Mary Garden Quotes

When things aren't working out, we have a tendency to say, 'Go do other things,' but you shouldn't do other things. You need to stay at your desk and continue to try to write. You need to insist on it.

Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.

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

I like the busy-ness of office life. What I discovered, to my surprise, is that I love the solitary nature of writing. What happens is that you write when you're ready.

Writing requires the concentration of the writer, demands that nothing else be done except that.

My ability to concentrate and work toward that goal has been my greatest asset.

I'm a very early riser, and so I like to get up and try hard to write before the day even really gets started. Just me and a pot of coffee - I find I can get a lot done that way.

I write fifteen hours a day, stopping at Oprah-o'clock.

I like having a studio to go to. It's like having a job.

There's something about majors where I just focus a lot more. Obviously, I need to do that more often.

I have always stayed focused, working to the fullest.

If you work hard at something, you can forget everything else.

I'm 32 this year so I'm experienced, I know how it is: sometimes you do very easy things and sometimes you can do crazy things that you don't understand. It's just to be focused on the hard work. For me, that's always the No 1 thing.

I've always worked hard and stayed focused.

Don't wait for inspiration. It comes while one is working.

I'm in lockdown mode as far as what I want to accomplish. I don't let anything else get in my way.

The best restriction I learned was getting into the habit of doing something, even if I didn't feel like it, instead of running away from it. Sometimes good work needs to be earned, and when you can overcome yourself, the muse notices and celebrates.

When you're writing fiction or poetry... it really comes down to this: indifference to everything except what you're doing... A young writer could do worse than follow the advice given in those lines.

Concentration is my motto - first honesty, then industry, then concentration.

I can handle a lot of work. I've always been able to. I'm a very focused individual. I come to my studio at about 7:30 in the morning and exit almost 5:00 P.M. In that time, those eight or nine hours, it's kind of laser focus on whatever I'm working on. There aren't really any distractions or anything.

I'm a writer, not a professional runner. It's fun and it helps me write. I need powerful concentration.

On a good day I write, all day.

I'm always focused.

When I'm working, I'm not so much disciplined as obsessive. I have this feeling that I need to clear everything away and get this down.

The most difficult thing about painting is the self-discipline. When I finish a job, I give myself a few days, but then I have to discipline myself quite fiercely if I want to do some painting that's worthwhile. Otherwise, you're just doodling. It's much easier when you're just told what you have to do.