Famous Authors on Writing: Quotes for Typing Practice

"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000). 95 characters. King's prose is direct and unadorned — exactly what he preaches. "Read a lot and write a lot" contains the simplest possible statement of the most important creative discipline.

"The road to hell is paved with adverbs." King, On Writing. 41 characters. One of the most widely quoted pieces of writing advice in the English language. If you use your typing practice to compose prose, remember this sentence every time you reach for "quickly" or "happily."

"Books are a uniquely portable magic." King. 37 characters. The shortest sentence in this collection. It is a speed-burst challenge — type it as fast as you can without errors, then try to beat your time.

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." 80 characters. Hemingway's sardonic take on the writing process is also, somehow, both the most honest and most motivating thing he ever said about it. The word "bleed" at the end lands with all the force of a short story ending.

"The first draft of anything is garbage." 40 characters. Hemingway's blunt permission slip for imperfect beginnings. For typists, this applies equally: your first pass at a difficult sentence will be slow and error-prone. That is exactly right. It is how you get better.

"Write drunk, edit sober." Widely attributed to Hemingway, though probably apocryphal. 24 characters — the shortest complete piece of creative advice in this collection. Its contrast is immediately obvious to type: "Write drunk" is a free burst; "edit sober" is deliberate and precise.

Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language" (1946) remains one of the most important texts on clear writing ever produced. His six rules for writing are still taught in universities around the world.

"Never use a long word where a short one will do." Orwell's first rule. 50 characters. Apply this to your typing practice, too: when you are tempted to type a complicated word, ask whether a simpler one would serve.

"If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out." Orwell's second rule. 55 characters. The principle of economy — in writing as in code — is the foundation of all excellence. In typing practice, shorter sentences practiced faster are often more useful than longer sentences typed slowly.

"Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent." Orwell's sixth rule. 118 characters — the longest of his rules. It is also a genuine typing challenge, containing a tricolon that requires consistent comma placement.

"You can always edit a bad page. You cannot edit a blank page." Jodi Picoult. 62 characters. Permission to write badly, first. This applies to typing practice: a session where you type slowly and make mistakes is infinitely more productive than no session at all.

"Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on." Louis L'Amour. 86 characters. The metaphor — water, faucet, flow — is vivid and concrete. Practice it and remember it the next time you hesitate to open the practice window.

"A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it." Samuel Johnson. 51 characters. Every sentence you type in practice is a collaboration between your fingers and your mind. The sentence begins with a keystroke; it finishes with understanding.