Whit Stillman Quotes

I do not believe in inspiration, but I must have a title in order to work, otherwise I am lost.

I don't believe in writer's block.

We all have fertile creative periods and times when we can't figure out how we ever did it.

I write in the mornings, in the bright daylight. But I get most of my good ideas after the sun has gone down and the dark is on the land.

If I get ideas independently of the act of writing, they never really fit. So for me, there's no hanging out, waiting for inspiration.

I don't generally listen to music while working, but sometimes music can help me get past minor writer's block.

I get so many ideas for songs, but I'm so seldom disciplined enough to sit down and crank them out.

Inspiration arrives as a packet of material to be delivered.

I devote most of my day to writing, and try to turn out at least four pages a day. As for what triggers the creative process, it's a mystery to me! Characters often just walk on the page, and I wait to see what they do and say while I'm writing them.

I always have music playing in my studio when I design. It really gets me in the mood and allows me to focus.

A good artist has less time than ideas.

I would find myself laughing and wondering where these ideas came from. You can call it imagination, I suppose. But I was grateful for wherever they came from.

I think it's bad to talk about one's present work, for it spoils something at the root of the creative act. It discharges the tension.

For most people, creativity is a serious business. They forget the telling phrase 'the play of ideas' and think that they need to knuckle down and work more. Often, the reverse is true. They need to play.

The seed of an idea laying dormant in an old sketchbook is fed the missing ingredient from a new experience. Trying to share some of these experiences, some of the wonders, is one of the reasons why I do books.

I could fall asleep at 10:30 watching 'Hill Street Blues.' I might wake up at 1 A.M. and have a riff in my head.

Whenever I finish a movie, I usually go through a period where I think I'll never have another idea. And then, somehow, you get another idea.

There's no writer's block; there's only distraction.

I'm really happy when I'm actively creating things. When I'm frustrated and not excited, it's because I haven't written anything in a month or so.

I feel like I spend most of my time in a state of writer's block! When things do come out, they come out quickly.

It is important for the creative juices to find an outlet, otherwise they stagnate.

I don't know where the ideas come from, and it's terrifying. They seem to be absolute flukes. When I was in my 20s, I'd walk around with a notebook all the time and make sure I wrote down anything that occurred to me. Now I'm just hoping that some sort of event will descend on me.

I'm not really worried about writer's block.

As authors, we know that it is very difficult to unleash one's creativity.

Sometimes ideas just come to me. Other times I have to sweat and almost bleed to make ideas come. It's a mysterious process, but I hope I never find out exactly how it works.