Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
I have written a great many stories and I still don't know how to go about it except to write it and take my chances.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of taking risks in the creative process.
John Steinbeck reflects on the uncertainty that comes with writing and creativity. He acknowledges that, despite his experience and numerous stories, he doesn't have a definitive method for storytelling; rather, he believes in the importance of simply writing and embracing the unpredictability of the creative journey.
Themes
WritingCreativityRiskStoriesArt
In practice
Example use cases
A motivational speech for aspiring writers at a workshop.
More from John Steinbeck
All quotes βAt one point, as Samuel urges Adam to raise his boys well regardless of the blood that might be in them, Adam tells him, "You can't make a race horse of a pig." Samuel replies, "No, but you can make a very fast pig.
John SteinbeckRead
And when that crop grew, and was harvested, no man had crumbled a hot clod in his fingers and let the earth sift past his fingertips. No man had touched the seed, or lusted for the growth. Men ate what they had not raised, had no connection with the bread. The land bore under iron, and under iron gradually died; for it was not loved or hated, it had no prayers or curses.
John SteinbeckRead
The comfortable people in tight houses felt pity at first, and then distaste, and finally hatred for the migrant people.
John SteinbeckRead
People do not want advice - they want corroboration.
John SteinbeckRead
It is one of the triumphs of the human that he can know a thing and still not believe it.
John SteinbeckRead
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Too much is demanded by the critic, attempted by the poet.
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I am the freest author in the world.
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