If you write a hundred short stories and they're all bad, that doesn't mean you've failed. You fail only if you stop writing.
Interpretation
Persistence in writing is key to success, regardless of initial failures.
This quote by Ray Bradbury emphasizes the importance of perseverance in the creative process. It suggests that producing work, even if it does not meet one's standards, is a valuable part of growth as a writer. True failure lies in giving up, not in the act of creating itself.
In practice
Sharing this quote during a writing workshop to inspire budding authors.
I've written about 2,000 short stories; I've only published 300 and I feel I'm still learning. Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he'll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer. Ray Bradbury, 1967 interview (Doing the Math - that means for every story he sold, he wrote six "un-publishable" ones. Keep typing!)
I never went to college, so I went to the library.
There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.
I think the sun is a flower, That blooms for just one hour.
The first thing a writer should be is - excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches; God knows it'd be better for his health.
You can't try to do things; you simply must do them.
'Good enough' stopped being good enough a long time ago. so why not be great?
Stop telling people how far they have left to go. Instead tell them how far they’ve come.
And where I excel is ridiculous, sickening, work ethic. You know, while the other guy's sleeping? I'm working.
You can pray until you faint, but unless you get up and try to do something, God is not going to put it in your lap.
The two things I did learn were that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be, and that the most difficult part of any endeavor is taking the first step, making the first decision.
I want to be around people that do things. I don't want to be around people anymore that judge or talk about what people do. I want to be around people who dream and support and do things.
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