpose on earth, and if you ask me about those insoluble economic problems that may arise if the top are deprived of their initiative, I would answer, ‘to hell with them’. The top are greedy and mean and they will always find a way to take care of themselves. They always do.”

- Michael Foot

Andrew Blackman Inspiration monday morning inspiration

“The author of genius does keep til his last breath the spontaneity, the ready sensitiveness, of a child, the “innocence of eye” that means so much to a painter, the ability to respond freshly and quickly to new scenes, and to old scenes as though they were new; to see traits and characteristics as though each were new-minted from the hand of God instead of sorting them quickly into dusty categories and pigeon-holing them without wonder or surprise; to feel situations so immediately and keenly that the word “trite” has hardly any meaning for him; and always to see the “correspondences between things” of which Aristotle spoke two thousand years ago. This freshness of response is vital to the author’s talent.”

-  Dorothea Brande, Becoming a Writer

Andrew Blackman Inspiration Dorothea Brande, monday morning inspiration, writing quotes

Remember you love writing. It wouldn’t be worth it if you didn’t. If the love fades, do what you need to and get it back.

AL Kennedy
The Guardian, Feb 2010

Andrew Blackman Inspiration monday morning inspiration

Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.

Neil Gaiman
The Guardian, Feb 2010

Andrew Blackman Inspiration monday morning inspiration, neil gaiman, writing quotes

Writing fiction is not “self-­expression” or “therapy”. Novels are for readers, and writing them means the crafty, patient, selfless construction of effects. I think of my novels as being something like fairground rides: my job is to strap the reader into their car at the start of chapter one, then trundle and whizz them through scenes and surprises, on a carefully planned route, and at a finely engineered pace.

Sarah Waters
The Guardian, Feb 2010

Andrew Blackman Inspiration monday morning inspiration

Honour the miraculousness of the ordinary.

Andrew Motion
The Guardian, Feb 2010

Andrew Blackman Inspiration monday morning inspiration