Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.
Stephen KingRead
There should be no telephone in your writing room, certainly no TV or videogames for you to fool around with. If there’s a window, draw the curtains or pull down the shades unless it looks out at a blank wall.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Focus and eliminate distractions to enhance your writing productivity.
Stephen King's quote emphasizes the importance of creating an environment conducive to writing. By removing distractions such as telephones, televisions, and even views that could lead to daydreaming, a writer can foster a space that encourages concentration and creativity, ultimately leading to more productive writing sessions.
Themes
WritingDistractionFocusProductivityEnvironment
In practice
Example use cases
A writing workshop where participants discuss the importance of a distraction-free space.
More from Stephen King
All quotes →Eddie discovered one of his childhood's great truths. Grownups are the real monsters, he thought.
Stephen KingRead
Hairstyles change, and skirt lengths, and slang, but high school administrations? Never.
Stephen KingRead
Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.
Stephen KingRead
That's the day's business. Thinking. Thinking and isolation, because it doesn't matter if you pass the time of day with someone or not; in the end, you're alone. He seemed to have put in as many miles in his brain as he had with his feet. The thoughts kept coming and there was no way to deny them.
Stephen KingRead
Late last night and the night before, tommyknockers, tommyknockers knocking on my door. I wanna go out, don't know if I can 'cuz I'm so afraid of the tommyknocker man.
Stephen KingRead
Similar quotes
Too many young musicians today want to win polls before they learn their instruments.
Benny GoodmanRead
A good teacher can never be fixed in a routine... each moment requires a sensitive mind that is constantly changing and constantly adapting. A teacher must never impose this student to fit his favourite pattern; a good teacher functions as a pointer, exposing his student's vulnerability and causing him to explore both internally and finally integrating himself with his being. Martial art should not be passed out indiscriminately.
Bruce LeeRead
If you want to be a writer, you have to write every day... You don't go to a well once but daily. You don't skip a child's breakfast or forget to wake up in the morning.
Walter MosleyRead
If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn't need motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around.
Jim RohnRead
Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.
Roger SchankRead
I want my kids to graduate from high school. But that's not enough. I also want them to go to college. Why? Because rich people's kids go to college. And if that's good enough for them, it's good enough for my kids. Because you know what? College graduates don't tend to go to jail as frequently as nongraduates.
Geoffrey CanadaRead