The Quotable Susan

On Writing:

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” -Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith

“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.” -George Orwell, “Why I Write”, 1947

"Success comes to a writer, as a rule, so gradually that it is always something of a shock to him to look back and realize the heights to which he has climbed." -P.G. Wodehouse

“Every human being has hundreds of separate people living under his skin. The talent of a writer is his ability to give them their separate names, identities, personalities and have them relate to other characters living with him.” -Mel Brooks

“That’s what we story tellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.” -Walt Disney character in the movie, “Saving Mr. Banks”

"... once I began writing, it became clear to me: This is not a foreign language; this is my native tongue." -Elizabeth Gilbert 

"... don't demand that your art supports your life. Instead, make a promise that your life will always support your art." -Elizabeth Gilbert