On Writers, Writing, Books and Reading Quotes by Bangambiki Habyarimana

ON WRITERS, WRITING, BOOKS AND READING

784. The power of a writer is that he is a god of sorts. He can create his own worlds and populate them with his own people, all by the powers of his imagination. It's the closest a man can come close to the gods. No wonder the most successful writers are considered immortals. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

785. Many writers write because they’ve been there, seen that, did it and burnt their fingers. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

786. One author said "I write because I want to live a footprint in the sands of history.” It's hard to live a footprint in the sands of history when giants are passing through the same sands unless you are one of the giants . - Bangambiki Habyarimana

787. A writer reports on the universe. When he presents his credentials, the gates of heaven and hell are equally opened to him. He can hear the devil’s defense and god’s accusations. The guards at the king’s heart let him in. The writer can be anything and any one he wants. When he writes he is a god, he creates.

788.If I can write, who possibly can’t. Even drawing a line in the sand is writing.

789.I used to be afraid about what people might say or think after reading what I had written. I am not afraid anymore, because when I write, I am not trying to prove anything to anyone, I am just expressing myself and my opinions. It’s ok if my opinions are different from those of the reader, each of us can have his own opinions. So writing is like talking, if you are afraid of writing, you may end up being afraid of talking. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

790. Don't believe in everything that is written. Not everything that is written is true. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

791. The power of the writer is to capture the thoughts live and present them as they appeared in his mind. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

792. A writer is never alone; he is always in conversation with himself. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

793. Writing is self-pleasure. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

794. In order to protect their good names for posterity, many writers never wrote what they thought or the truth as it stood. That's why truth still lies hidden in matters of power, sex and religion. No wonder they chose to do so, many who dared paid with their heads. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

795. Writing is all about self-expression, we want to speak up, to get it off our chest. Whether we make an impact or not that is not for us to decide. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

796. If I had time, money and knowledge I could write about everything; but no problem, Google is already doing it. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

797. Writing is sharing. You share what you have. Great writers have more to share. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

798. Writing is magic happening on paper.

- Bangambiki Habyarimana

799. If you are writing fiction, think like a god. Release all the power of your imagination; create worlds and destroy them at your will, create as many miracles as your story needs. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

800. People speak even after their death. Only do speak those who have recorded their speech in writing before they die, the rest go silent forever. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

801. People think that whatever comes out of the mouth of a wise man is the choicest gem, sometime it's utter stupidity and rubbish. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

802. Every book is worth reading. If it cannot make you wiser it will make you a critic. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

803. Today almost everybody is a writer, the enormous publish button on blogs and websites begs you everywhere to click on it! And bam you are a writer. To hell with agents and publishing houses and rejection letters. Immortality for you is on the click of a mouth! We are advancing at the speed of light! You can become an author at 140 characters. To hell with long winding sentences and long hours of scratching the head, the immortals of today instantly get a "like" and they instantly enter the pantheon! They seat side by side Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, St Paul, Buddha, Martin Luther, Rousseau,…-Bangambiki Habyarimana

804. The internet is killing the art of writing. The big "publish" button begs you to publish even before you go back and make one single edit, and as if this was not enough, you have instant readers who praise your writing skills!- Bangambiki Habyarimana

805. Every successful writer is bleeding somewhere, has a thorn in his flesh or suffers from some delusion. The most successful are the most suffering. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

806. When I write sometimes I strike gold, sometimes I labor in vain and keep producing rubbish. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

807. Self-censorship is more efficient than any police. You write and say not what you really think, but what you believe is acceptable. By that process we lose those revolutionary ideas that could change society for the better. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

808. Able writers let us into their minds and show us how they think and by that open our minds to ourselves. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

809. You can edit what you write. Why not edit what you say? If it hurts somebody, you can still offer an apology or withdraw your statements. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

810. You cannot write if you are not on fire. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

811. You cannot write if you are not angry. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

812. How do you feel when you read stuff written by dead authors? A visit by a ghost?- Bangambiki Habyarimana

813. Writing is magic happening on paper. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

814. You never know what you will write until you write it. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

815. I can't write, I am not a writer, you say. Remember no one has ever become a writer without actually writing. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

816. You say you have nothing to write about? How do you find things to talk about? You can write about those things you like to talk about, that's your area of expertise. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

817. Words disappear in the air, but writing remains. If you want something to be remembered about you, write it down. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

818. You want to be great? Help others achieve their greatness. They will not forget the source and that is where you come in. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

819. No one knows everything. Everyone can contribute to the happiness of others. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

820. If you want to write, just write anything that comes into your mind. You will be surprised at how you can force inspiration to stand on your side. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

821. When we write, we pour ourselves on the page. It's hard for an author to hide himself.

- Bangambiki Habyarimana

822. We write, not because we claim to know more than others, but perhaps because we want to know more than others. Writers are explorers.

- Bangambiki Habyarimana

823. If everyone took his pen and wrote just anything that came on his mind, we would greatly help researchers to understand how our minds work.

