I found that many gifted people are so afraid of writing a poor story that they cannot summon … - Brenda Ueland

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Eden is that old-fashioned house we dwell in every day Without suspecting our abode until we drive away.

Brenda Ueland

I found that many gifted people are so afraid of writing a poor story that they cannot summon the nerve to write a single sentence for months. The thing to say to such people is: "See how *bad* a story you can write. See how dull you can be. Go ahead. That would be fun and interesting. I will give you ten dollars if you can write something thoroughly dull from beginning to end!" And of course, no one can.

Fun, Give, Interesting, Months, Writing

Same Author Quotes

Everybody is talented because everybody who is human has something to express.

Everybody, Express, Human, Humans, Talent, Talented

We should all know this: that listening is not talking; [it] is the gifted and great role and the imaginative role. And the true listener is much more beloved, magnetic than the talker, and he is more effective, and learns more and does more good. And so try listening. Listen to your wife, your husband, your father, your mother, your children, your friends; to those who love you and those who don't, to those who bore you, to your enemies. It will work a small miracle. And perhaps a great one.

Children, Husband, Love, Magnetic, Mother, Wife

But the great artists like Michelangelo and Blake and Tolstoi--like Christ whom Blake called an artist because he had one of the most creative imaginations that ever was on earth--do not want security, egoistic or materialistic. Why, it never occurs to them. "Be not anxious for the morrow," and "which of you being anxious can add one cubit to his stature?" So they dare to be idle, i. e. not to be pressed and duty-driven all the time. They dare to love people even when they are very bad, and they dare not to try and dominate others to show them what they must do for their own good.

Anxious, Artist, Idle, Imagination, Peace

. . . writing is not a performance but a generosity.

Generosity, Performance, Performances, Writing

When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life.

Actually, Come, Grow, Grows, Ideas, Listening