Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
Your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person-a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writing should be personal and directed towards an individual rather than a vague notion of an audience.
John Steinbeck emphasizes the importance of personal connection in writing by suggesting that authors should envision writing for a specific reader. This approach not only makes the writing more relatable and engaging but also allows the writer to connect emotionally, crafting a narrative that resonates with the intended audience more profoundly.
Themes
WritingAudienceConnectionCommunicationStorytelling
In practice
Example use cases
A writer reflecting on how to reach their audience during a workshop.
More from John Steinbeck
All quotes βAt one point, as Samuel urges Adam to raise his boys well regardless of the blood that might be in them, Adam tells him, "You can't make a race horse of a pig." Samuel replies, "No, but you can make a very fast pig.
John SteinbeckRead
And when that crop grew, and was harvested, no man had crumbled a hot clod in his fingers and let the earth sift past his fingertips. No man had touched the seed, or lusted for the growth. Men ate what they had not raised, had no connection with the bread. The land bore under iron, and under iron gradually died; for it was not loved or hated, it had no prayers or curses.
John SteinbeckRead
The comfortable people in tight houses felt pity at first, and then distaste, and finally hatred for the migrant people.
John SteinbeckRead
People do not want advice - they want corroboration.
John SteinbeckRead
It is one of the triumphs of the human that he can know a thing and still not believe it.
John SteinbeckRead
Similar quotes
I'm the evil mastermind behind the scenes. I'm the wicked puppeteer who pulls the strings and makes you dance. I'm your writer.
Grant MorrisonRead
What provides you with subject matter is your own language - and that's all.
Joseph BrodskyRead
Everybody, no matter what vocation they're looking at, should add music as an essential to their curriculum. Music can be a very important part of your soul and your growth as a human being. It's so powerful.
Quincy JonesRead
I wanted to be Stan Laurel, then I wanted to be Fred Astaire and then Captain Kangaroo. I actually started out as a radio announcer when I was 17 and never left the business so that's literally 70 years.
Dick Van DykeRead
Look, then, into thine heart, and write! Yes, into Life's deep stream! All forms of sorrow and delight, All solemn Voices of the Night, That can soothe thee, or affright, - Be these henceforth thy theme. (excerpt from "Voices of the Night")
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowRead
The ballet world is so competitive, and for no reason. It's not a sport. It's an art. There's no winner.
Sergei PoluninRead