John Dryden Quotes

By writing quickly we are not brought to write well, but by writing well we are brought to write quickly.

It's easy to write something average or even something good. But writing well is quite challenging.

There is no left and right in writing. There is only good and bad writing.

Once something is well-written, then everything else is gravy.

A.J. Liebling, one of my heroes, used to say that he could write better than anyone who wrote faster, and faster than anyone who could write better. I'm one nine-hundredth as good as Liebling, but that principle may slightly apply.

My preference is for really good writing, and I just really don't care where it is.

As a rule, one must write a great many words before one learns to write well.

Good writers hate bad writing but hating bad writing doesn’t make you good. Writing badly does.

Good writers are of necessity rare.

Ultimately, the first, best step in getting your work noticed is to write good work. If people don't engage in your writing, no amount of serialization or free downloads is going to matter. You have to write something worth reading, and often it takes time to get at that level.

There is good and mediocre writing within every genre.

You have to go where the good writing is.

I associated excellence in writing with New York City.

Good writing is good writing, and I'm so happy when I read it.

I am a stickler for damn good writing.

I always encourage people in the early parts of their career to focus on writing. If you can communicate clearly, if you can articulate a thought, if you can write a great story, then you're going to be successful.

From writing rapidly it does not result that one writes well, but from writing well it results that one writes rapidly.

There never was an age in which so many people were able to write badly.

The desire to write well can never be fulfilled without hard work.

read widely, not in order to copy someone else's style, but to learn to appreciate and recognize good writing and to see how the best writers have achieved their result. Poor writing is, unfortunately, infectious and should be avoided.

Although there is no substitute for merit in writing, clarity comes closest to being one.

Being literate as a writer is good craft, is knowing your job, is knowing how to use your tools properly and not to damage the tools as you use them.

I think it's the people who have no doubt that every word they put down is gold that probably don't write very well.

If something is well-written, it has a chance to be good and if it's not well-written, it will not be good. It could even become popular, but it won't be good.