Jason Isbell Quotes

I used to get up and write every day, even if I wasn't working on a specific thing. Now, when I have a thing I'm in the middle of, I do that, but when I'm not, time can go by when I'm not writing at all.

People always ask, 'How do you write so many books?' And I say, I work a lot. I work six or seven days a week.

I'm not one of those writers I learned about who get up in the morning, put a piece of paper in their typewriter machine and start writing. That I've never understood.

I write every day.

So I thought I should write five pages a day. And that's what I did. Eventually I had a book.

Take the time to write. You can do your life's work in half an hour a day.

The main thing about writing is... writing. Sitting your butt down in the chair and doing the work.

For any writers at all, read everything you can and then put your butt in the chair and write. That's all there is to it.

I would be miserable if I went to bed without having written 1,000 words about something.

I've always prided myself on my discipline as a writer. I do it like a job. I get up in the morning and go to my desk.

I write every day. I don't have a writing schedule. I write when I feel like it. Fortunately, I feel like it all the time. I am writing for hours. I do like to write in the morning. I start after breakfast, like 9 o'clock, and I'll write till lunch, about 1. And after lunch, I just have fun.

Write every day even if it is just a paragraph.

I'm not a disciplined writer.

I spend most of every day writing. I like to write every day if I can. I don't start extremely early.

But the ultimate lesson is just sit down and write. That's all.

My only ritual is to just sit down and write, write every day.

Being a writer involves writing. You've got to commit to sitting down and writing instead of Xbox or Netflix.

I try to sit down at the typewriter four times a day, even if it's only five minutes, and write three sentences.

Because if you're trying to write and you have unlimited time, you can procrastinate an unlimited account, but if you have limited time, you rush to the page trying to get something down in the little bit of fragment of time that you have, and you may write a great deal that way.

I do not go down and sit in front of the computer and make myself write; that's not my style.

At readings, audience members sometimes ask if I keep writing past the two hours if I'm on a roll, but I don't. I figure that if I'm on a roll, it's partially because I know I'm about to stop.

I write all the time, whether I feel like it or not. I never get inspired unless I'm already writing.

The secret to being a writer is that you have to write. It's not enough to think about writing or to study literature or plan a future life as an author. You really have to lock yourself away, alone, and get to work.

For me, the optimum circumstances for writing a book are those of stultifying routine.

Some writers sit down every day for two or three hours, at least, to write, whether they are in the mood or not. Others wait for inspiration.