E. B. White - Writing Quotes

11 Sourced Quotes

View all E. B. White Quotes
Although there is no substitute for merit in writing, clarity comes closest to being one.

E. B. White
It has never struck me as harmful to make a conscious effort to elevate one's thoughts, in the hope that by doing so one's writing will get off the ground, even if only for a few seconds (like Orville Wright) and to a low altitude.

E. B. White
There is no satisfactory explanation of style, no infallible guide to good writing, no assurance that a person who thinks clearly will be able to write clearly, no key that unlocks the door, no inflexible rules by which the young writer may steer his course. He will often find himself steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion.

E. B. White
Writing is, for most, laborious and slow. The mind travels faster than the pen; consequently, writing becomes a question of learning to make occasional wing shots, bringing down the bird of thought as it flashes by.

E. B. White
As a writing man, or secretary, I have always felt charged with the safekeeping of all unexpected items of worldly and unworldly enchantment, as though I might be held personally responsible if even a small one were to be lost.

E. B. White
A man who publishes his letters becomes a nudist — nothing shields him from the world's gaze except his bare skin. A writer, writing away, can always fix things up to make himself more presentable, but a man who has written a letter is stuck with it for all time.

E. B. White
Writing is one way to go about thinking, and the practice and habit of writing not only drain the mind but supply it, too.

E. B. White
An editor is a person who knows more about writing than writers do but who has escaped the terrible desire to write.

E. B. White
Shocking writing is like murder: the questions the jury must decide are the questions of motive and intent.

E. B. White
All writing is communication; creative writing is communication through revelation-it is the Self-escaping into the open.

E. B. White
I discovered a long time ago that writing of the small things of the day, the trivial matters of the heart, the inconsequential but near things of this living, was the only kind of creative work which I could accomplish with any sincerity or grace. As a reporter, I was a flop, because I always came back laden not with facts about the case, but with a mind full of the little difficulties and amusements I had encountered in my travels.

E. B. White