George Saintsbury (1845–1933) British literary critic
Vol. 1, pp. 4–5
A History of Criticism and Literary Taste in Europe from the Earliest Texts to the Present Day
“Sit down to write what you have thought, and not to think what you shall write.”
Page 180.
A Grammar of the English Language (1818)
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William Cobbett58
English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist 1763–1835Related quotes
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Variant: In any case, write what you know will always be excellent advice to those who ought not to write at all.
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track 11, "Three Easy Payments"
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Variant: How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.
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Variant: There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.
“If you want to be a writer-stop talking about it and sit down and write!”
Jackie Collins (1937–2015) British-American novelist and writer
“I find that most people know what a story is until they sit down to write one.”
Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) American novelist, short story writer
Robertson Davies (1913–1995) Canadian journalist, playwright, professor, critic, and novelist
Letter to Horace Davenport (3 April 1989).