Jenny Offill Quotes

I often write either really early in the morning, or really late at night.

I mean, when I was young I could write all through the night and I loved to work late into the night. Now that I'm older I work really well in the early morning when your synapses are firing a little better. But I work at different times of the day.

When all is said and done, monotony may after all be the best condition for creation.

Boredom always precedes a period of great creativity.

I have no writing habit. I work when I feel like it, and I work when I have to - mostly the latter.

I've heard Simon Cowell is awake all through the night... To be honest that is when I get all my work done.

I feel like I thrive in the red light.

I can't do one thing at a time. If I'm writing song lyrics, I've got to be doing the ironing or cooking or something while I'm working. If I just sit there and stare at the walls, I get nothing.

In a way, I'm overly ambitious, selfish in a way. I think because I am so active, I think that's what keeps my brain going and I can bounce things off of each other.

I remember trying to write at 1, 1:30 A.M., and just sort of falling asleep. And I think that was actually a good creative state for weird ideas. I shifted to a morning schedule once I had two kids, and I still found that if I slept badly, I actually had better ideas.

I like to be organized, I like to stick to my schedule. That's how I stay focused.

I just write when the bell rings. I don't have time to wait for inspiration.

I usually take a walk after breakfast, write for three hours, have lunch and read in the afternoon. Demons don’t like fresh air - they prefer it if you stay in bed with cold feet; for a person who is as chaotic as me, who struggles to be in control, it is an absolute necessity to follow these rules and routines. If I let myself go, nothing will get done.

I tend to have a hard time working on pieces long before they're due. That's why I think the fact that I write a column is really good for me - the column has to be done, and there's no getting around it.

I needed my stuff around me, and in that little cocoon I felt good, and I could work.

My training was never to drink after dinner nor before I wrote nor while I was writing.

When we drink coffee, ideas march in like the army

Regret is an appalling waste of energy, and no one who intends to be a writer can afford to indulge in it.

To be creative, first I need to be really organized. If my apartment's messy I need to clean it. It's like before you start doing your homework or studying for a test, you have to have a clean room.

If I worked in my apartment, I'd never leave my apartment.

Clear, written goals have a wonderful effect on your thinking. They motivate you and galvanize you into action. They stimulate your creativity, release your energy, and help you to overcome procrastination as much as any other factor.

Caffeine helps a lot. That and a certain amount of isolation.

I am a person of high energy. That, and I sit down and I write when I get an idea - I put other things aside.

Talking about one's work releases the energy and tension to do and make.

As soon as coffee is in your stomach, there is a general commotion. Ideas begin to move…similes arise, the paper is covered. Coffee is your ally and writing ceases to be a struggle.