Don Roff Quotes

Nothing's a better cure for writer's block than to eat ice cream right out of the carton.

4163

Always mystify, torture, mislead, and surprise the audience as much as possible.

4160

The recipe for great art has always been misery and a good bowel movement.

1698

A writer always writes.

3110

I've found the best way to revise your own work is to pretend that somebody else wrote it and then to rip the living shit out of it.

4502

A migraine is the cockblock of writing.

4730

If you treat your characters like people, they'll reward you by being fully developed individuals.

2418

Writing a story, regardless of length, begins always with a single word.

1937

If you focus on the humanity of your stories, your characters, then the horror will be stronger, scarier. Without the humanity, the horror becomes nothing more than a tawdry parlor trick. All flash and no magic, and worst of all, no heart.

1532

When you're writing what you love, it's the most fun you can have with your clothing still on, unless of course, you write naked.

2933

Even if you're in the thick of revising another work, write something new. Something small. It's important to keep telling yourself stories.

1189

Love it when a compelling new character kicks open your mental door, tracks mud across your brain, and props their feet up on your cerebrum.

4897

Always work with/surround yourself with people who help make you a better version of you. Kindly avoid those who don't.

1715

Successful writing is a slow, daily, meticulous form of mental illness.

1211

Write about the thing that scares you most or your most private confession and you'll never have a problem coming up with decent fiction.

4982

I write fiction. It may have mystery, it may have horror, it may have fantasy, it may have love, but like life, it's all the same genre.

1060

Authors must spend months, years making fantasy believable in a single work while reality runs rampant and complete chaos elsewhere.

3035

Write for impact first, money second. If you do it the other way around, you’ll end up with less of either.

2726

Writers often torture themselves trying to get the words right. Sometimes you must lower your expectations and just finish it.

4065

You can be a writer who doesn't read everyday. But you're not fooling anyone. It shows, rather embarrassingly, in your work.

2825

Nothing says work efficiency like panic mode.

2120

Fear and self-doubt are the deadly enemies of creativity. Don’t invite either into your mind.

3779

It's my belief that people enter your life at exactly the right time.

2942

But people in a small town tend to do a lot of talking, even when they don’t know what they’re talking about.

3127

If you schlep a shit job everyday, keep and feed a little secret life-whether it's writing, art, running, music, your thoughts. It's yours.

4861