They're ugly, but those are the facts of life.
Harper LeeRead
Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writers should create for their own satisfaction rather than for others' approval.
This quote by Harper Lee emphasizes the importance of personal enjoyment and authenticity in the writing process. A true writer values their own voice and experiences above external validation, suggesting that genuine creativity stems from self-fulfillment rather than catering to audience expectations.
Themes
WritingCreativityAuthenticitySelf-PleasureArt
In practice
Example use cases
During a writing workshop, I would quote this to encourage authors to be true to their own style.
More from Harper Lee
All quotes →It's better to be silent than to be a fool.
Harper LeeRead
Don’t talk like that, Dill,” said Aunt Alexandra. “It’s not becoming to a child. It’s – cynical.” “I ain’t cynical, Miss Alexandra. Tellin’ the truth’s not cynical, is it?” “The way you tell it, it is.
Harper LeeRead
With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable.
Harper LeeRead
He turned out the light and went into Jem's room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.
Harper LeeRead
You can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't.
Harper LeeRead
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I have made a silent compact with myself not to change a line of what I write. I am not interested in perfecting my thoughts, nor my actions.
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If artists and poets are unhappy, it is after all because happiness does not interest them.
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It's weird what can trigger the beginning of a song or some bars. It can be a banging slice of apple pie or it can be smelling a certain perfume or something.
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I start from one point and go as far as possible. But, unfortunately, I never lose my way. I 'localize,' which is to say that I think always in a given space. I rarely think of the whole of a solo, and only very briefly. I always return to the small part of the solo that I was in the process of playing.
John ColtraneRead
In the midst of observing the world and coming to consciousness, I was becoming a writer, and what I wanted to put on the page were the stories of people who looked like me.
Jacqueline WoodsonRead