10 Quotes on Writing by Erica Jong

Erica Jong is an American fiction writer, poet and satirist. Her most well-know novel — Fear of Flying (1973) — sold over 20 million copies worldwide.

Erica Jong on Writing

“I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged.”

Erica Jong

“Blocks usually stem from fear of being judged. If you imagine the world is listening, you'll never write a line.”

#80

Erica Jong

“Critics write out of intellectual exercise, not poets. Poets write straight from the heart.”

#388

Erica Jong

“You should write first drafts as if they will never be shown to anyone.”

#389

Erica Jong

“It's easier to write about pain than about joy. Joy is wordless.”

#390

Erica Jong

“What a damnably lonely profession writing is! In order to do it, one must banish the world, and having banished it, one feels cosmically alone.”

#391

Erica Jong

“I believe that there's a force of life in the universe, and that when we're writing or making music or painting, we're likely to connect with that flow.”

#392

Erica Jong

“The only rule I have when writing is to try to tell the truth. That doesn't mean you can't exaggerate, edit, rewrite things to make them more dramatic. But emotional truth is what I look for in writing.”

#393

Erica Jong

“Each day that I don't write I get more fragmented.”

#394

Erica Jong

“Despite all the cynical things writers have said about writing for money, the truth is we write for love. That is why it is so easy to exploit us.”

#395

Erica Jong

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