QuoteProject
Writing is just work-there's no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type or write with your toes-it's still just work.
Sinclair Lewis
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Writing is simply a task that requires effort, regardless of the method used.

Sinclair Lewis emphasizes that writing, like any other form of labor, requires dedication and effort. The essence of writing lies not in the tools or techniques used, but in the commitment and hard work behind the process.

Themes

WritingWorkEffortLaborDedication

In practice

Example use cases

In a workshop about overcoming writer's block, this quote can inspire attendees to stay committed to their craft.

More from Sinclair Lewis

Upon this theology he rarely pondered. The kernel of his practical religion was that it was respectable, and beneficial to one's business, to be seen going to services; that the church kept the Worst Elements from being still worse; and that the pastor's sermons, however dull they might seem at the time of taking, yet had a voodooistic power which 'did a fellow good-- kept him in touch with Higher Things.
Sinclair LewisRead
Intellectually I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country.
Sinclair LewisRead
Writers kid themselves-about themselves and other people. Take the talk about writing methods. Writing is just work-there's no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type with your toes-it is just work.
Sinclair LewisRead
She did her work with the thoroughness of a mind which reveres details and never quite understands them.
Sinclair LewisRead
It is, I think, an error to believe that there is any need of religion to make life seem worth living.
Sinclair LewisRead
There are dozens of young poets and fictioneers most of them a little insane in the tradition of James Joyce, who, however insane they may be, have refused to be genteel and traditional and dull.
Sinclair LewisRead

Similar quotes

People love talking about writers as storytellers, but I hate being called that: it suggests I got it from my grandmother or something, when my writing really comes out of silence. If a storyteller came up to me, I'd run away.
Colm ToibinRead
Ah, to build, to build! That is the noblest art of all the arts. Painting and sculpture are but images, Are merely shadows cast by outward things On stone or canvas, having in themselves No separate existence. Architecture, Existing in itself, and not in seeming A something it is not, surpasses them As substance shadow.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowRead
Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.
Oscar WildeRead
For a creative writer possession of the 'truth' is less important than emotional sincerity.
George OrwellRead
I don't believe that clothes can start a revolution, but I do believe that fashion is often a manifestation of a sociological or political climate.
Tom FordRead
Images of people, cities, and landscapes from the air tell a unique story about our personal space and how we relate to one another. I've always aimed to address the bigger picture and later trends. In many ways, what a photographer does is give others a chance to step back and look at their world and gain perspective on where we stand, and what that means.
Vincent LaforetRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.