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John Steinbeck on Writing

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“Three hours of writing require twenty hours of preparation. Luckily I have learned to dream about the work, which saves me some working time.”
#573
John Steinbeck

More from John Steinbeck

“And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.”
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John Steinbeck
“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.”
#253
John Steinbeck
“Maybe the hardest thing in writing is simply to tell the truth about things as we see them.”
#556
John Steinbeck
“Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on.”
#557
John Steinbeck
“I have written a great many stories and I still don't know how to go about it except to write it and take my chances.”
#558
John Steinbeck
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Focus Saved In my younger and more vulnerable years years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” He didn’t say any more, but we’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgements, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. | The Great Gatsby Chapter I Words 106 Writing Time 00:18:20 / 00:30:00 Speed 342 words/hour
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” He didn’t say any more, but we’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgements, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. | The Great Gatsby 12:46:32 Chapter I 106 W 00:18:20