Writing Quotes: Ann Patchett on writing as miserable

Is writing a miserable, awful business?

Ask the writer sitting in front of the blank screen, staring at the blinking cursor, struggling to begin his piece—his deadline two days away.

Ask the writer who opened her email inbox to see a rejection from her dream publication.

Ask the writer whose friends keep forwarding a scathing review of his recently released novel, “Have you seen this?”

Ask the writer whose idea was scooped, whose family keeps asking when she’ll actually make money from her writing, whose striving for excellence tips into perfectionism and paralyzes her creativity.

Stay with it.

Those who push past those miserable, awful moments can join with Ann Patchett and attest that writing is a marvelous thing. To write—to be a writer—is an honor, a challenge, a joy.

It is better than anything in the world.

Writing Quote

“Writing is a miserable, awful business. Stay with it. It is better than anything in the world.”

— Ann Patchett

Source: Patchett, Ann. This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. HarperCollins Publishers: New York, 2013. Print. (Library)

Related Reading:

• Browse the growing collection of Writing Quotes
• Under “Write” in September 2015’s Curiosity Journal, I highlight some of Ann Patchett’s essay from which this quote came.

Image design by Isabelle Kroeker.

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