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Barbara Kingsolver Quotes about Writing

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Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say.

Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say.

Barbara Kingsolver
Writing, Creativity, People

I concentrate on character, theme, language, structure, voice. It actually surprises me that no matter what I write, people declare it "intently political." I'm just writing about the world I know, as it is. Wounds and griefs included.

Barbara Kingsolver
Grief, Character, Writing
Interview with Crystal Wilkinson, appalachianheritage.net. November 20, 2014.

Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer.

Barbara Kingsolver
Life, Being Alone, Writing

There is no perfect time to write. There is only now.

Barbara Kingsolver
Writing, Perfect

Literature is one of the few kinds of writing in the world that does not tell you what to buy, want, see, be, or believe. It's more like conversation, raising new questions and inspiring you to answer them for yourself.

Barbara Kingsolver
Moving, Believe, Writing
"About Writing". www.kingsolver.com.

Because I write fiction that is based in the real world, it's going to lead people into some of the modern dilemmas and concerns and even catastrophes that they will think about in a new way.

Barbara Kingsolver
Real, Writing, Thinking

It's a funny thing: people often ask how I discipline myself to write. I can't begin to understand the question. For me, the discipline is turning off the computer and leaving my desk to do something else.

Barbara Kingsolver
Writing, Funny Things, Discipline
"Barbara Kingsolver: How I Write". Interview with Noah Charney, www.thedailybeast.com. December 5, 2012.

Literature duplicates the experience of living in a way that nothing else can, drawing you so fully into another life that you temporarily forget you have one of your own. That is why you read it, and might even sit up in bed till early dawn, throwing your whole tomorrow out of whack, simply to find out what happens to some people who, you know perfectly well, are made up.

Barbara Kingsolver
Writing, Drawing, People

It is harrowing for me to try to teach 20-year-old students, who earnestly want to improve their writing. The best I can think to tell them is: Quit smoking, and observe posted speed limits. This will improve your odds of getting old enough to be wise.

Barbara Kingsolver
Wise, Writing, Thinking
"How to be Hopeful". Commencement Address by Barbara Kingsolver, today.duke.edu. 2008.

Don't wait for the muse. She has a lousy work ethic. Writers just write.

Barbara Kingsolver
Writing, Work Ethic, Waiting

I learned to write by reading the kind of books I wished I'd written.

Barbara Kingsolver
Book, Reading, Writing

Quit smoking in the hope of growing old. It takes a long time to write. People go to books for wisdom and older authors tend to have more of it.

Barbara Kingsolver
Book, Writing, Long
The Writers Write Interview, writerswrite.co.za. February 10, 2015.

I'm widest awake as a writer doing something new, engaged in a process I'm not sure I can finish, generating at the edge of my powers. Some people bungee jump; I write.

Barbara Kingsolver
Writing, People, Something New

I didn't study writing in school, I studied biology as an undergraduate and graduate student. So I think that I write fiction in the scientific way. I love invention, obviously; I love creation of character. But I do feel very rooted in the real world, even in the way that I create characters.

Barbara Kingsolver
Real, Writing, School

Silence has many advantages…I write and draw in my notebook and I read anything I please.

Barbara Kingsolver
Notebook, Writing, Silence
Barbara Kingsolver (2008). “The Poisonwood Bible”, p.31, Faber & Faber

Write a nonfiction book, and be prepared for the legion of readers who are going to doubt your fact. But write a novel, and get ready for the world to assume every word is true.

Barbara Kingsolver
Book, Writing, Doubt
Barbara Kingsolver (2011). “High Tide in Tucson”, p.160, Faber & Faber

The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words.

Barbara Kingsolver
Writing, Artist, Novelists
Barbara Kingsolver (2011). “High Tide in Tucson”, p.172, Faber & Faber

The writing has been on the wall for some years now, but we are a nation illiterate in the language of the wall. The writing just gets bigger. Something will eventually bring down the charming, infuriating naïveté of Americans that allows us our blithe consumption and cheerful ignorance of the secret ugliness that bring us whatever we want.

Barbara Kingsolver
Wall, Ignorance, Writing
Barbara Kingsolver (2011). “Small Wonder”, p.317, Faber & Faber

He had senile dementia and liked to go outside naked, but he could still do two things perfectly: win at checkers and write out prescriptions.

Barbara Kingsolver
Funny, Writing, Winning

Beginning a novel is always hard. It feels like going nowhere. I always have to write at least 100 pages that go into the trashcan before it finally begins to work. It's discouraging, but necessary to write those pages. I try to consider them pages -100 to zero of the novel.

Barbara Kingsolver
Zero, Writing, Trying

My way of finding a place in this world is to write one.

Barbara Kingsolver
Writing, World, Way
Barbara Kingsolver (2011). “Small Wonder”, p.281, Faber & Faber

I never think that anything I'm writing is bluntly political in any way. I'm not going for commentary.

Barbara Kingsolver
Writing, Thinking, Political

It takes some courage to write fiction about politically controversial topics. The dread is you'll be labeled a political writer.

Barbara Kingsolver
Writing, Controversial Topics, Political

I know I'm a rare person, a trained scientist who writes fiction, because so few contemporary novelists engage with science.

Barbara Kingsolver
Writing, Rare Person, Novelists

I struggle with confidence, every time. I’m never completely sure I can write another book. Maybe my scope is too grand, my questions too hard, surely readers won’t want to follow me here. A novel is like a cathedral, it knocks you down to size when you enter into it.

Barbara Kingsolver
Struggle, Book, Writing
"About Writing". www.kingsolver.com.

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