If there is a magic in story writing, and I am convinced that there is…

John Steinbeck
483 citations
If there is a magic in story writing, and I am convinced that there is, no one has ever been able to reduce it to a recipe that can be passed from one person to another. The formula seems to lie solely in the aching urge of the writer to convey something he feels important to the reader. If the writer has that urge, he may sometimes but by no means always find the way to do it.
Reading Time
20

More Author Quotes

You're getting well,' Samuel said. 'Some people think it's an insult to the glory of their sickness to get well. But the time poultice is no respecter of glories. Everyone gets well if he waits aroun … ▶
I am a little man and this is a little town, but there must be a spark in little men that can burst into flame. ✨ John Steinbeck (2009). The Short Novels of John Steinbeck: (Penguin Classics Deluxe E … ▶
It's so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone. ✨ John Steinbeck (2008). The Winter of Our Discontent, p.247, Penguin
...men in fear and hunger destroy their stomachs in the fight to secure certain food, where men hungering for love destroy everything lovable about them. ✨ The Short Novels of John Steinbeck.
Only mediocrity escapes criticism. ✨ John Steinbeck (2001). A Life in Letters, p.1159, Penguin UK

More Author Quotes

Most Cited Authors

The Best Quotes

Most Liked Authors

Curated Author Quotes