Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret. Matthew Arnold

I keep six honest serving men. They taught me all I knew; Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who. Rudyard Kipling

Write what you want to read. The person you know best in this world is you. Listen to yourself. If you are excited by what you are writing, you have a much better chance of putting that excitement over to a reader. Robin McKinley

You must learn to overcome your very natural and appropriate revulsion for your own work. William Gibson

If you think you’re boring your audience, go slower not faster. Gustav Mahler

To grow in craft is to increase the bredth of what I can do, but art is the depth, the passion, the desire, the courage to be myself and myself alone. Pat Schneider

If you don’t know it, don’t write it. Darrell Schweitzer

Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative. Oscar Wilde

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. Scott Adams

It is perfectly okay to write garbage – as long as you edit brilliantly. C. J. Cherryh

Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn’t, toss it. Toss it even if you love it. Stephen King

You sit down and you do it, and you do it, and you do it, until you have learned to do it. Ursula K. LeGuin

Only self-educated is educated. Others are merely taught. Erno Paasilinna

If you can’t annoy somebody, there’s little point in writing. Kingsley Amis

Your favorite quotes from top writers?