11 Quotes on Writing by John Green

John Green is an American author and YouTuber. He is best known for his young adult novels The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns. He won the 2006 Printz Award for his debut novel Looking for Alaska.

John Green on Writing

“Writing is something you do alone. Its a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don't want to make eye contact while doing it.”

John Green

“Whenever I'm asked what advice I have for young writers, I always say that the first thing is to read, and to read a lot. The second thing is to write. And the third thing, which I think is absolutely vital, is to tell stories and listen closely to the stories you're being told.”

#396

John Green

“Here's my answer to the very real existential crisis that grips me midway through everything I've ever tried to do: I think stories help us fight the nihilistic urges that constantly threaten to consume us.”

#397

John Green

“When I think about [characters], I like to think of them in their relationships to each other. In the same way, I think that's how humans are ultimately defined. We are our relationships to one another.”

#398

John Green

“I really think that reading is just as important as writing when you're trying to be a writer because it's the only apprenticeship we have, it's the only way of learning how to write a story.”

#399

John Green

“We're professional worriers. You're constantly imagining things that could go wrong and then writing about them.”

#400

John Green

“The funny thing about writing is that whether you're doing well or doing it poorly, it looks the exact same. That's actually one of the main ways that writing is different from ballet dancing.”

#401

John Green

“I like to know the places I write about. I feel like it helps me ground the novel. My novels are 'realistic novels,' but they can also be fantastical, so it's nice to have a setting that grounds them a little bit.”

#402

John Green

“Read a lot. Read broadly... Tell stories to your friends, and pay attention to when they get bored... Write a lot.”

#403

John Green

“Different authors write different ways, have different relationships with their audiences, and those are all legitimate.”

#404

John Green

“I write about broken people who need other people in order to go on. But those are the only kind of people I know to exist. We are all broken.”

#405

John Green

Back to All Quotes