Quote #17

The creation of an idea, the following of a story germ, the building up of a plot, the creating of people of flesh-and-blood character - these are not easy things, they are extremely difficult. But conversely, don't be put off by the fact that this month you can't do it and next month is maybe even harder. This is, if not a lifetime process, it's awfully close to it. The writer broadens, becomes deeper, becomes more observant, becomes more tempered, becomes much wiser over a period time passing. It is not something that is injected into him by a needle. It is not something that comes on a wave of flashing, explosive light one night and say, 'Huzzah! Eureka! I've got it!' and then proceeds to write the great American novel in eleven days. It doesn't work that way. It's a long, tedious, tough, frustrating process, but never, ever be put aside by the fact that it's hard.

More from Rod Serling

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  2. The instinct of creativity must be followed by the act, the physical act of putting it down for a sense of permanence. Once you get that pr…
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  4. Whenever you write, whatever you write, never make the mistake of assuming the audience is any less intelligent than you are.
  5. If you need drugs to be a good writer, you are not a good writer.
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  7. Ideas come from the earth. They come from every human experience that you've either witnessed, or have heard about, translated into your br…
  8. I was traumatized into writing by war events. By going through a war in a combat situation and feeling the desperate sense of terrible need…

All Rod Serling quotes