“You have to really work at it to write. I guess there has to be talent first; but even with talent you still have to work at it, to write.”

—  James Jones

The Paris Review interview (1958)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "You have to really work at it to write. I guess there has to be talent first; but even with talent you still have to wo…" by James Jones?
James Jones photo
James Jones52
American author 1921–1977

Related quotes

“The real writer is one who really writes. Talent is an invention like phlogiston after the fact of fire. Work is its own cure. You have to like it better than being loved.”

Marge Piercy (1936) American novelist and poet

Carole Morin photo

“Writing is hard work. Even when you start with the raw ingredients – a mad family, a sense of humour, talent…it’s hard work. But you do get to sit around in silk pyjamas all day.”

Carole Morin British writer

Trivial and Profound (2013)

Henri-Frédéric Amiel photo

“Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.”

Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) Swiss philosopher and poet

Graham Greene photo

“One has no talent. I have no talent. It's just a question of working, of being willing to put in the time.”

Graham Greene (1904–1991) English writer, playwright and literary critic

Samuel R. Delany photo

“Good writing is clear. Talented writing is energetic. Good writing avoids errors. Talented writing makes things happen in the reader's mind---vividly, forcefully…”

Samuel R. Delany (1942) American author, professor and literary critic

Source: About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, and Five Interviews

“No writing is a waste of time – no creative work where the feelings, the imagination, the intelligence must work. With every sentence you write, you have learned something. It has done you good.”

Brenda Ueland (1891–1985) Journalist and writer

Source: If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit

Jane Austen photo

“And have you never known the pleasure and triumph of a lucky guess? I pity you. I thought you cleverer; for depend upon it, a lucky guess is never merely luck. There is always some talent in it.”

Jane Austen book Emma

Source: Emma

André Breton photo

“After you have settled yourself in a place as favorable as possible to the concentration of your mind upon itself, have writing materials brought to you. Put yourself in as passive, or receptive, a state of mind as you can. Forget about your genius, your talents, and the talents of everyone else. Keep reminding yourself that literature is one of the saddest roads that lead to everything. Write quickly, without any preconceived subject, fast enough so that you will not remember what you're writing and be tempted to reread what you have written. The first sentence will come spontaneously, so compelling is the truth that with every passing second there is a sentence unknown to our consciousness which is only crying out to be heard.”

André Breton (1896–1966) French writer

Le Manifeste du Surréalisme, Andre Breton (Manifesto of Surrealism; 1924)

Mo Yan photo

“For a writer, talent is everything. Lots of people make a career out of writing, producing many works and knowing exactly what it takes to become a great writer. But they never break into the big time, because they lack one thing: talent, or a sufficient amount of it.”

Mo Yan book The Republic of Wine

Source: The Republic of Wine (1992), Chapter Four, Section 3

Related topics