This week’s quote comes from Ray Bradbury.
Photo courtesy buzzfeed.com
I’ve heard some writers say that they’d love to write a book, but first they need to enroll in a writing class, join an organization, learn about publishing, or overcome some other obstacle that is supposedly standing in their way. I always say, if you want to be a writer, there are only two things you absolutely have to do: write a lot, and read a lot. The rest is gravy.
This is nice in theory. Beautiful, actually. Is it really that simple? Were times that different or are we making things more complicated?
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Yeah, it sounds like the implication is that if you just work hard at it, you can have a successful writing career. That’s probably not true. There are plenty of good books that go unpublished. There are also writers who work very hard, but they just don’t write publishable books.
What I like about the quote is just the simplicity of the advice. You don’t have to do writing classes or join clubs or groups in order to be a good writer. You just have to write a lot and read a lot. You also have to have a talent for writing. Perhaps that should be added in there.
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Agreed.
Yes, I liked that part in the quote, too, that said you don’t have to be in any classes, clubs, or groups to be a good writer. I think too many people don’t submit (or don’t start writing in the first place) because they don’t have the “right” degree. We’re missing out on some amazing writing because of that, IMO.
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Well, rather, it was implied in his quote and said in your post. You know I meant. ;-)
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Haha! I figured that’s what you meant. ;)
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