Dillard’s writing quotation about extraordinary states

Writing quotation: “But how, if you are neither an Aztec maiden or Zulu warrior, do you prepare yourself, all alone, to enter an extraordinary state on an ordinary morning?” asks Annie Dillard.

Sarah Ban Breathnach has a practical answer. “By showing up. Day in, day out. By not judging how it’s going. If it’s going at all, that’s enough. You can’t afford to think about how the work will be received when you’re finished. That’s not your job. Remember, we’re learning to surrender the delivery details of our dreams. Our job, then, is just to do it.”

“It can’t be published, produced, performed or purchased if it doesn’t exist,” says Breathnach.

Writing tip: Set a schedule that will propel you towards your writing dreams. You don’t have to “feel” like writing and you don’t have to “feel” creative. All you have to do is show up. After you show up and work for half an hour, reward yourself with something you love to do. Don't reward yourself until you've worked for some predetermined amount of time.

These writing quotations came from Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance.

a writing quotation about hoarding ideas

It can be tempting to save your best for future articles, short stories or poems. However, Annie Dillard has some great writing advice.

Writing quotation: "One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book: give it, give it all, give it now," says Dillard.

"The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water."

Writing tip: Don't be cheap. Use your writing ideas, plot twists, characters and imagery freely. When you have a writing inspiration, wrestle it until it becomes yours.

This great writing quotation is from Shoptalk: Learning to Write With Writers by Donald Murray. The writing advice in this book comes from hundreds of published writers.