Writing and the Creative Life: 14 Artists Break Down the Creative Process

Words of wisdom from filmmakers, poets, architects, sculptors, dancers, musicians, and more.

In my files, I found an article from a few years back: 14 Artists Break Down the Creative Process. In reading through it, I zeroed in on some of the quotes about writing. Here they are:

“I almost never write on the computer. During the day, things are too fractious to sit down with a clear mind. Rather, I keep a pad and pencil next to the bed. That way, if I wake up with a line or a rhyme or a subject for a poem running through my head, I know there is nothing for me to do but turn on the light, prop up a pillow, and start writing. In short, I write in longhand and type it in the morning.” — Sally Cook

“A mixture of intuition and discipline. The intuition tells me what I should work on, the discipline keeps me at the desk every day making it real. Intuitively, there are things I want to explore through writing and filmmaking, but it’s hard-edged discipline that keeps me at work on them until they are complete. Inspiration is the intuition, something that comes from the subconscious mind. Structure is the conscious part, the part that is of this world. Both are necessary, in equal measure.” — Diane Bell