Ira Glass Quotes

I'm still learning my craft, and I've been writing since I was nine.

I'm writing; I'm teaching myself writing.

Writing is a trade ... which is learned by writing.

A writer should get as much education as possible, but just going to school is not enough; if it were, all owners of doctorates would be inspired writers.

If you're young enough, any kind of writing you do for a short period of time is a marvelous apprenticeship.

Early on, it's good to develop the ability to write. Learning to write is a useful exercise, even if what you're writing about is not that relevant.

The best way to become a successful writer is to read good writing, remember it, and then forget where you remember it from.

I write journals and would recommend journal writing to anyone who wishes to pursue a writing career. You learn a lot. You also remember a lot... and memory is important.

Talent is required, but much of writing is a matter of craft, which develops with time, attention, patience and practice, like playing an instrument or learning to dance.

I'm not a very good writer. I'm working at it.

I've grown more and more appreciative of good writing, and I now really hope I can become a better and better writer.

If you write enough, you begin to learn to do things. But in a way, you do start from zero each time.

Read a lot. Write a lot. Have fun.

If you want to be a good writer, be the best writer in the world. That's what I've done.

I think writing well takes a little bit of talent and an awful lot of work.

Every story I write is different. Some are hard. Some aren't. 'Chronicle' was tremendously easy. I have a hard time comparing my process on different things, but I will say this: The more you write, the better you get at it. That's one of the few things that's markedly true.

Good writing of course requires talent, and no one can teach you to have talent.

I think you have to learn for yourself how to write. I'm slightly mystified by creative writing courses - God love them - because I can't understand how you can explain a process that I find so baffling.

The nice thing about being a writer is that you can make magic happen without learning tricks.

If you want to be a writer, don't worry so much about writing. Read as much as you can. Read as many different writers as you can. Soak up the styles.

Doing interesting things and then writing about them is the best way to become a good writer.

All experience helps when you write.

I've been writing fiction probably since I was about 6 years old, so it's something that is second nature to me now. I just sit down and start writing. I don't sit down and start writing and it comes out perfectly - it's a process.

A lot of the time writers are just sponges... for what's around them, and so books are helpful for focusing your mind and literally putting it into words.

Most people won't realize that writing is a craft. You have to take your apprenticeship in it like anything else.