- Bangambiki Habyarimana

824. A writer is a thought smith; he educates men to think for themselves. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

825. Some writers dug their graves with their own pens. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

826. I am what I have ever read. - Bangambiki Habyarimana.

827. I am not a supporter of burning books, but like poison, some books should be kept away from simple minds who can't take in the strong content they provide. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

828. You never know what you are going to write until you start writing. So start writing, it will come! - Bangambiki Habyarimana

829. What if a man could write everything that came into his mind. You could find there gems of wisdom, depth of utter despair, heights of the most cherished hopes, killing fields where we slaughter our enemies, moments of faith and moments of doubts, dark chambers where we commit infidelity against our partners, counting the goods we have stolen, hell nightmares, heaven blessedness, cursing of our enemies and blessing of our friends, and many other things. If one could write his mind, it would be a mirror to other minds where they could find themselves and not feel as the only wretched souls in existence. Go on then, write your mind in a book and publish it. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

830. Sometimes I have a good idea, something I wish I could remember, and instead of writing it down, commit it to my memory only to disappear when I needed it. Write your ideas as they come, if you wait it will be too long and you may not recover it. It may get destroyed as it is to seed to and fro in the ever rushing river of our thoughts. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

831. Write it as you see in your own perspective, you may be right or wrong but then what, that's how you see it. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

832. If you are afraid of the critics you will never write a word. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

833. A writer is never alone, he is always with himself. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

834. Look at the words carefully; they will reveal clearly the mind of the writer. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

835. Great story tellers are great liars. None of those complex characters, events and settings are anything but the figments of their own imaginations. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

836. An inspired stroke of a pen can save or damn the world. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

837. The world would have been a better place if some men had just shut their mouths. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

838. Some books can only be written when winners turn into losers

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

839. I can't write this book. It's not politically correct yet

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

840. A normal reader reads to enjoy, a writer is in training

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

841. Behind every good book is a self-tortured brain

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

842. A novel is a dream dreamt awake

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

843. You don't need to worry about your book's audience. Write it and it will find its audience by itself

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

844. Writing is talking, except you get the chance to edit what you just said

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

845. “You are afraid to write your first novel because you say “I am not a talented great writer " But you forget that nobody was born a talented great writer.”

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

846. “How to write a book? Start writing, continue writing and finish writing.”

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

847. “Writing a book is burning your brain to enlighten another man's mind”

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

848. Writing is like talking. Words vanish in the air but writing remains as a permanent testimony to your character

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

849. If you want to understand the inner workings of the human mind, read good fiction.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

850. Read whatever book you lay your hands on if you can, for every writer has a story to tell.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana           

Writing a book is not an easy business. It is rather an intimidating enterprise. If someone manages to overcome his fears and puts himself in the public eye by publishing a book, he is quite a hero. He had something to say that made him ready to leave his comfort zone. He needs a chance to be read. No one can find time to read all the books but all books have stories to tell. Even if a book sucks, you will have discovered that some books suck and acquired some talent as a critic.

851. Genius is nothing but a mastery of the subject at hand

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

Many wonderful things have been said about genius but most of the geniuses I have seen or learnt about were but men well versed in their fields and who worked hard.

852. A book writes itself. You are just the hand that puts everything on paper.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

Now that’s fate, if you believe in it. If a book was meant to be written by you, then so it shall be. Many times when I begin a story, I know where it where it goes and how it will end but during the course of writing, sometimes I end up landing on a different shore. Writing is a special form of magic, as you create the story, it helps you along.

853. Writing is exposing yourself to strangers

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

854. Two things are difficult about writing a novel. Starting and finishing        

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

855. There are many advices on writing. The best I know is stop reading and start writing

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

“Just start the sentence...and see what happens. This is how we write.” says Jincy Willett, in his The Writing Class. And William Faulkner wants you to know that “A writer must teach himself that the basest of all things is to be afraid. “Shake off your fear. Writing a book is easier than most writers will tell you. Here is a man who ignored that writing was difficult and became famous when he was about to quit writing. Robert Benchley confesses “It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous.”

John Gardner once said “People will tell you that writing is too difficult, that it's impossible to get your work published, that you might as well hang yourself. Meanwhile, they'll keep writing and you'll have hanged yourself.”

On this subject Ben Mikaelsen says “Writing is storytelling and all of us are authors, not just of words but of reality. You are the author of your life, so go out and live! Then never quit writing about it!” and Gabriel Garcia Marquez confirms it “Fiction was invented the day Jonah arrived home and told his wife that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a whale...”

856. Writing is a competition between the writer and the page. When the page wins, you fail as a writer.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

857. People are afraid to write books because they fear people will read them and find them worthless. Write as if nobody is going to read and throw your work into the public dustbin. Somebody may find it and consider it treasure

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

858. I am sorry; I don’t pretend to be a writer. I simply put my thoughts on paper. Those helped by them call it a book and me a writer. Those who are not helped call it rubbish and me a fool. Both have reason.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

859. Good books, good friends and you have no life of your own

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

860. One day I will write a book. An epitaph

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

861. Every book has its ancestors

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

862. When I write, I don't think about the reader. I hate bosses

― Bangambiki Habyarimana